There is a handwritten note on the back of this sign documenting its having been found (in 1988) inside the Old "Star Theatre" in Bar Harbor, Maine. I've included a photo of the theatre, which was built in 1908 as a cinema and entertainment center, equipped with 400 moveable chairs, a fine dancing floor, and "unquestionably the finest theater organ in Maine" according to the The Bar Harbor Times in 1924. Fun article about the Star on the site of the Bar Harbor Historical Society here. In 1938 it was sold and converted into a hotel with cocktail lounge hosting live music and dancing, which could be the period from which this sign dates--I'm not entirely certain. A few years later it would become a bowling alley (in 1942) so definitely before then!
I love the connection of this sign to that specific place and history, but, especially as a lover of evocative found language, I wanted this sign before I knew any of it--I, for one, am sure feeling ready for a New Song--To Day! I really like the enigmatic quality of it too, which could be read a bunch of different ways--especially given that curious space between To and Day. Maybe most of all, as a sign to hang on the wall and look at every day, I like the idea of it as a sort of mantra--a reminder that we can change our own stories, and the stories we tell ourselves. And of course that juicy hand-painted red lettering!
13 1/8" x 12 1/8". Hand-painted on old metal sheet, c. 1920s-30s I believe. Plenty of scuffs and dings and a little rust around the edges mostly, all to the good in my opinion. Hanging hole punched through it at top center, large and worn enough to suggest there were many many days featuring New Songs!
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