Esso Blue - Illuminated Shop Sign

Here's a lovely blast from the past - an Esso Blue illuminated sign, seen above unilluminated, featuring Joe the Esso Blue dealer, befamed of the "Boom Boom Boom - Esso Blue!" TV ads from the 1950s to the 1970s.

On dark winters' evenings, signs like this would glow at us from shop windows as we made our way home.

The sign illuminated, with Joe informing passers-by: "ESSO BLUE PARAFFIN ON SALE HERE".

They're still around, of course, but the retro charm of the old days is somehow lacking (to younger generations, the present illuminated signs will probably assume greater charm in years to come, envoking fond memories of childhood).

When I was a kid, I imagined that the inner-workings of these signs must be somewhat sophisticated. Not till I was about eight did it occur to me that the striking effect was achieved with a single light bulb.