Signage advertising items for the home covers a broad range of subjects and manufacturers, from clothing and shoes to laundry products and medicine. Many of these brands are still familiar today, like Ivory Soap or Lee Jeans, while others which were once quite prominent are virtually unknown, like Ben Davis Work Wear or Wildroot Hair Tonic.

One of the most iconic mascots of the 20th century was the bright ruby-red bird featured on signs for Red Goose Shoes. The jolly character was printed on signs and novelty items of all kinds, including a countertop display goose that dispensed golden eggs after its neck was pulled. The connection between birds and footwear seems tenuous at best, but other companies also took to the idea, as seen on signs for manufacturers like Poll Parrot and Weather Bird Shoes.

In fact, sign graphics for household goods often seem preposterously disconnected from the products they are ostensibly promoting. For example, at a time when women were never se...en in two-legged pantaloons, Old Woolen Mills Pants decided it would be enticing to use a coy Victorian lady in a long flowing skirt to sell its wares. Another eye-catcher was the Frog in Your Throat lozenge signs, whose gigantic green amphibian had its 10-cent price stamped right onto his yellow belly. Other companies, however, used imagery that was cleverly designed to help customers remember their products. For example, the signage for Benedict’s Dogskin Gloves featured a loyal retriever carefully offering a leather glove from his jaws.