Designing signs for businesses is not an inherited talent. Thankfully for Paul Barber it was more of a harmonious transition. He grew up in a family of sign makers and applied his own creative skills to a career that evolved into a hobby of vintage sign restoration.
Looking over his deeply-rooted, widely-branched family tree, it’s easy to see how the fifth-generation Petaluman could have chosen this path from a number of rewarding occupations. By following his father in the family business of sign making, he diligently worked to assure himself a place among his memorable ancestors.
Retired since 2015 — when he and his brothers Mark and Barry sold Barber Sign Company — Paul’s focused on his “hobby” of repairing and restoring various forms of antique signage, including hand painted signs, neon clocks, vending machines and old gas pumps.
“My father, Warren Barber, was a neon tube bender, which may be why I’ve always liked signs that illuminated,” said Barber, from a living room decorated with neon, point-of-purchase, and other colorfully lit signs. “I’ve been collecting vintage advertising for 40 years. It was a natural transition for me. Old signs were always brought into the business for restoration. We did all that kind of stuff.”
Since retiring, Barber’s side business, Ever-Glo Signs, has grown.
“It’s a little more than a hobby,” he said. “The value of vintage signs keeps increasing and the nice thing is you can hang a sign on a wall instead of a picture.”
His interest in sign making stems from early childhood when his father took him to the shop on weekends where Paul saw the woodworking, sheet metal, neon and painting equipment involved in the process. He became interested in the business during high school and graduated Petaluma High in 1972.
“When I decided I wanted to paint signs,” he explained, “I enrolled at Midwest Institute of Lettering and Design, in St. Louis, where I learned about layout, hand lettering, single-stroke lettering and becoming comfortable with a brush in my hand. I became an apprentice to sign painter Norm Werby and we’d go out and scrape and repaint billboards together, with Norm doing the layout and I’d do the lettering.”
Paul’s uncle, Lewis S. Barber, founded Barber Sign in 1935, after learning lettering at Frank Wiggins Trade School in southern California. Lew Barber worked out his home shop until his brother Warren, a graduate of Chicago’s Acme Neon Institute’s School of Neon Lights, partnered with him in 1947, adding illuminated neon signage to the business.
The iconic Coca-Cola sign on the Fourth Street side of the Mutual Relief Building was painted by Lew in 1942 and repainted in 1954. Paul repainted it again in 1974. Paul also restored the first neon sign created by Barber Sign Company, in 1948, for Linch Jewelry Store.
“There aren’t many neon signs left in town,” said Paul. “Linch Jewelry, the Buckhorn Tavern, Mario & John’s and Art’s Barber Shop are among the few that remain.”
In the 1950s, Barber Sign created the memorable ham and eggs in a giant frying pan display that reminded locals to attend the Sonoma-Marin Fair’s annual kickoff breakfast. For many years, the company installed Petaluma’s downtown Christmas decorations, using a boom truck fabricated by Warren. In 1962, Lew designed the Pinky’s Pizza sign, which cultural historian Heather M. David described as, “delicious as a warm slice of pizza.” In 1965, Barber Sign opened a branch in Vallejo.
“My father never pushed me or my brothers into the business,” said Paul, “but we all went that route, becoming skilled craftsmen. Mark was the best businessman and acrylic/plastic fabricator. I specialized in graphic design and sign painting and Barry did steel fabrication, installation and crane operation. Our dad reminded us, ‘You don’t just run the business. You’ve got to do the work.’
“In 1986, the set director for ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’ came in and rented signs from me,” he added. “In the movie, Nicolas Cage’s father owned an appliance store. My ‘TV Service’ sign was prominent, as was the Lucky Lager sign they placed on Millie’s Chili Bar. I think of myself as more of a craftsman than an artist. I certainly didn’t have Uncle Lew’s artistic gene.”
As for his place in his family history, Paul can look back on prominent Petalumans such as Charles Blackburn, who arrived by covered wagon in 1852 and became the town’s first undertaker in 1856. Blackburn’s son, Frank, was Sonoma County coroner, in 1906. Samuel Rodd, who married Charles Blackburn’s daughter Mary, was a sought-after home-builder who constructed many of Petaluma’s finest Victorian mansions, and their daughter, Dorothy, taught piano for 50 years.
Paul’s grandfather, Art Spolini, was a 60-year employee of the Petaluma Cooperative Creamery. Spolini and Curley Acorne used the Clover sound truck to announce at public gatherings and social events. He once served as Grand Marshal of the Petaluma parade. Other family members served in civic and professional careers, all of them a part of the sturdy family tree.
“I feel very fortunate that I worked in a business, and now a hobby, that I’ve pretty much enjoyed every day for 50 years,” said Paul. “Most days it feels like a fun arts and crafts class, and as a bonus, I get paid. I’m still enjoying the work.”
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