KCRag Forum

I didn't realize the Coates used to have an ornate cap on the corner tower.  When/why was that removed?  Wasn't from the fire at the south wing was it?  Must have just fallen into disrepair and they removed it and fixed up the rest of the building.

The Paramount and Liberty theaters on Main between 11th and 12th streets. The Paramount was also called the Newman Theater at one time.






Lots of nice blade signs here with the Duff & Repp sign, and the Roxy (aka Liberty), Paramount, Midland and Missouri (Mainstreet) theaters on the left. On the right are the Kresge and Jones Store blade signs. Also shown are Woolworth's and Burt's Shoes signs on the left and Berkson's on the right.

PumpkinStalker wrote: I didn't realize the Coates used to have an ornate cap on the corner tower.  When/why was that removed?  Wasn't from the fire at the south wing was it?  Must have just fallen into disrepair and they removed it and fixed up the rest of the building.

The ornate cupolas were removed long before the devastating fire that destroyed the south wing.  A lot of decorative structures were removed from buildings simply because the owners didn't want to do the maintenance on them, or because they appeared old-fashioned and they wanted to modernize the building.

Bunting Hardware sign on Walnut near E. 9th



The Market Garage can be seen in this photo near 6th and Oak.  Most of these buildings were wiped out with the construction of the North Loop trafficway.



Fifth and Walnut



Troost looking north towards E. 31st St.  The Isis Theater in the Wirthman Building is shown.

Fairfax Airport in KCKS.



US Airways building



Aviation hanger

The Junction at 9th and Main. To the left is the Palace Theater and to the right the Kay Hotel (aka the Westgate Hotel).



The Junction Hotel is on the far right and behind it is the Globe Department Store at 9th and Main.

The Katz Drug Store at Armour and Swift in N. Kansas City.







Katz Drug at 10th and Minnesota in Kansas City, Kansas.















The Kansas City Special train car.



Streetcar advertising



A grocery near 34th and State Avenue in KCKS.

Railroad Offices at 11th and Grand

Stalcup's Neon advertising business.

The water feature in front of the Fairfax Airport was full of water lillies and huge goldfsih.  They had a linen tablecloth class restaurant in the terminal.  One of my first dining memories as a child.

FangKC wrote:

Streetcar advertising

Interesting that tires were the expensive consumable back then. "Save tires" instead of "save gas"

It was during WWII when everything was rationed.  I have an old postcard my grandmother sent to her sister commenting that she'd been to pick up her rations of sugar and mason jars for canning.

As a small child in the 40s, I remember a gigantic Pontiac sign on Signboard Hill that put on an impressive light display at night. The lights seemed to be ordinary bulbs, but they performed magically.

The Pontiac Sign is visible in this photo.

A closeup for old times' sake for Roanoker.

FangKC wrote: The Pontiac Sign is visible in this photo.

It doesn't look anything like I remember. I wonder if it got changed. I don't know much about cars, but those in the photo look like they were made in the 30s. The sign I recall was a huge profile of the great chief's head (Pontiac, the warrior). It was truly spectacular. My mother used to drag me to the train station to visit St. Louis relatives. And it was always at night.

I got a warning that a new reply had been posted as I was writing the above. Thank you for the close-up, but I still can't believe it was the same sign. I'd need someone in his 70s to confirm/dispute my claim.

FangKC wrote:

You have to look closely, but you can see the King Joy Lo sign on the 2nd floor of the corner of 12th & Main. We used to eat ther e when I was a wee sprout.(mid 50's)
Roanoker, you're not wrong, the Pontiac sign was of the "Chief" and sat much closer to Man Street. We were frequent train riders in my childhood(50-60's) and I can still picture coming out the doors of Union Station and looking at Signboard Hill and Liberty Memorial.

I'm sure you're right.  The advertising on Signboard Hill changed over time.  The Pontiac Chief emblem was very common during that era.







I miss cars with chrome hood ornaments.

McConnell-Kincaid Dodge Plymouth



The Portland Hotel on the Sixth Street Trafficway.



Bond Clothing's blade sign on the NE corner at 11th and Main



The Victor Building's roof sign is seen on the NW corner at 10th and Main

Royal Equipment Co. at Pershing at Broadway. The building also at one time housed a distributorship for Artic Ice Cream and ABC Butter.





Jenkins Music and the Gloyd Building on Grand



Wilkie Motors' painted sign, and President Hotel's roof sign at 14th and Baltimore