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BOOKS
Sign language
By Leah Rankin
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Cover courtesy of Western New York Wares, Inc.
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Photography can capture the personality of one’s hometown in ways both simple and profound. Recently, two friends set out on an adventure to capture the personality of Buffalo—the city they grew up in—through one specific aspect of its streetscape. The result awakens us to how far the city has progressed, and provokes nostalgia for what it used to be.
That is exactly what photographer Karla J. Levi and writer Patricia C. Galeza wanted to do with their book Sign Stories.
In 2007, the Buffalo natives began researching the many signs and advertisements that were scattered around the city. Their explorations took them all the way from Elmwood to the Erie Canal, and by 2009 they had created a valuable piece of memorabilia that immortalized Buffalo through its businesses.
“For Karla, the fun part was driving around looking for painted-on signs. She was amazed by how many there are in Buffalo. For me, it was wonderful to explore parts of the city that I didn’t know very well,” Galeza recalls.
Sign Stories lists over seventy advertisements and murals that are found throughout the WNY area. Working in her preferred medium of black-and-white photography, Levi documented signs that had been nakedly visible for so many years that for most people they had just become part of the city’s scenery.
But what the pair soon discovered was beyond their expectations. As vibrant and bold as most of these signs were, the stories behind them were just as fascinating. Creating, as Galeza says, a “nice union of image and written word,” Levi snapped photos while Galeza collected stories from local business owners about the history of their shops. The partners learned behind-the-scenes facts about the construction of murals and how they have come to represent the buildings upon which they rest. “Karla was surprised by how open most people were when contacted about their business,” Galeza remarks.
A favorite sign of the authors was the AM&A’s advertisement on 369 Washington Street. Established in 1867, the building had endured a number of fires and had passed through many different owners. “I knew that the store had been a local fixture for many years, but I was amazed to learn that its beginnings went back to the time just after the Civil War,” Galeza said.
Some of the signs around Buffalo have less historic, and more entertaining histories. Galeza was amused to learn that the policeman sign on the side of Holiday House at 2455 Delaware Avenue (“Parking for Holiday House Only!”) was painted in exchange for a bar tab.
Another mural, painted on the side of the TreeHouse Toy Store 793 Elmwood Avenue, tells the story of a successful couple that risked it all to pursue their true passion. In her book, Galeza writes that the husband and wife were “a young, well-educated couple who left the corporate world to live their dream by opening a very special toy store.” The mural is painted like a child’s alphabet book: A is for apple and B is for bird.
The book’s photographer feels a particular resonance with the bold Tae-Kwon-Do sign of a fist centered on a yin-yang outside of Master Khechen School on 1200 Kenmore Avenue. Levi used to practice karate, and is proud to see that martial arts are still flourishing in the area.
Galeza and Levi found that signs serve more purposes than just advertising a business. They are a reflection of the needs and wants of Buffalo residents. They are the visual representation of societal values, while at the same time reflecting the changing emotions and personality of the city. Both of the book’s creators have developed a new respect for their hometown, because they have learned so much about its past. “My knowledge of Buffalo has improved considerably,” says Galeza.
And while Galeza and Levi are taking a deserved rest after the release of Sign Stories, they admit that they are thinking about expanding the idea further. They would like to push their sign search to other areas of WNY, but right now they are happy reveling in the completion of their two-year project.
Leah Rankin is a senior at the University of Rochester and was a summer 2009 Spree intern.
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