TBay Ont Safeway sign: 1950s or 1970s?

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Andrew T.
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TBay Ont Safeway sign: 1950s or 1970s?

Post by Andrew T. »

Here in Thunder Bay, Ontario, a Safeway store has operated at 115 Arthur Street West since June 1959. There's a catch, though: The building has been torn down and rebuilt on the same site twice, first in 1977 and then in 1991. So the current store is only about thirty years old. (Damn, 1991 was 30 years ago now?!)

The sign on the street corner is older than that, however, and is obviously a relic of the "circle-S" era; modifications notwithstanding. I've dredged up a few historical photographs of the site, but none have the sign visible. So, a big question for the Safeway experts here: Is this sign from 1959, or 1977?
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Re: TBay Ont Safeway sign: 1950s or 1970s?

Post by Groceteria »

Based on others I've seen and the basic footprint, my guess is 1959 but with drastic alterations over the years.
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Re: TBay Ont Safeway sign: 1950s or 1970s?

Post by Andrew T. »

Great. Do you have pictures of any similar or identical signs?

Oddly enough, it seems as if Safeway's signs got more elaborate over the course of the Marina era, not less. This one's in Winnipeg, and dates to 1963:
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Re: TBay Ont Safeway sign: 1950s or 1970s?

Post by Super S »

It looks like the top portion of both of those signs was replaced when they went to the 1980s era "square" S logo judging by the shape. The current Safeway logo is slightly more rounded.
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