Advertising Signs on Barns

Throughout the Midwest and South, advertising signs were often painted on barns and other buildings in the early to mid-1900s. Building owners were paid to have the advertisements on their property, and many farmers appreciated the fresh coat of paint on the barn. Citizen’s Banking Company offered loans for real estate, and an interest rate of 4 percent on the sign pictured below.

The Herb and Myers Company “Big Store” gave Union Stamps to customers at their Sandusky store in the 1920s.

The Dilgert and Bittner (sometimes spelled Dilgart) store suggested that local residents could furnish their homes completely with the products sold at their store in Sandusky.

And restaurants advertised their menus, as well.

Fair Pony Farms

The billboard above advertised the well known herd of ponies from the Fair Pony Farms in Sandusky, Ohio. Most likely, the ponies were owned by W.H. Millspaugh. An article in the March 15, 1917 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that Mr. Millspaugh’s herd of Welsh ponies were the largest herd of its kind in the world.

Most of the ponies were kept at the Erie County Fairgrounds, while twenty brood mares were boarded at the Floyd Smith farm in Castalia, Ohio. William H. Millspaugh, who was the founder of the Sandusky Foundry & Machine Company, purchased the best Welsh ponies from several different herds. He was looking for individual Welsh ponies which had proven value in breeeding or in winning prizes. His purchases resulted in a total herd of over eighty miniature ponies. Mr. Millspaugh exhibited the ponies at local fairs. The prize Welsh pony was “Temptation,” a chestnut pony with a blaze face. Children, when accompanied by an adult, were invited to visit the ponies at the Erie County Fairgrounds on Saturdays and Sundays. The Millspaugh ponies were featured in the Plain Dealer Weekly in September, 1919.