Mixed in among modern urban streetscapes, the look and feel of the rare classic neon and bulb-lit signs are distinctive. I spied these in Toronto and one in New Brunswick (the fabulous sign for Mel’s Tea Room!), which happily stand the test of time.
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O' Canada 
Yes! Traveling to Canada on a Saturday morning thanks to your images.
Oh, cool! I hope you have a fantastic time wherever you visit!
Great post…I know many of those signs well.
Sadly, Honest Ed’s–the tackiest icon of Toronto’s history–is falling victim to urban development in the next couple of years. The property has been purchased by a condo developer…no word on the future of the signage.
The whole block that Honest Ed’s occupies is quite a eye-catching sight! Quite a story about that place, as I understand it.
Love it all. Another great one on Parliament St., at Spruce T-junction, for a laundry/tailor shop — scissors, thread, needle.
Penny, thanks for mentioning that one — I’ll be on the lookout for it next visit. 🙂
Nice pictures. Honest Ed’s made me smile! 🙂
Me too! 🙂
Reblogged this on The Man of Letters and commented:
Light up the dark nights with these…
🙂
I love the old school neon signs as well.
Dan, they’re very cool! 🙂
And they are coming back! Great signs, Brett.
Yeah, that’s great that such oldies are now appreciated and being updated.
Love your blog! I need to read up. I had a week or so about Canada in school then zip. I need to visit for good poutine and a million other reasons.
Tracy, thanks! If you discovered poutine then you had a genuine Canada experience!
These signs are pretty eye-catching. I can’t say that I’m a big fan of them, but when I visited Ireland this year my friend took to this place called Eddie Rocket’s and it looked just like an American diner from the ’50s or ’60s, very vintage and it even had next to each table a jukebox 😀
Hi, Klaudia. An American diner in Ireland with tableside jukeboxes — classic and very cool!
If it just weren’t a 24 hr drive from Austin to Toronto, I’d come see them in person!
Road trips are such intense good fun though! 🙂
I love Mel’s too! What is is about Sackville that seems just so right…?
Hi, Elizabeth. Sackville, like many small towns, has some good character and the University there probably contributes a lot. I see you have some lovely paintings on your site, which I look forward to exploring. I like to play with painting (I’m a so-called “Sunday painter,” at best) and I recently started working on a painting of the Mel’s sign, so I hope to pick up a pointer or two from your good work. Best, Brett
Great signs! I always go to Fran’s at least once whenever I visit Toronto. Miss the old location at Yonge and St. Clair. If you’re ever in the Beaches, local landmark Goof’s (“Good Food”) still has their old neon sign on Queen W.
Aaron, cool and thanks for sharing this!
P&L I am not familiar with 😦
Will have to find it now!! 😉
I forget what kind of shop that is, although its sign is striking (if you like that sort of thing!). A scavenger hunt through a large city like that would lead to some interesting discoveries. 🙂
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Such a cool collection of Canadian history!
We also have many eye catching and unique neon signs in the UK, there is a collection I put together recently, let me know what you think!
Thanks! The video link you provided has some great examples — especially like the over-sized Shell logo in neon about midway through!
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, no more honest Ed 🙂 , these signs are so retro
A definite throwback to an earlier time! 🙂
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