Old wooden signs

[greenacres]

 

[talesofthesevenseas]

Here's a photo showing how old antique nails darken the wood around them:

[mart]

Tales, I think these signs were made mid century !!

[mariok54]

But which century?

[cogar]

Now I wasa thinking that if the Ransome and Simms Agricultural sign is not an original then it was a “labor of love” by whoever made it or whoever paid to have it made. I really don’t think it’s a repro because of the limited market 35 - 55 years ago for such a sign.

I’m saying the above because of the precise “detail” employed in making the sign. See below for  cropped enlargement of picture.

[mart]

But which century?

1900`s !! When everyone was doing them !! 3-D was a big thing !!  Might not be but from what I see,,thats my guess !!

[Petesy]

Hi guys, i got some pics of the backs, sorry i didn't have a 2nd set of hands to help me get the pics so i had to put down my dslr and use my phone camera, sorry if the detail isn't there i tried to get the best of them,the train one has clearly had additional supports added (i did wonder why it felt sturdier when moving it) clearly this dosn't look like it had been done that long ago here's the first pic

[Petesy]

back of the balloon not train

[Petesy]

The ransome and simms hasnt had any further modifications and the back to me does seem a bit older but some of the screws still seem a bit shiny

[Petesy]

The back of the balloon one was loads of little small nails and it looks like copper wire was used?

[Petesy]

& finally the Ale ones where both boxed in, it is as if there are 2 layers of wood one heavy side for the backing and the front side (with the characters) looks like its the thinner side not sure if it would have been wood glue or nails underneath? should i inspect further

[mart]

Those were usually glued around the outside edge to the backing !! Sign itself is not very heavy !! Don`t look any further !!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Hey those look really good! (As in OLD!) A couple of things I see are the off-kilter slots on a couple of the screws, and what really looks good are the straight (not circular) saw marks on the boards on the back of the balloon picture. See how those lines go straight up and down and they are not the grain of the wood? That was cut with an older style of saw. (I think Fancypants can elaborate on that?) These types of saws were used less after the circular saw became commonly used around 1870-ish. Looks old and potentially valuable to me!

[mariok54]

They look good to me as well. As mart says don't do anything else just yet; I know that you said that you'd like to renovate one, but I would hold on.

Let us know whether you hear anything from the links.

[mart]

Any thing you do other than dusting them off reduces any value they have by as much as 50% !!