Transit rolls for sale: nice idea, but not authentic enough for me

I got excited this morning when I saw a Google Offers email touting "subway roll canvas art" - what looked like reproductions of transit sign rolls from old buses or trains. The offer linked to ImageKind, which sells the 50 x 17 inch canvas rolls for $299 each, reduced to $89 with the Google special. 

As a transportation buff, I was ready to jump at this deal until I looked at the actual city-specific "subway rolls" on the site. San Francisco would never have had a transit sign that said, "Haight-Ashbury"; Portland wouldn't have put the "Ace Hotel" on one of its buses; and, not even the craziest route in New York City could be the "Upper East Side via TriBeCa."

Alas, these are mere artistic interpretations -- cleverly arranged neighborhood or street names printed onto black canvas in the style of the transit destination signs that were used until electronic signs replaced them. 

For anyone who wants the real thing: New York's Metropolitan Transportation Administration has several retired roll signs available - visit the MTA's surplus website for those or any of the other "collectibles" available. You can even buy your own subway seat for $500.

 

 

 

Posted via email from Doug's posterous