Button Copy Freeway Signs

For most of my life, I have always seen button copy signs on every freeway in Southern California. This was because the state of California and Caltrans used only use button copy signs on the freeways for many decades. Sadly, many of those signs are now gone for two reasons: First, most of those signs date back between the late 1950’s to the early 1970’s, which meant that many of those signs are at least 40 years and that they are showing a lot of wear and tear and second, according to Wikipedia, no company has produced new button copy signs since the early 2000’s or so. This means that all the old button copy signs on L.A.-area freeways will eventually be replaced with newer reflective freeway signs that are already used in just about other state. In addition, the new signs will also include exit numbers, as required by federal law; California long had a waiver for this requirement, but that was stuck down in the courts in 2001.

This an example of an old button copy sign on a L.A.-area freeway

The old button copy signs meant a lot of memories to me. We often pass by those signs whenever we were going to just about anywhere. I also found that these signs have a historical story in them. Some of those signs have been changed numerous times. One example was that some old button copy signs have green plates to cover routes that no longer exists in the area, like U.S. 6, U.S. 395, CA-11(now CA/I-110) , or CA-7(now I-710). The 11 freeway became the 110 freeway in 1981 and the 7 freeway became the 710 freeway in 1984. In addition, most old freeway signs have the freeway name on it, but on newer signs, including later model button copy signs no longer mentions the freeway name and replaces it with the direction of the freeway (north, south, east, and west).

To put this into more detail, older button copy signs were initially made of steel, then switched to aluminum in 1985. The letters were made of porcelain and attached to the steel or aluminum body.  Also, the shade of green used on California freeway signs were darker than those of other states, as well as newer freeway signs in California. Another unique aspect was that button copy freeway signs were supposed to last longer that conventional freeway signs (40 years, compared to usual 15 years) and reflector dots were added lettering to the signs because the signs themselves were not reflective; later button copy signs had those built-in. Lastly, the old freeway signs cost more to make than regular freeway signs.

Some L.A. freeways now have these kinds of signs that are already used elsewhere

Today, many Southern California freeways still have button copy signs, but most are now showing its age, especially the older steel ones. Some signs have rust in it, while others appears to be very dirty and hard to read, because the glue used in the signs ages after many years. Newer button copy signs, on the other hand is showing some warping and color changing. On some stretches of freeway in Los Angeles, the button copy signs are practically all but gone because of widening projects and/or the age of the signs and the newer reflective signs with exit numbers are now in place.

I predict that sooner or later, button copy signs will be thing of the past on L.A. freeways, just like call boxes, as mentioned in an earlier post. It is already a thing of the past elsewhere.

This site has more pictures of old button copy signs – some still there, some gone.

Special Thanks to: Daniel Faigin, Mike Ballard, and aaroads.com.

Pacific Ocean Park: L.A.’s Forgetten Theme Park

This is a circa 1959 post card of Pacific Ocean Park

Back in the 1950’s and 60’s, there was a seaside park in Santa Monica, California that tried to compete with rivals Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm and would have also competed against Six Flags Magic Mountain, which did not open until 1971. It was called Pacific Ocean Park and today, this park is very much forgotten by many.

Located in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica, near the Pacific Ocean itself, Pacific Ocean Park or POP for short was a large theme park that had many ocean-themed attractions, including some that were similar to some of the attractions offered at rival Disneyland at the time. Some of the rides were even sponsored by corporations, just like Disneyland. Some of the notable attractions include: the Westinghouse Submarine Exhibit, the Union 76 Ocean Highway (similar to Autopia), Davy Jones Locker, The Flying Dutchman (similar to Pirates of the Caribbean), the Mahi-Mahi tower, the Sea Serpent, a large wooden rollercoaster, Mr. Dolphin, Mrs. Squid, Mr. Octopus, and Space Wheels, which was basically two Ferris wheels fused together.

POP was first opened in 1958, as a joint venture of CBS and Santa Anita, which also operates the Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia, California. It had a promising start with about 20,000 visitors on opening day, then increased to 37,000 the next day, beating Disneyland for that day. By 1959, it had attracted 1.2 million visitors. Another notable thing about POP was its admission price. The all day adult admission for most attractions was just 90 cents (it would have probably cost a lot more today). Some rides required an additional fee.

A 1959 photo of the aerial skyway and the Sea Serpent rollercoaster at POP.

However, by the 1960’s, POP fell on hard times. CBS and Santa Anita had sold the park to John Morehead for $10 million. The new owner wanted POP to run as a small family park, instead of competing against Disneyland or Knott’s Berry Farm. Unfortunately, Morehead made some bad decisions that would led to the demise of POP. First, Morehead wanted a single price for all visitors coming to POP, which was $1.50 for adults and $1.00 for children. Second, the increased cost to operate the park, forced that park to skimp on maintenance. As a result, most rides tend to break down very often and the ocean currents only made it worse. Lastly, the neighborhood near POP deteriorated has beggars and the homeless rule the streets near the park. By 1965, attendance fell dramatically to only 600,000 visitors, then 400,000 the following year. In addition, the city decided to completely rebuild the Ocean Park neighborhood, making POP difficult for visitors to find.

By 1967, after only 9 years of operation, POP would close its doors for good and all of its assets were auctioned off in early 1968. The last decaying remnants of POP were destroyed in a series of fires in the early 1970’s. Today, the area where Pacific Ocean Park once stood is just another beach in the city of Santa Monica, with nothing to remind visitors that POP used to be there.

Click here for a map of Pacific Ocean Park.

Thanks to Jeffrey Stanton & Wikipedia for providing some of the information about Pacific Ocean Park.