From Sapulpa’s earliest days as a town in Indian Territory, business and civic leaders marketed their developing town using various slogans—everything from “The Oil Capital of the Southwest” to “Crossroads of the Nation.” [Today we call that “branding.”]
Founders wanting their new town to develop touted resources of water, lumber, clay, crops and natural gas.
The railroad had extended its tracks into Indian Territory and Sapulpa became a “Railroad Town.” There were buildings to erect, infrastructure to construct, generators to install, and overhead lines to power the electric trolley system.
All these things were promoted and photographed. But it was the discovery of oil on the Ida Glenn Indian allotment in 1905 and its aftermath that caused a huge lighted sign to be erected over Hobson Street near the Frisco Depot proclaiming “Sapulpa, The Oil City of the Southwest.”
Now Larry White, a local history buff and collector of old signs, big and small, has had a replica of the old sign refabricated (albeit less than a third of its original size) and attached to the east side of his Signs of the Times Event Center on East Hobson Street.
That building is a piece of history in itself. It is the old stables where Sapulpa’s first fire engine (actually a team of big draft horses) was housed.
The horses, sometimes seen with their heads protruding from the two huge open windows now covered by the new “old” sign, could readily be harnessed and taken to the nearby City Hall to the east and hitched to the fire-fighting equipment.
The building also is where one of Sapulpa’s foremost companies, Paragon Steel, got its start.
White, owner of Emco Pest Control and a member of the Sapulpa Historical Society Board has been collecting old signs for some time and a few years ago acquired and restored the old garage building to display the signs as well as a wide array of other memorabilia. It also is used for a host of parties and community events.
As in several previous projects, White employed local restorer Bob Boren to construct and install the sign complete with the grey background and LED floodlights.
The two estimate more than 120 hours over several weeks were expended on the project. Letters and art were hand cut from 16 guage steel with a plasma cutter using a picture post card as a model. Reproduction is precise from the “SAPULPA” scroll at top to the flames that spell “OIL.” Cost: $500.
The original sign on this one is long gone. Pulled down 60 years ago, it was 38 feet and spanned E. Hobson Street. It was lighted with electric-powered light bulbs.
Early photos show men standing within the structure when it was being constructed. It has been suggested that Boren should add cutouts of himself and White to the sign adding to its current “back to the future” novelty.
“I don’t think Sapulpa knows what they have in Boren’s abilities,” White said. “He is really talented and responsible for restoring so many neat old things around Sapulpa.”
But Boren said that it’s White who’s the “get ‘er done guy.”
“I really like working with Larry,” Boren said. “I am happy to be a part.”
“If it wasn’t for Larry White and his interest in preserving local history we would forever lose so many of these wonderful treasures,” Boren said. “I am glad to help him bring these old things back to life.”
Old signs, barber poles and the chair, old bikes and pedal cars all are remnants of yesteryear in and around Sapulpa.
Take the Criterion Theatre sign for instance. Part of it heavily deteriorated. As Boren bent, welded, re-fabricated parts of it, painted and made look original, he remembered:
“I used to pick up [return for deposit] pop bottles to make enough money for myself and two brothers to go to there for a movie.”
A current project for White includes restoring a tractor-style pedal toy. Boren’s handiwork is featured throughout the event center’s covered walls and hanging from the ceiling. There is the Bovaird Supply Sign, the Dewey Hotel sign and BC Cafe.
“I hope the community realizes how much effort and money Larry has invested to allow where people can look at it and remember back when,” Boren said.
Even before he retired from Bartlett Collins Glass Company where he worked much of his life—from floor boy to plant superintendent—Boren had a reputation as a restorer. The list includes several old model A Ford coupes and roadsters including the perfect condition 1931 pickup that he still has; gas pumps, signs, a whole collection of pedal car toys, and the Swiss Army bike he did for White.
