Men Working, c. 1940s Hand-painted Hardboard Sign on Wooden Post antique photos Surface aging as evident but

Surface aging as evident but completely indestructible

The wood shows some spotting but no cracking and has a nice warm patina

The back rest of the one at left in first photo slants back a bit as if the more relaxed of the two

This wonderful cyanotype does invite filling in a backstory

with an early incarnation of the lettering still visible under the current hand-painted version

Men Working, c. 1940s Hand-painted Hardboard Sign on Wooden Post antique photos Surface aging as evident butI find the clean, bold, hand painted black letters against oyster white ground here satisfying and quite beautiful, but most of all, when I found this, I was thinking about all of the contexts in which might resonate and situations it might serve to contextualize earnestly and poignantly, and critically satirically, all. No end of possibilities. In its black against white capital lettered spareness and declarativeness, it makes me think of I Am A Man