you'll like linton - history

8/22/12 2:31 PMGreene County Indiana Information - You'll Like Linton

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By Kegan L. Inman

The You’ll Like Linton slogan was widely used as a result of a slogan contest held prior to the 1930s, thoughthe origin of the slogan may be found to have been used before the contest.

A recollection made by Lillian R. Reister, who worked in the office of the Harting Brothers Coca-ColaBottling Plant in Linton, contributes the slogan to a gathering of friends at the Linton Elks Lodge. Reisterrecalled in an interview for the video “You’ll Like Linton, Part 1 of 3” that Otto Harting came into worklaughing one day. He stated: “You know, as we came back from the Elks, me and my buddies last night, wewere talking about something that might improve Linton, the business and so forth.” He continued: “I justhappened to have a piece of chalk in my pocket, and we stopped by Froeschke’s Shoe Store and I scribbledon the window ‘You’ll Like Linton’.”

The contest held prior to the 1930s to choose a slogan for Linton allowed the You’ll Like Linton slogan tosurface again. Both Otto Harting and Lenora Strietelmeir submitted the winning entry and were deemed co-winners of the contest.

In the 1930s Nellie May Hamilton, founder of the Triad Music Association in Linton, composed a songentitled “You’ll Like Linton.” The song was introduced by the Triads during one of their performances in the1930s. One of the last time the group preformed the song was at its program in honor of America’sBicentennial in 1976 at the Linton-Stockton High School Auditorium.



You’ll Like Linton Sheet Music

Mrs. Hamilton and her husband Wayne were responsible for having two large metal signs constructed withthe help of Linton City Mayor E. V. (Doc) Bull. The original signs, which were installed to promote civicpride, were placed at the then city limits.

One sign was located over the entrance to Humphreys Park on State Road 54 East, and the other was locatedat the intersection of West Vincennes Street, Fifth Street Northwest, and State Road 54 West.

The original signs were painted black and lit with red neon lights. Due to the expense of the neon lighting,the signs were painted green in the late 1960s with white letters illustrating “You’ll Like Linton.” The signswere then illuminated by using spotlights.

The original stands for the signs were constructed from the stands that once held the tank at the old LintonCoke Gasification Plant, which was located on the property that now houses the Linton City Garage. Thestands were originally painted black to match the signs and then repainted green at the time the signs weremodified in the 1960s.

In the early 1990s Craig Kline, who was a city employee at the time, constructed two new signs under thedirection of Linton Mayor Jimmie K. Wright.



Metal Pieces Cut for New Sign

The new signs, built at the Linton City Garage, included cut out letters outlined in black with back lighting toallow the sign to be illuminated.

Cut Out Letters

Frosted Plexiglas was installed inside the sign to protect the cutout openings and to keep birds from nesting inthe sign.



Plexiglas Installed in “Linton” Letters

The new signs replaced both of the original signs. However, the original stands were used as they weresturdy enough to support the new signs.

Westside You’ll Like Linton Sign (crafted by Kline) with Original Stand



Humphreys Park You’ll Like Linton Sign (crafted by Kline) with Original Stand

One of the original signs, however, had its lighting transformers removed and tube holes welded shut beforebeing painted to match the other signs. The lettering was painted white and outlined in black on this signrather than being cutout due to its condition.

In 1996 this sign was placed on the southside of Linton just south of the railroad tracks on State Road 59. The sign is lit with a street overhead street light, which has half of the globe painted black to direct its beamfor better illuminating the sign.

Southside You’ll Like Linton (Original) Sign with New Stand



With the addition of a third sign, a new stand was required to hold this sign. The unique style of the newstand was attributed to the use of traffic light poles which had been discarded by the Indiana Department ofTransportation when they replaced the traffic lights in Linton in the 1990s.

The arms that extended from the poles were welded together to form the support on which the sign wasattached. The new metal stand was painted green to blend with the sign. As the structure of these poles wasnot altered, the new stand was considerably taller than the original stands as well as having a moremodernistic streamlined design.

Interesting, the very existence of the You’ll Like Linton signs can be traced to the use of recycled materials inthe 1930s—even before recycling became a popular trend in the United States. Thus the tradition of theYou’ll Like Linton signs being constructed from recycled materials was continued—perhaps more out offinancial necessity than nostalgia.

