H&C Coffee and Dr Pepper neon advertising signs at dusk, Roanoke, Virginia
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Just a few yards down Campbell Avenue from the City Market Building in downtown Roanoke is one of the stand-out features of the local skyline. Originating from 1946 after one of the founders of H&C Coffee Company, Harold Wood (the C being his brother Clarence), took a trip to New York and saw the neon advertising signs used there.
The H&C Coffee sign was originally atop the H&C Coffee Company’s roasting plant until the plant was torn down in the 1960s. The sign was moved to an adjacent building on Salem Avenue. The sign, though, still looks out across Campbell Avenue.
No longer situated under its iconic sign, H&C Coffee is still in business.
Also seen in the image above is the Dr. Pepper sign. The company sells more Dr Pepper in the Roanoke Valley area than any other metropolitan area east of the Mississippi River. The city broke world records for its mass consumption of Dr Pepper in the late 1950s, being named the “Dr Pepper Capital of the World” in 1957. Dr Pepper donated a portion of its sales revenue in the Roanoke area to finance restoration of a circa-1950s neon Dr Pepper sign.
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| September 26, 2013
The H&C sign is a really clever piece of artwork complete with pouring coffee. I like the contrast with Dr Pepper. One would look lost without the other.
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| September 26, 2013
Many thanks, Andy.