I moved to the Seattle area in 72. I worked as an installer for a sign company that made and/or installed neon and electric business signs. Banks, car dealers, oil companies, McDonalds etc.
We had several crews installing decorations the week following Thanksgiving and removing them after New Years day.
The 90 feet high South Center Mall sign had provisions to bolt down a steel 30 foot, multi piece, ring around the base with eyebolts. The sign had corresponding anchors on the bottom. We spent a day attaching steel wire cables rapped with lights making a cone of light. Other crews installed smaller decorations on light standards. Similar things were done at other malls.
Four men spent a day with one guy hanging in a bosom chair from a 118 foot crane rapping light strings around a 100 foot fir tree.
Three men spent a day at the downtown Bon Marche. Above the main door they had 9 individual 3 foot letters plus a Logo at the top. We removed them using a window washer type stage their maintenance people provided. They installed a cross after we left. We took the letters to our shop where they were refurbish to be reinstalled after the 1st.
Ladybird Johnson campaigned for and help pass the “Help Beatify America act. It was to remove eyesores from the nations highways. Billboards were the first to come under attack. Oil company signs were next. Last was any large sign that could be seen from a freeway.
The 70s brought a wave of environmentalism. Large signs were a waste of electricity and ugly. You have no idea how hard it is for a business to have a sign big enough for people to even know they are there in some areas.
I have no first hand knowledge of what caused this area to stop putting up decorations but that is when it happened. BVB
Many thanks for the interesting report on signs in the Seattle area. Big difference now.
I know that on Bainbridge Island, where I lived, the pc crowd hated any mention of Christmas and all Christmas decorations. The only thing the town did was to string electric stars over the main street for a block or two. One shopkeeper told me how hard she had to fight with city council to get even that much of a nod to Christmas.
All over town, people were so very politely saying, “Seasons Greetings,” with never a mention of Christmas. Christmas was somehow subversive and hush hush........
As an aside, SUVs were considered horrible for the environment. I lived a block from a large grade school, and at 3 each afternoon, all the moms came to pick up their kids, every single one of them in an SUV.
But YOU shouldn’t drive one. Hypocrisy rules.