Grace & Knowledge Blog

On a quiet afternoon in Oxford, I went roman around town.  While walking one can notice a lot more details than are visible from an arial view.  On South College Avenue I noticed a sign I hadn't seen before.  It read:  Raising Helvetica

Oxford is almost deserted right now, so very little "Helvetica" is being raised.  But the sign gave a reminder that the students will return eventually and Oxford will come back to life as a font of knowledge.

Tags: humor, oxford oh signs

There's a new house sign on North Elm Street that is hard to miss--a bright orange sign sporting a likeness of Food Network star Guy Fieri and the words "Flavor Town".  Apparently some Fieri fans have moved in. 

Tags: oxford oh signs

On a number of streets in Oxford, house signs make some reference to the street name.  There are lots of examples on Beech St and Vine St, in particular.

Some other street names are harder to incorporate into a catchy sign.  Withrow, for example, is a challenge.  Finding a good pun on Withrow may be right up there with finding a rhyme for "oranges".

So I was pleased to see the new sign at 216 W. Withrow that reads, 

"Withrow Without You."

Well punned! 

Tags: oxford oh signs

This summer a boutique on High Street in Oxford has featured on its sidewalk signboard an announcement that it has "life changing men's underwear'' in stock.  I haven't checked it out, not being comfortable with the idea of underwear being "life changing".  Underwear has an important purpose, but that's not it. 

Tags: oxford oh signs

One of the most colorful house signs in Oxford is at the corner of Church and Elm. 

The sign reads "Church and Rescue", and has a picture of a church and an emergency vehicle, making reference to the fact that the fire trucks and emergency vehicles in Oxford are housed in a building on Elm Street about 4 blocks south of this house. 

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At the corner of College Avenue and Church Street in Oxford is a restaurant called Sushi Nara. 

On an apartment house two doors south of the restaurant, there is now a sign, with shape and design similar to the restaurant's sign, that reads

"Nara Cotics."

It's a clever pun on a touchy subject, since Ohio is experiencing such serious drug problems right now. 

Tags: oxford oh signs

 I continue to marvel at the number of alcohol-related puns that local students have posted on the house signs in Oxford.

Yesterday I noticed yet another one, an attractive sign on North College Avenue that has a picture of a familiar character from the Toy Story movies, identified by the words

"Buzz Light Beer". 

Tags: oxford oh signs

Student alcohol consumption is one of the major concerns in Oxford. 

It's likely that many students do not think much about the long-term health consequences of drinking in excess.  But living in the vicinity of the hospital can bring such things to mind.

On North Poplar Street, near the hospital, there is a house sign that uses a James Bond movie pun to make reference to the issue.  The sign reads,

"Liver Let Die".

Tags: oxford oh signs

I was walking down Spring Street today and noticed a house sign I hadn't seen before.  This sign, a tribute to a rock star, reads

Bruce Springstreet.

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Oxford has been without a movie theater since a fire in an ice machine closed the Princess Theater  last March.

But there are a few movie references in Oxford house signs.  

One sign that i walk past frequently on Church Street is "The Big Lehouski", one of the funnier signs in town.

Another that recently appeared on North Beech Street is "Bushwood Country Club", a Caddyshack reference. 

There used to be a sign for "The Sandlot" on a house on North College Ave,  but that one is no longer  there.

In general, the movie signs are a nice change of pace from the usual drinking-related humor.   

Tags: oxford oh signs

Student dwellings are often sparsely furnished.  A few tables, a few chairs, a few mattresses, and that's it..

I was reminded of this today when I saw a house sign on North Campus Avenue.  On the sign was a picture of a lamp sitting on a small table.  The sign read

"One Nightstand"

The sign brought to mind the shortcomings of student housing--and student life in general.

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For me, one of the worst forms of environmental pollution on campus is the posting of signs containing bad English.

One recent example is an announcement of a campus lecture sponsored by the Wilks Leadership Institute.  On the poster were pictures of David Petraeus and former House Speakers Newt Gingrich and Jim Wright, respresenting leaders who had been involved in scandals.  

