May 2010 © Roadside Galore
March 17, 2012 © Frank H. Jump
This sign was vandalized by graffiti and restored. Fortunately Roadside Galore caught it before it was marred.
© Frank H. Jump
Schaefer Beer Ad – East Islip – Roadside Galore – Happy St. Patrick’s Day – Drink Responsibly!
I have a suspicion that the sign isn’t quite as old as it seems. Note the “Milbro Distributing” logo at the bottom, obviously from the distributing company that commissioned the sign. It’s not the sort of name that seems like something from the 1930’s, so, curious, I did some online research. While Milbro itself has vanished without an online trace,* what I was able to find out is that in most cases breweries were vertically integrated until the 1950’s or thereabouts and would not have used independent distributors. Schaefer itself, being a local company, could easily have handled Long Island distribution itself.
Based on this, it’s my guess that the sign dates back no earlier than the 1950’s, maybe even the 1960’s, and had deliberately been painted in a retro style.
* = there’s a presumably unrelated British company named Milbro that produces slingshots, which are, astonishingly, so powerful they can be used for hunting!
Milbro Distributing is was located in Sayville on Cherry Ave.
They are mentioned in the article on the top left of this edition of The Suffolk County News
http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201944%20May-Jan%201946%20Grayscale/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201944%20May-Jan%201946%20Grayscale%20-%200494.pdf