Shop Trucks revisited: 1981 to 1997

In 1980, during SignCraft magazine’s first year, we began inviting sign people to send photos of their best piece of advertising: their shop truck. They took us up on the offer and over the next 45 years, they sent us hundreds, maybe thousands, of photos of their shop vehicles. Starting in issue No. 8, we began featuring a page or two of them whenever we had the space.

The trucks we received used just about every design approach—casual to formal, laid back and subtle to screaming supergraphics. Some used a clean, almost corporate look while others were folksy. There were plenty of restored vintage vehicles in the mix, too.

Here are a two dozen examples from our “Shop Trucks” features from 1981 through 1998. The earliest were published long before digital images and scanners had replaced traditional color photography so the images are not as sharp than they would be today.

Though these images are nearly 30 years old (as you can tell by the vehicles!), effective, creative designs are timeless. Affordable digital printing and CNC routing didn’t arrive on the scene until the mid- to late-nineties, so the most of the illustrations and carving on these were done by hand.

We still like to see great-looking shop trucks, so send yours to signcraft@signcraft.com today!

We published our first “Shop Trucks” page in our Winter 1981 issue.

Signs & Things, Naples, Florida – SignCraft, July/August 1986

Carl Markham Signs, Huntingdon Beach, California – SignCraft, July/August 1986

Gable Signs & Graphics, Pasadena, Maryland – SignCraft, July/August 1986

Sign Art, New Zealand – SignCraft, September/October 1990

Aspinall Sign Company, New Zealand – SignCraft, September/October 1990

Art Signs, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia – SignCraft, September/October 1990

Crocodile Creek Signs, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia – SignCraft, September/October 1992

Dave Meredith Signs, Colorado Springs, Colorado – SignCraft, May/June 1994

Crank’s Signs, Redding, California – SignCraft, September/October 1994

David Design, David Showalter, Bryan, Ohio – SignCraft, September/October 1994. You’ll see his previous shop truck from 1981 up above!

Graffiti Signs, Merseyside, England – SignCraft, September/October 1994

Holy Cow Signs & Graphics, Perth, Ontario, Canada – SignCraft, September/October 1994

Jeff’s Graphics, Jeff Devey, Twin Falls, Idaho – SignCraft, September/October 1994

Paul Martin Design, Citrus Heights, California – SignCraft, September/October 1994

Morales Signs & Designs, Detroit, Michigan – SignCraft, September/October 1994

Pete’s Custom Signs, Lathrop, Missouri– SignCraft, September/October 1994

Signsations Signmakers, Charlestown, Rhode Island – SignCraft, September/October 1994

Stemska Lettering, Goffstown, New Hampshire – SignCraft, September/October 1994

Haney Signs, Monticello, Arkansas – SignCraft, March/April 1997

Perry Signs, Bob Perry, Brading, Isle of Wight, England – SignCraft, March/April 1997

McAnney Fine Carved Signs, East Swanzey, New Hampshire – SignCraft, March/April 1997

Chuck Peterson Signs, Cardiff-By-The-Sea, California – SignCraft, March/April 1997

Dave Yant Signs, Encinitas, California – SignCraft, March/April 1997

Olde Lang Signs, Jeff Lang, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – SignCraft, March/April 1997

Rod Tickle Signs, Loxton, S. Australia – SignCraft, March/April 1997

Schmidt’s Signery, Hamilton, Ohio – SignCraft, March/April 1997