The poster read, "Why do We Care?"  with the subheading, "Discuss how falling from grace effects good leadership."

So how does "falling from grace" serve to implement good leadership?  I missed the lecture, so I'm still not sure.  

Tags: campus life, oxford oh signs

There is a sign on South College Avenue with another "before and after" message.  The sign reads "Fifty Shades of Grey Goose".

I can see where this title is coming from.  The house has new two-toned grey siding on the front, but not yet on the sides, so it has several "shades" of color.  

And it's almost obligatory for Oxford house signs to mention some particular alcoholic beverage, in this case a brand of vodka.  

Tags: oxford oh signs

The students of Miami University are back in town, and they have brought some new house signs with them.  

The house at 230 W. Withrow is now "The Three Broomsticks", after the pub from Harry Potter.  Apparently the original establishment in Hogsmeade has been successful enough to merit the opening of franchises in other towns.

Tags: oxford oh signs

I recently noticed a sign at at a local laundromat that reads:

"Absolutely" No Loitering

Since the word "absolutely" is in quotes, the prohibition of loitering at the laundromat must not be quite absolute.  Apparently there are some exceptions.  But I'm not interested in loitering around the laundromat to find out what they might be. 

This sort of excessive punctuation is common on signs.  In fact, there is a blog devoted to humorous examples of extraneous quotation marks.

Tags: oxford oh signs

Tags: oxford oh signs

On Friday I walked past the Princess Theater and noticed the titles of the movies showing in Oxford this week.

One of the titles listed was "Wraith of the Titans".  

So was this a movie about ghosts of departed Titans? Or a combination zombie/titan movie?

Or was this a mere shadow of a movie about Titans, doomed to an early demise at the box office?

Tags: oxford oh signs

Many of the Oxford house signs make reference to the streets on which the houses are located.  On Beech Street, for example, it's easy to come up with puns involving some combination of beech/beach/peach.

But on Elm Street, signs including the word "elm" are as rare as elm trees.  One exception is a new sign at Elm and Withrow that says "NIght Beer on Elm Street".  

Punning on the word "nightmare" sounds promising.  Is it possible to come up with something better than "night beer"?

Tags: oxford oh signs

A house on the corner of College and Withrow in OXford used to have a natural fence formed by a high hedge.  At two breaks in the hedge, on the north and west sides of the house, were two metal gates, through which people could pass on the way to the house. 

Recently the hedge was completely cut down and uprooted, but the two lonely gates, now with no real purpose, are still standing.  The new tenants of the house have put up a sign that reads, "Gated Community". 

Another good sign for this house would be "Pieces of Gate".  

Tags: oxford oh signs

One of the restaurants in Oxford is advertising a "Lunch Buffett".

I'm wondering which "Buffett" it will be. I don't think it would be Warren Buffett.  (I heard it's his birthday today, but doesn't he live in Nebraska?)

Maybe it's Jimmy Buffett.  But I doubt that this particular restaurant serves margaritas.  (And does Jimmy Buffett get out of bed in time for lunch?) 

Tags: oxford oh signs

Most of the buildings on campus are named after somebody.  I work in Bachelor Hall, named after an English professor named Joseph Bachelor.  We even have a hall named after somebody named Hall.

A few buildings are as yet unnamed.  I don't believe the new Psychology Building has a name attached to it yet.  With a large enough donation, you might be able to have it named after you.

A house on Church Street now has a sign designating it as Alco Hall.  I've never heard of a corporation called Alco, but it must not be in very good financial shape.  The sign is a rather primitive homemade affair.

Tags: oxford oh signs

The students are back in Oxford, and as usual they have brought house signs containing (what else?) alcohol-related puns.

One house on Spring Street now sports a sign reading "Whiskey Business".  

Does this mean they have a still in the basement and are selling whiskey?  Maybe the "revenuers" should check it out.

Tags: oxford oh signs

There is seemingly no end to the number of alcohol-related puns to be found on signs around Oxford. 

One that I  noticed recently on West Church Street features a drawing of what looks like Bigfoot carrying two bottles.  The sign says "Bourbon Legends." 

