Category: Googie

It isn’t difficult to determine the date of this roadside relic — it’s right on the sign.

Besides the 5 or 6 surviving buildings designed by G.L. Norrman, there isn’t a whole lot in Spartanburg, South Carolina, worth mentioning, but Sugar ‘n’ Spice was a pleasant surprise when I discovered it.

At its 40th anniversary in 2001, the owner revealed that he had considered removing the restaurant’s distinctive Googie-style canopy, but ultimately reconsidered: “I did a little poll, and it was not even close … the canopy’s staying.”¹

A wise decision.

References

1. Restaurant celebrates 40 years SUGAR ‘N’ SPICE – GoUpstate ↩︎

Carter’s Cleaners & Laundry in Forest Park, Georgia, opened in 1950. However, I suspect this fantastic Googie-style sign debuted in 1957, when the business expanded by 800 square feet,¹ “providing a new front”,² among other improvements.

The business ended circa 2009,³ and the building has been boarded up for years, with its relic sign left to rust.

References

1. “Carter’s Cleaners And Laundry Adds 800 Square Feet To Main Street Plant”. The Forest Park Free Press and Clayton County News and Banner (Forest Park, Georgia), November 20, 1957, p. 2. ↩︎
2. “Know Your Businessmen”. The Forest Park Free Press and Clayton County News and Banner (Forest Park, Georgia), March 12, 1958, p. 1. ↩︎
3. “Carter, Mary”. The Atlanta Constitution, June 4, 2014, p. B6. ↩︎