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From somewhere in (probably) Wisconsin (maybe Menomonie), sometime in the 1950s, comes this unlabeled Kodachrome slide of what might be an old school or church building, but who can say? For traffic control we have a yellow stop sign with cat-eye reflectors. View full size.
Forty years ago I found this stop sign in a scrap yard in a rural area near Seattle, and noted it was yellow. The letters are stamped in heavy duty steel, and there is evidence the sign was used for target practice with a rifle. Until I saw this Shorpy comment I had no idea there was any value to it at all. It is shown with a modern version in my Vancouver, B.C. neighbourhood. Vancouver's fire hydrants are red.
To me, this looks more like a parochial school than public. An old school would explain why someone took this photo in the first place. The covered porch was added later, but why a covered porch? As best I can make out, the first word on the white sign nailed to the tree is "private".
I found a reference that a yellow fire hydrant means either they hydrant is out of service, or its water source is different than a normal installation. Also, from 1924 to 1954 stop signs were painted yellow with black letters because we didn't have a red which wouldn't fade. Apparently, those signs are worth some money ($700 on eBay) now.
[Most fire hydrants are yellow! - Dave]
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