(Photo courtesy of Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest)
In July 2010 I made my way back to Minneapolis, MN for the first time since May 2006 when I left the Twin Cities. I had lived there from 2001-2006 and had seriously been missing it those five years I was away. While I was taking a road trip to Northern Minnesota to see Dwight Yoakam (also for the first time!) I made a stop over in Mpls to break up the 10-hour drive and to see my favorite Midwestern city once again. Driving down Lake Street I saw many things that had changed, yet several that had (luckily) stayed the same. When I came across one of my favorite local landmarks, the Minnehaha Liquor sign at 2613 E Lake St, I noticed that it was receiving a touch up. I enthusiastically took this opportunity to obtain some more info on the sign.
According to the above historic photo, Minnehaha Liquors has been around since the 1920s. According to the man repairing the sign (why didn't I get his name?!), the original porcelain-fronted neon sign is currently maintained by Skyline Neon at 451 Taft St. NE in Minneapolis. He also discussed how all of the signs once lit by neon are now lit by LED---even the Payless Shoes sign across the street. He took great care and pride in his work to keep these signs alive and continuously illuminating Minneapolis' streetscape. I'm thankful I had this chance to return to the city and spend this time with him finding out more information on this icon that always managed to capture my attention the countless times I traveled back forth along Lake Street while living in the Twin Cities.
2 comments:
Nifty photos, Erin. It's not often you get to see sign improvements in progress.
Hi Erin. Great post. I just came across it while doing some research on the history of Minnehaha Liquors. I'm a Minneapolis-based photographer who focuses almost exclusively on these vintage signs.
Feel free to check it out some of my portfolio at: http://www.recapturist.com.
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