More Pesky Government Guidelines

Pesky rules certainly get in the way, don’t they? One of those pesky guidelines dictated by the state department of transportation is the color of street and other traffic signs. It hasn’t been that long ago that Florence had to redo some signs depicting its lily/fleur de lis/giglio logo due to their lack of sufficient contrast.

Now the Student Government Association at UNA wants Florence to change out street signs in the downtown area. According to the student who designed the new purple signage, the green signs are “dull.” We agree, but the law clearly states street signs must be white, brown, green, or blue. This works out nicely for such a university town as Auburn which uses blue signs, but not so well for Florence where purple signs would mean a loss of state funding.

After being rebuffed by Florence’s media czar Phil Stevenson, the SGA has turned to the Florence Chamber of Commerce for assistance. Hugo Dante, designer of the purple post toppers, has lamented that the chamber has yet to answer.

Perhaps the chamber simply hasn’t had time to respond, or perhaps it doesn’t intend to. If the latter is true, this is a great life lesson for the undergrads. No matter how innovative, attractive, or practical your idea may be, don’t expect your elected officials, must less those appointed, to give you the courtesy of a reply.

*****

*****

As we searched for a photo of one of the larger green/gold Florence signs, we found something else. Below is a colorized 1942 photo of downtown Florence. The black and white original has been offered for years on eBay, but this is the first colorized version we’ve seen:

Colorized by Patty Allison