Let's hope none of the tenants have actually seen Bigfoot after a few glasses of bourbon.

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One of the most popular categories in the TV game show Wheel of Fortune is "before and after".  One such puzzle on a recent episode was the phrase

Self-adhesive stamp of approval,

a combination of  "self-adhesive stamp"  and "stamp of approval". 

At least one Oxford house sign belongs to this category.  The sign reads "Peter North Main".  Since the house is on North Main Street, that part is easy to understand.  But who is Peter North?

Figuring there must be thousands of people with that name, I did a search.  As it turns out, Peter North is the screen name of a Canadian-born porn star named Alden Brown (not to be mistaken with Alton Brown of the Food Network).  This was definitely one of those TMI searches.

I was not pleased to learn about several parallels between my own life and that of Mr. Brown/North.  We were born the same year.  He is from Halifax.  And in 1984, when I was finishing my PhD in Halifax and getting my first academic job, he was starting on his "film" career. 

If it were my "before-and-after" sign, I'd go for "Oliver North Main" instead, or better yet "True North Main" or "Due North...

Tags: oxford oh signs

In sporting events televised by ESPN, it has become customary for spectators to construct signs that include the letters E, S,P,and N in four words.

For example, in last night's Beef'O'Brady's Bowl between Louisville and Southern Mississippi, a spectator dressed like a Christmas elf carried a sign saying

Every

Southern mississippi

Player is

Naughty

People have been playing this sort of word game--an acrostic--since ancient times.  There are acrostics in the Bible, most notably in Psalm 119, where the 22 sections of the psalm begin with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

 I haven't noticed too many acrostic house signs in Oxford.  One that I know about is on High Street, where an apartment above a local business has a sign reading

Above

Bagel and

Deli.

Here the capital letters spell out ABD, an abbreviation well known in academic circles.  ABD stands for "all but dissertation", describing a graduate student who has finished all requirements for a PhD except for completing the dissertation. 

Of course, since the dissertation is the biggest requirement for a PhD, a student who is ABD is kind of like a Big Mac without the "all beef patties".  (In the interest of full disclosure, I...

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The Fall 2010 issue of the Miami alumni magazine has a cover story on the house signs.  It contains a lot of interesting tidbits, including the following:

• An alumnus is working on a coffee table book filled with pictures of the signs.
• The custom of putting up signs started in the 1970s. 
• One academic study of the signs is the book Please Sign In:  A Study of Oxford House Signs, Pointing to Students' Values, by Reginald Olson (2000).  Amazon says it's out of print.
• There's also a scholarly article on the signs written by an anthropologist: " 'Witty House Name':  Visual Expression, Interpretive Practice, and Uneven Agency in A Midwestern College Town,'' by Chaise LaDousa, published in Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 120, Issue 4 (2007), pp. 445-481.

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On Patterson Ave today there was a sign on the sidewalk that read "Orienteering".  An arrow on the sign pointed south.

I guess the first assignment in the orienteering seminar is to find the orienteering seminar.

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Being a landlord is big business in Oxford.  And the bigger the house you own, the more students you can cram into it. 

One sprawling old house on East Church Street seems to be proud of its money-making potential.  According to its sign, it's known as

THE BIG UNIT.

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In Oxford it's typical for businesses that operate on the ground floors of buildings to rent out some upstairs apartments to students.

For example, one law office on North Beech Street has some upstairs apartments.  The tenants have put up a sign saying "Law and No Order."  

It occurs to me that the "law" referred to in the sign must be the law of entropy, the tendency for systems to evolve toward a state of maximum disorder.  We're all familiar with how that law works.  

Usually laws serve the purpose of providing income for lawyers.  Do lawyers make any money from the law of entropy?  I'll have to think about that.  

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The students have returned to Oxford, and with them some new house signs.  One of the more colorful ones, on North Elm Street, says "Margaritaville."  It features a parrot sipping a margarita.

 Is the parrot "wasting away"?  If so, does he realize that he has no one but himself to blame?  (If Jimmy Buffett could figure this out, a parrot probably could too.) 

