"Many people have never stopped to realize how many of their fond memories involve advertising signs. Although these neon spectaculars, billboards and even signs painted directly onto brick walls were created expressly to persuade customers or tourists to patronize businesses, many church signs remained in place for so long that they became landmarks in their own right. Signs like the Shoney's Big Boy towering over the area and the iconic Bilmar Motor Inn sign are now a part of history. Author Tim Hollis has scoured various archives to compile some of the best remembered, or most obscure, signs to dot the Tennessee landscape, whether for tourist attractions, restaurants, department stores, gas stations or many other roadside fixtures." --

A terrific, lavishly illustrated look at the fascinating world of American roadside signs.

Most people do not stop to realize how many of their fond memories involve advertising signs. Although these neon spectaculars, billboards, and even signs painted directly onto brick walls were created expressly to persuade customers to buy products or patronize businesses, many such signs remained in place for so long that they became beloved landmarks in their own right. For Images of America: Vintage Birmingham Signs, Tim Hollis has scoured the archives of Birmingham's former sign companies, as well as other private collections, to compile some of the best remembered or most obscure signs that dotted the urban and suburban landscape. Here readers will again see the Buffalo Rock bottle pouring its ginger ale into a glass, the Golden Flake clown smiling down at passersby, the Barber's milk clock at the Five Points South intersection, and many more. Through these vintage photographs, readers can once again visit such once-thriving destinations as Eastwood Mall, Burger in a Hurry, and the Kiddieland amusement park.

Created by the federal government in 1933 to revitalize a region twice the size of New England, the Tennessee Valley Authority began as an experiment of unprecedented proportions. Seen here through picture postcards, the dramatic achievements of the TVA take on a personal aspect, as individuals visit the hydroelectric projects and enjoy the newly created recreational opportunities. Tangible benefits are also documented, such as improved navigation, new roads and bridges, and abundant and inexpensive electricity. Influenced by such visionaries as Gifford Pinchot, Theodore Roosevelt, and George Norris, the agency also dealt with regional issues, including river commerce, soil conservation, and flood control.

W. C. Handy, Furry Lewis, Booker White, Lillie May Glover, Roosevelt Sykes, Arthur Crudup, B. B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, Muddy Waters -- these and other musicians, singers, and songwriters, including the young Elvis Presley, eventually went to Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, to learn, improve, and practice their art. "To Handy and untold other blacks, Beale became as much a symbol of escape from black despair as Harriet Tubman's underground railroad," says Margaret McKee and Fred Chisenhall. They present Beale as a living microcosm of determination, survival, and change -- from its early days as a raucous haven for gamblers and grafters and as a black show business center to its present-day languishing. Choosing the former newspaper columnist, disc jockey, and schoolteacher Nat. D. Williams, as their main authority for the first part of this volume -- the street's history -- the authors have selected an individual with wisdom, perspective, and a distinctive voice that speaks from a lifetime of experience on Beale. His radio show on WDIA, "Tan Town Jamboree," was heard by thirteen-year-old Elvis Presley. Nat D. said, "We had a boast that if you made it on Beale Street, you can make it anywhere. And Elvis Presley made it on Beale first." Another Beale Streeter recalls, "He got that shaking, that wiggle, from Charlie Burse -- Ukulele Ike we called him -- right there at the Gray Mule on Beale." The street's history is richly complemented by the rare, extensive interviews that constitute the second half of the volume. "We undertook our research," the authors tell us, "not as a study of the blues but of the blues musicians themselves. They were a dying breed, these wandering minstrels who had become the principal storytellers of their people." Most of the musicians interviewed grew up in the rural southern areas where the authors found them, sometimes not far from their early homes. They tell of the music that took them to Memphis' street of the living blues. All show a resilience to despair, despite life's harsh times. Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, who never received his accumulated royalties, shrugs, "I come here with nothing and I ain't going away with nothing, and it's no need worrying my life with it." In the life of Beale Street and in the conversations of its musicians, we experience with penetrating awareness a delicate balance of humor, courage, and pain.

This book is William's symbol for the military-industrial complex and all the dehumanizing trends it represents from mindless cocktail party chatter to bribery of officials to assassination plots directed against those who won't play the game, to attempted coups by right-wing zealots.

"...Extraordinary: Gibbs has popped the hood and taken apart the engine of commercial design and development, showing us each individual part and explaining fit, form and function." —Yaromir Steiner, Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Steiner + Associates "...the most comprehensive and expansive book ever written on the subject of Retail Real Estate Development. Gibbs is by far the most prominent advocate for reforming retail planning and development in order to return American cities to economic and physical prominence." –Stefanos Polyzoides, Moule & Polyzoides Architects & Urbanists The retail environment has evolved rapidly in the past few decades, with the retailing industry and its placement and design of "brick-and-mortar" locations changing with evolving demographics, shopping behavior, transportation options and a desire in recent years for more unique shopping environments. Written by a leading expert, this is a guide to planning for retail development for urban planners, urban designers and architects. It includes an overview of history of retail design, a look at retail and merchandising trends, and principles for current retail developments. Principles of Urban Retail Planning and Development will: Provide insight and techniques necessary for historic downtowns and new urban communities to compete with modern suburban shopping centers. Promote sustainable community building and development by making it more profitable for the shopping center industry to invest in historic cities or to develop walkable urban communities. Includes case studies of recent good examples of retail development