24 December 2019 – I’m weaving around that Main St. axis, mostly not on it but orienting with it even so…
“Palimpsest!” I think as I pause at this E. Pender alley corner, always happy to use the word (it’s such a wonderfully crunchy mouthful).
Look closer, and no, it’s not some one-time iconic brand. It is, well it says here, “Good Company Lager.” It also says, “What’s Up Fool,” but let’s ignore that.
just below it, a graffito correction for the old-fashioned washroom signs also painted on the wall. “Non binary” it scolds, the lettering faded but the 21st-c. message clear.
Right, shame on you, there are more gender options than male & female.
(My personal “WTF?” is all about the signage convention that men get to be men, while women have to be ladies, but each to their own obsession.)
Another message, this time full of beauty and spirituality, at E. Hastings and Gore — no. 21 of the 31 mosaics embedded in downtown sidewalks, especially here in the Downtown East Side.
I love this series, love discovering the squares at random. I’m always amazed that people can walk right over them unheeding, but stubbornly confident that many other people do notice, do enjoy, do feel energized by the civic display of beauty.
I especially like this particular mosaic, of course, for the raven…
… and for that message of survival, still defiantly there despite the beating inflicted on this explanatory sign by time and vandals.
From underfoot to overhead, as I veer back along E. Hastings to Main.
Vintage neon! There since this café opened its doors in 1942. (Brings to mind “The Goof” in Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood…)
More neon in the doorway, a cup presumably brimming with Ovaltine.
I waver, I do, I confess to a long-standing fondness for chocolate Ovaltine … but… naaah.
I go home for coffee.
sloppy buddhist
/ 26 December 2019Happy holidays Penny and I also enjoy my coffee at home ☺️💫 not sure I ever liked the
sloppy buddhist
/ 26 December 2019Barley Malt Extract…I remember a friend who loved Ovaltine ☺️🤓
icelandpenny
/ 30 December 2019choolate Ovaltine for me, not the regular stuff…
Jim Arbon
/ 29 December 2019The Raven created the world!
Merry Christmas Penny.
bluebrightly
/ 30 December 2019🙂 I like your personal WTF regarding restroom signs. That one is a graphic habit that was never honorable but may have made some sense a hundred years ago. Way past its prime now! I like the raven mosaic too, and great spot to notice the banged-up raven with the words, “raven always survives…” 🙂 Wow, Ovaltine Cafe? I would have feared this was a hip new sign – I love that it’s been there so long. The final neon sign ONLY makes me think of coffee. I like the curves. 🙂 Fun post!
icelandpenny
/ 30 December 2019grr grr, that ‘ladies’ stuff annoys me still — it’s not a compliment, it’s a prison — glad you picked up on “raven always survives” on the plaque –
bluebrightly
/ 2 January 2020🙂