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In installment 14  of this series, I mentioned the big white house whose sign carries a White Castle logo.  That's just one of the brands displayed on house signs in Oxford. 

Across College Avenue from the house with the large supply of Red Bull is another white house with a logo for St. Pauli Girl beer.  It identifies the inhabitants of the house as "St Pauli Girls."

A few blocks further south on Colege is one of the more clever product logo signs.  It carries the name "Jager Stadium", with an umlaut over the a in both "Jager" and "Stadium".  (Miami's football stadium is named Yager Stadium.)  At the top of the sign is the logo for Jagermeister liqueur, a stag with a cross between its antlers.

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On Collins Street, in the south end of Oxford, the house signs feature puns on the name of the street combined with jokes about drinking.  In other words, they're like the signs everywhere else in Oxford.

Specifically,  these signs use "Coll" in place of "Call".  One has a picture of some shot glasses and the words "Collin the Shots."  Across the street is one that says "Late Night:  CollinSick".  Another one says "Last Coll."  A fourth one identifies its inhabitants as "Coll Girls." 

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In the first installment in this series, I mentioned that a house at the corner of College and Sycamore carries a sign proclaiming its tenants to be "Syc-A-College."

Seven blocks to the south, at the corner of College and Spring, is a house with a sign that says "Ace-ing College".  It's across the street from Ace Hardware, apparently a location more conducive to academic success--or at least to the perception of academic success.

Tags: oxford oh signs

A number of Oxford house signs have puns on the word "inn". 

Most of these puns are pretty easy to understand.  

For example, a house on the corner of Campus and Spring has the sign "Cornered Inn".  Just north of it is "Stagger Inn."

Another one, on South Popular Street, has a sign that says "Chick Inn".  It has a picture of some baby chicks, presumably representing the "chicks" who are renting the house. 

But there's one on South College Avenue that I've never understood until recently.  It reads "Blumpk-Inn."

Having no idea what this meant, I did a quick search, then wished I hadn't once I saw the result.  This is a bit of mind pollution I could have done without.

The sign is on a beautiful old house, one that deserves a better sign.  As heavy-handed as the Oxford city government is, I'm surprised they haven't had this one taken down.

Tags: oxford oh signs

When a chapter of Alpha Delta Phi was founded at Miami in 1835, it was, according to the late Walter Havighurst, "the first fraternity west of the Alleghenies"  (The Miami Years, p. 91)

Soon other groups of students founded competing secret organizations.  As a result, several national fraternities got their start in Oxford.   Miami has long advertised itself as "Mother of Fraternities." 

The early fraternities had admirable goals.  They wanted to promote moral, social, and intellectual growth.  Overall, things have gone downhill since 1835.  

The spirit of today's fraternities is captured well in a very clever sign on a house at the corner of Beech and Spring Streets.  This sign bears the title, Tappa Kegga Day.  

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Thinking about Eccl 3:3 again, this seems to be an advantageous time for property owners in Oxford to rebuild and renovate.  In particular, some High Street business owners are rebuilding and adding apartments in hopes of generating more rental income. 

Over the last few weeks, the building that used to house the High Street Grill has been torn down.  The demolition makes visible a sign for an Oxford business that no longer exists.  On the east side of the current Follett's bookstore, the words "Cullen Priting" can now be seen in script lettering.  

This is a name I hadn't heard of before.  I don't believe Cullen Printing was still open when we arrived in 1984.  A quick Google Search turns up the names of some books on local history that were printed by Cullen Printing, with dates ranging from 1947 to 1963.  So I wonder how old the script lettering is.  Dating this old sign would be a fun puzzle for some local urban archaeologist.

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The Prebyterian seminary building at the corner of Church and Popular is one of the oldest buildings in town.  The date 1838 appears high up on the front of the building. 

The presence of this august structure apparently causes students in nearby houses to acknowledge their transgressions.   A house next door has a sign saying "RePent House".  A sign across the street says, "The Confessional:  Sinners Welcome."

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Just north of "Bacchanalia" is an olive green house with a sign that is hard to make out from a distance. 

