When I first planned Sweethome I decided to make the buildings suit any period from the 1930s to the 1980s and beyond. I've slowly been collecting rolling stock and road vehicles that would suit a 1930s-era period layout, and decided to try out a step back in time from the 1950s to the 1930s. Here are the first photos. I'm not sure about any anomalies yet - feel free to point them out. Yes I know the road sign's bust - truck reversed into it Jon
You have a pretty good grip on it. Some of the building signs had fancy lettering. Woolworth's 5¢ and 10¢ store fronts were bright red with gold leaf lettering like the "refrigerator" word in that sign, I do not know the name of that font of type. There were a lot of buildings that had billboards on the side up high, some painted, some just glued on the brick.
Thanks for all the encouragement and information, chaps. I'll look into the fonts for the building names. Firstly, a 'D'oh!'. I've just realised that I forgot to turn the layout lights on when I shot the photos last night.Not entirely sure how that happened. Secondly, the change of era is in no way permanent. I'll explain my cunning plan. The layout is fully portable and has several invites to exhibitions in England over the next couple of years. Since these shows are normally 2-day events, I intend to show the 1930s layout on the Saturday and then the 50s layout on the Sunday. Being a lazy so-and-so, I don't want to be messing about changing more than I have to, to transform the layout from one period to the next, especially if I might also be nursing a small hangover on the Sunday morning. So I want to keep the changes to vehicles and stock, with maybe a few signs covered up - nothing too complicated. Anyway, here are a few more photos Jon
First off, this looks great. I love what you have done with your street scene. Since you asked for notes, I have just one. If that NHAY is meant to be radio call letters, and this is meant to be a location in the U.S. somewhere, you might consider changing it to WHAY (for East Coast) or KHAY (for West Coast). We don't have call letters beginning with 'N.' Adam
I never thought of that Adam. The NHAY refers to a friend of mine - Neil Hay - and the business is called Hays Heavy Engineering and repairs - I just havent got round to making the proper sign yet. I like the suggestion of a sign advertising a radio station - perhaps you or someone else can suggest a suitable one for Chicago that was playing in the 1930s (and still going into the 40s and possibly the 50s) Jon
Jon, It's guys like you and your continued sharing of your work that motivate me and get me excited about the possibilities with my own layout. Keep up the great work! It's inspirational and fun for the rest of us to watch!
One nitpick...! The refrigerator sign looks too old - in the 1930s, electricity and electrical appliances (other than lighting) were still "new" technology. I would think that the sign would therefore be newer and in better shape to encourage those consumers to ditch their old ice boxes. Also, I would think that there would be many, many more signs handpainted onto the brick of the buildings, rather than papered onto a wood or metal surface/frame. For a ggod look at some in New York City, try www.forgotten-ny.com. One other thing you might consider (but like the brick-painted signs, it would be harder to change) is the roads - belgian block (i.e cobblestone) for the street, and slate slabs for the sidewalks in place of the cement. Cement technology was only a few decades old in the 1930s (the Panama Canal (re)construction was the first big project to use it circa 1915). Andrew
The 53 Buick and the flat faced bus would not have been in 1930's. The busses back then were more like trucks with bus bodies. Email me and I can send you some 1930's cars and bus photos.
