Welcome to the virtual home of the
Concord Sign Museum
A Visual Display of Concord's Commercial History
Signs are an essential part of a community's history.
Signs are not made hastily; a ton of thinking and dreaming goes into every one.
Ultimately, they reflect the personality of the owner and the values of the organization.
Collectively, they reflect the character of a town.
Together, we can capture and share the commercial history of our town.
SIGNS MATTER
We have assembled a collection of more than 60 classic signs from all over Concord that aim to help tell the story of our community in the 20th century.
Some of these signs were associated with organizations that are still in business, while others belonged to companies that have been gone for years.
We hope this collection will trigger a torrent of memories for people who have lived in this community for many years, and we hope you will share those stories on this website.
By sharing those stories, you can help preserve the memories of the women and men whose businesses are the bedrock of this community.
We welcome your input and feedback.
John Boynton, Proprietor
jb@bradfordmill.com
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
LOCATION
The Concord Sign Museum is located in the heart of West Concord.
The museum is open for self-guided tours from 9-5 each weekday.
The museum contains over 60 signs that will be familiar to many. Most date from the 20th century after World War II. Many were acquired from Billy Crosby, Concord's preeminent sign maker, and others were donated or are on loan from their owners.
In time, this website will include a page for each sign that tells the story of the people behind it, including history, artifacts, and video interviews with those who can add color and depth to the signs themselves. We will rely on you to supply the stories that will bring the Museum to life.
Many of you know more about these signs than we do, so we are going to make it easy for you to share that information with everybody (think Wikipedia). This site will become more valuable over time.
We want this to be a community effort, and we thank you for your interest and participation.
With thanks,
John Boynton, Proprietor
Billy Crosby, Creator
43 Bradford Street, West Concord, MA 01742
CSM IN THE NEWS
In Concord, a museum preserves signs of the times BOSTON GLOBE 6/17/21
Concord Sign Museum grand opening WICKED LOCAL 9/16/21
Concord Sign Museum invokes nostalgia for bygone businesses CONCORD JOURNAL 9/16/21
DONATIONS
We are grateful to everybody who has made a donation to the museum.
If you have a sign from a longstanding business or organization that you would like to donate to the museum, we would be happy to discuss our criteria and process for donations.