Closer examination reveals that the sign says "Absinthe Minded".   Absinthe is usually green, so this is another sign that draws inspiration from the color of the house in addition to making an alcohol-based pun.

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Not all the houses in Oxford are painted in pastel colors.  There's a bright orange house on North Campus Avenue, for example.  And across the street from it,  there's a recently renovated house with new burgundy-colored siding.

This burgundy-colored house has a sign that reads "Bacchanalia."  This sign made me think of Ecclesiastes 3:3, which says that there is

"a time to tear down, and a tiime to build ."

An old house has been renovated.  Now a group of Bacchus-worshipping undergraduates will proceed to trash the place with wild parties.

Vanity of vanities.......... But there's good news here too.  This endless cycle generates more work for local carpenters.  Should the carpenters' union subsidize the parties?

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When we lived in Halifax, one thing we often noticed was the variety of bright colors used to paint the houses.

The palette in Oxford is much more bland---lots of white houses and pastels.  In this enviroment, the signs help one distinguish one pale house from another. 

On the corner of Campus and Church, there's a white house with green trim whose sign reads "Green with Envy".  It's not clear what the object of the envy is.  There's nothing too spectacular about the surrounding buildings.

Next to "Green with Envy" is a pale blue house with a sign reading "Blue Lagoon".   I'm not sure what the reference is here..  Are we supposed to think of the old Brooke Shields movie, the spa in Iceland, or some bar, restaurant, or hotel with that name? 

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This week the sign outside the Catholic Church on High Street carries the following message:

"Honk if you love Jesus.  Text while driving if you would like to meet him right away."

Tags: humor, oxford oh signs

I have heard that 2010 is the 50th anniversary of the publication of the popular American novel To Kill a Mockingbird. 

Later in the 1960s, the popular television show Get Smart had an episode about a valuable artifact called the Tequila Mockingbird, which was supposed to be Mexico's answer to the Maltese Falcon.

I was reminded of this by a sign on North Main Street that carries the name "Tequila Mockingbird".  Are the house's occupants fans of Get Smart, or were they just attracted by an alcohol-related pun on the title of a popular novel?  Either way, it's one of the better signs in town.

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One popular source of ideas for house signs is the appearance of the house.  For years one dilapidated house on Church Street had a sign that read  "The Tiltin' HIlton".   A brown-colored house on Elm Street was simply designated "The Brown House."

On Campus Avenue there's a big white house whose sign says "White Castle".  The sign bears a logo of the popular hamburger chain. 

I hope the chain gives the kids from that house some kind of a discount.

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Years ago our children watched Barney, the purple dinosaur, on TV. 

The other day I saw him again when I was walking home from work.  He was on a sign on a house on North Main Street, holding a mug of beer.  The sign said "Drunkosaurus."  

You'd drink too if you had to make hundreds of episodes of that mind-numbing show.

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Along with queens and eights, Oxford house signs include deuces. 

On North College Avenue, between Aspin and Syc-A-College, is a house with a sign reading "WIld Card."  It features a picture of two deuces together under the sheets, the presumed source of the wildness. 

Did the parents of the occupants give their OK to this sign?  I wouldn't bet on it.

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The playing card motif is a popular one for house signs in Oxford. 

A house on Walnut Street has a sign reading "Krazy Eights" with a picture of the four eights from  a deck of cards.  The house is quite large;  it appears to have plenty of room for eight tenants to coexist and even be a little crazy.

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Another house sign expressing friendship appears on a little house on Withrow Street.  It says "Four of a Kind", and has a picture of the 4 queens from a deck of cards.  From this we may infer that the house is rented to four female students.  Given how small the house is, it would be best if the occupants got along well. 

The current sign at this house is considered to be an upgrade over the previous one.  That same house used to have a sign that read "Everyone Poops" and featured a picture based on the last page of that popular children's book.   The picture gave a rear view of a boy and several animals all demonstrating the book's simple premise.

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A number of the Oxford house signs are expressions of friendship. 

