The Travelers, Des Moines, IA
Iconic neon sign for the Travelers Insurance, atop the Insurance Exchange Building, 5th and Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa. The umbrella sign was erected in the spring of 1963, replacing a Mobil Oil sign, which included a winged horse, that topped the ten-story Insurance Exchange Building during the 1940s and '50s. The umbrella could have suffered the same fate as the Mobil sign and lasted only a decade or so, if the MacVicar Freeway hadn't been built about the same time. The freeway, now known as Interstate Highway 235, increased the value of the sign. Once the highway was completed in 1965, the sign with its red neon umbrella became a calling card for Des Moines. For years, the 50-foot wide umbrella dominated the city's night skyline, catching the attention of thousands who sped past on the freeway. Fully lit, it is still one of the first sights that drivers from the east notice when approaching the downtown on I-235.
When the sign first appeared atop the Insurance Exchange Building, the Iowa office of Connecticut-based Travelers Insurance Co. occupied the 10th floor of the Insurance Exchange Building. In 1967, though, the office moved to 215 Keosauqua Way; in 1978, it moved again to West Des Moines. The sign remained downtown, however, and in 1979 it won an exemption from a then-new city sign ordinance limiting the size of advertising signs.
The sign faced a tougher test in 1995, when Travelers abandoned the umbrella in its national advertising and allowed a lease on the downtown sign to expire. When Travelers gave up on the umbrella in 1995, Eagle Sign & Advertising said it would cost $20,000 to tear down the sign. That's when the building's owner stepped in and agreed to maintain the sign as a Des Moines landmark.
The Travelers, Des Moines, IA
Iconic neon sign for the Travelers Insurance, atop the Insurance Exchange Building, 5th and Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa. The umbrella sign was erected in the spring of 1963, replacing a Mobil Oil sign, which included a winged horse, that topped the ten-story Insurance Exchange Building during the 1940s and '50s. The umbrella could have suffered the same fate as the Mobil sign and lasted only a decade or so, if the MacVicar Freeway hadn't been built about the same time. The freeway, now known as Interstate Highway 235, increased the value of the sign. Once the highway was completed in 1965, the sign with its red neon umbrella became a calling card for Des Moines. For years, the 50-foot wide umbrella dominated the city's night skyline, catching the attention of thousands who sped past on the freeway. Fully lit, it is still one of the first sights that drivers from the east notice when approaching the downtown on I-235.
When the sign first appeared atop the Insurance Exchange Building, the Iowa office of Connecticut-based Travelers Insurance Co. occupied the 10th floor of the Insurance Exchange Building. In 1967, though, the office moved to 215 Keosauqua Way; in 1978, it moved again to West Des Moines. The sign remained downtown, however, and in 1979 it won an exemption from a then-new city sign ordinance limiting the size of advertising signs.
The sign faced a tougher test in 1995, when Travelers abandoned the umbrella in its national advertising and allowed a lease on the downtown sign to expire. When Travelers gave up on the umbrella in 1995, Eagle Sign & Advertising said it would cost $20,000 to tear down the sign. That's when the building's owner stepped in and agreed to maintain the sign as a Des Moines landmark.