Project Description

Some signs are landmarks. This one is an institution.

Gunther’s Ice Cream has been scooping on Franklin Boulevard in Sacramento since 1940 — and that neon sign has been watching over the neighborhood for most of it. The multi-armed soda jerk juggling cones above the roofline is the kind of mid-century commercial signage that cities used to produce without a second thought and now preserve with considerable effort. It’s exuberant, specific, and completely irreplaceable.

The building underneath holds up its end of the bargain — a curved glass storefront with a low canopy and stone base that is pure late 1940s commercial vernacular. Saucer-shaped pendant lights visible through the glass. A line that forms regardless of the season. People sitting on the bench outside because there are always people sitting on the bench outside.

Sacramento has a lot of history. Not all of it involves politics and gold. Some of it involves sticky fingers and a walk back to the car on a late afternoon in winter when the light hits that sign just right.