I lived in Madison, Wisconsin, for about a decade until 2024, and within the City of Madison sidewalks are stamped with text identifying the contractor and date when the sidewalk was poured. In newer neighborhoods there'll be one such stamp per block, but in older neighborhoods just about every segment of sidewalk has been replaced over the years, so there's imprinted text on the sidewalk every few feet. Walking around the two farm towns closest to where we live now, I see no such markings on sidewalks. In front of the local Catholic church's rectory, a big stretch of sidewalk has been replaced, and it's clear, unmarked cement. (Milwaukee does the same thing for sidewalks, and here's an article with photos from the Cream City: https://rasterweb.net/raster/2023/08/20/the-sidewalk-project/)
One of the joys of my life has been summer days at the beach and nothing says summer like the aerial advertising! Since I’m a little girl at Long Beach, LI, Rockaway, Hyannis, Atlantic City, Coney Island, the buzzing of the small planes and the trailing banners have been part of the experience of the summer season.
Just last week as we drove down Ocean Parkway in Babylon, when I spotted my first aerial advert I was hit with instant nostalgia.
My city, Alexandria, Va. uses these road markers, though I am not sure how consistent they are with them. I will have to see if they are used on bike trails as well.
Anyone fascinated by this sort of stuff needs to read the 99PI book, which is itself a beautiful piece of design: https://99percentinvisible.org/book/
OK, now I'm just going to be walking around my town with my head down looking for these things.
An airplane-towed banner in St. Louis helped set off the “Mets are Pond Scum” phenomenon.
I lived in Madison, Wisconsin, for about a decade until 2024, and within the City of Madison sidewalks are stamped with text identifying the contractor and date when the sidewalk was poured. In newer neighborhoods there'll be one such stamp per block, but in older neighborhoods just about every segment of sidewalk has been replaced over the years, so there's imprinted text on the sidewalk every few feet. Walking around the two farm towns closest to where we live now, I see no such markings on sidewalks. In front of the local Catholic church's rectory, a big stretch of sidewalk has been replaced, and it's clear, unmarked cement. (Milwaukee does the same thing for sidewalks, and here's an article with photos from the Cream City: https://rasterweb.net/raster/2023/08/20/the-sidewalk-project/)
I remember seeing something similar on the sidewalks on the Michigan State University campus.
Go Green! And it was at MSU football games in the 1970's where I'd see those airplane ads too. Don't know if that's still a thing there.
Oooh, that Milwaukee site is awesome. Thank you!!
Paul, You see life through a different lens then most of us. Thanks for adding to our lenses. Fondly, Michael
One of the joys of my life has been summer days at the beach and nothing says summer like the aerial advertising! Since I’m a little girl at Long Beach, LI, Rockaway, Hyannis, Atlantic City, Coney Island, the buzzing of the small planes and the trailing banners have been part of the experience of the summer season.
Just last week as we drove down Ocean Parkway in Babylon, when I spotted my first aerial advert I was hit with instant nostalgia.
I guess it's like online geofenced advertising? You at least know you're advertising to the people in a particular area at a particular time.
My city, Alexandria, Va. uses these road markers, though I am not sure how consistent they are with them. I will have to see if they are used on bike trails as well.
lived my whole life thinking the orange ones were gatorade caps some kid stuck into the fresh asphalt