For example, on Vine Street there's a house with a sign that says "Six Pack of Buds".  Presumably six drinking buddies live there.  The sign features 6 small beer bottles;  The bottles have little arms with hands extended, and they are holding hands. 

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Many of the house signs on Beech Street feature some kind of pun on the word "beech". 

For example, just north of Serendipity is a large house with a sign bearing a picture of a peach and the words "Beechy Keen".

And across the street from "Beechy Keen" is "Pebble Beech", a house with a beautiful arrangement of stones on the outside.  The sign is in the shape of the flags used to mark the holes at a golf course.

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When I  headed for campus this afternoon, I was thinking about the things I had to do and didn't pay too much attenttion to the exact route I was taking. I just headed southeast. 

A few minutes later I looked up.  I was on North Beech Street, in front of a house called Serendipity.  This seemed fitting.

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During this past academic  year, a brick house at the corner of Elm and Withrow had a sign that looked like a sign from the entrance of a summer camp. In big letters it said  BUKALAKACHAKA.

I don't know what this title means.  It sounds like a good name for a lake in the woods or a summer camp. 

A google search informs me that Bukala and Kachaka are the names of two Zambian cities.  Perhaps that was the motivation for the sign.

The sign is gone now, and it's just as well.  When I walked by it, I often felt compelled to stop for a second and see if could figure out how to pronounce that funny title on the sign.  Now I no longer struggle with it.

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Most of the house signs in Oxford are intended to have double meanings.  Sometimes this is obvious.  Other times I wonder if I am reading too much into the meaning of a particular sign.

One example is 204 North Main Street, right across from the hospital.  The sign at this address simply has the house number, and underneath the house number the word "Skins" next to Miami University's old Redskin logo.

For many years, Miami athletic teams were called  the Redskins, intended as a tribute to the Miami tribe that used to live in southwestern Ohio. 

But in the 1990s, it became clear that the name would have to be changed.  There were lots of complaints.  Eventually the tribal leaders told us to drop the Redskin logo.  And so Miami teams became the Redhawks.  But the old Skins logo still shows up here and there.

So the sign at 204 N. Main seems to be a tribute to the old logo. 

On the other hand, if you read the sign out loud, you could say it , "Two Hundred Foreskins."  This gives the sign an entirely different connotation, located as it is right across from the hospital. 

Could this be...

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In between The Box Office and the theater is the old town mortuary.  A few years ago the proprietors decided to move their business to a different location that offered  much more room for parking.  When they moved, they started renting out their old building to groups of students.

This house is in a good location, close to campus and uptown restaurants.  Apparently it's a popular rental property.  Above the front porch the students have mounted the words "Dying to Get In". 

Below this sign the occupants have hung a row of vodka containers.  Is the vodka part of the enbalming process, I wonder?

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A house on the corner or Beech and Church Streets has a sign with the name "The Box Office".  The sign reflects the house's proximity to the local movie theater, just half a block away. 

A number of Oxford houses have signs referring to nearby landmarks.  Sherry reminded me yesterday that back when there was a Day's Inn in Oxford, a nearby house sported a sign with the name "NIghts Out". 

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At the corner of College Avenue and Vine Street is a beautiful house that looks a little like a mountain chalet.  The owner, who built the house, lived in it for a number of years before going on to build more houses.  He now rents this one to a group of students. 

A few years ago the students put up a sign  that says, "Aspin:  Where the Beer Flows Like Wine".  They may have been under the influence of the beer when they made the sign, since they misspelled "Aspen". 

As we'll see on our tour, many of the Oxford house signs make jokes about alcoholic beverages. 

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I spend many happy hours walking back and forth across this little college town on the way to and from work. 

In the Mile Square, the old part of town, many of the houses are rented to groups of students.  The students like to identify their houses by putting up signs bearing catchy names.  Anyone walkng across Oxford will see a number of them. 

One of the cleverest ones is at the corner of Sycamore Street and College Avenue, a block from the post office.  It carries a picture of a street sign and proclaims that its occupants are Syc-a-College. 

  Let's hope these students will be  ready to go again after a summer away from Oxford. 

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