At the time the sign was place on the southside of Linton, the city planned to place a fourth You’ll LikeLinton sign on the northside of Linton, most likely somewhere along Northeast Fourth Street at the citylimits. This sign never materialized as the second original sign was rusted beyond repair and had to bediscarded.

In December 2004 the State Highway Department planned to begin a construction project which involved theintersection of State Road 54 and Park Road, located beside the city park. The Indiana State Department ofTransportation requested that the sign be removed as it had been erected on the state right-of-way. The citydismantled the sign and stored it at the city garage.

Kelly Foglesong who served on the Linton City Council and was an employee at Peoples Trust Company,now Main Source Bank, was instrumental in having the You’ll Like Linton sign re-established on the eastsideof Linton. After receiving approval from Mayor Tom Jones and the city council, Foglesong approached thebank about donating the use of its lawn at the banking center at the intersection of State Road 54 East andLone Tree Road as the new location for the sign.

The sign, which had been removed from Humphreys Park, was installed at the new location at the beginningof August 2005, but a new stand was constructed as the original one was in horrible disrepair.

The style of the new stand was similar to the one located on the southside of Linton as discarded traffic lightpoles were used once again. However, this time, the stand was not painted but retained the original metal-gray color of the traffic light poles.



Eastside You’ll Like Linton Sign with New Stand

During the last week of March 2008, a wind storm blew the sign down from its stand on the eastside ofLinton. The damaged sign was retrieved by city employees and taken back to the city garage to be repaired.

Eastside Sign Poles without Sign

As of May 2008, the city planned to restore the sign and return it to its position on the eastside as soon asfunding becomes available.



Eastside You’ll Like Linton Sign at the City Garage

The You’ll Like Linton slogan has also had many other uses in Linton throughout the years. The LaTouraine Coffee Co., Inc., based in Boston, Massachusetts, produced and sold a one-pound can of coffeestating: “You’ll Like LINTON’S extra rich-method grind COFFEE.” An unopened can of this coffee is ondisplay at the Linton-Stockton Chamber of Commerce.

You’ll Like Linton Coffee Can Front



You’ll Like Linton Coffee Can Back

In recent years, the City of Linton has dedicated itself to using the slogan within its day-to-day operations. Many of the city-owned vehicles proudly display the slogan in the same curved fashion as the sign and thenfollowed by the name of the department.

Some of the departments displaying the slogan on their vehicles and equipment are the Street Department,Electric and Water Departments, Fairview Cemetery (city-owned and maintained), and SanitationDepartment.



Linton Street Department Truck



Linton Waste Water Treatment Plant Truck

Linton Gas & Water Department Truck



Fairview Cemetery Truck

Linton Sanitation Department Truck



Linton Electrical Department Truck

Linton Street Department Truck

The Police Department has also included the You’ll Like Linton sign in its newly designed emblem. The



emblem is also displayed on the uniforms of the officers as well as on the door of its facility.

Linton Police Car

Logo on Door at Linton Police Station

The slogan is also used in other various locations around the city. The new sign placed at Humphreys Park in2006 incorporated the “You Like Linton” slogan in its design.



New Sign at Humphreys Park

Also the caboose at Humphreys Park features the You’ll Like Linton slogan.

Caboose at Humphreys Park

In 2008 the city officials of Linton used the You’ll Like Linton slogan on city directory.



City Directory

The Linton-Stockton Chamber of Commerce logo has the You’ll Like Linton slogan incorporated in itsdesign.

Linton-Stockton Chamber of Commerce Logo

The outline of the original sign with its stand may also be found on the website for the City of Linton. Theslogan was also included in the heading on its home webpage in 2008.

City of Linton Website Banner

Local artist Norma Witherspoon used the You’ll Like Linton theme for her well-known watercolor of



Humpreys Park, originally created for Citizen National Bank, known now as Regions Bank, in Linton. Laterthe bank gave complimentary prints of the three-panel park scene to its patrons.

Witherspoon’s You’ll Like Linton Watercolors

The You’ll Like Linton signs have been the subject used by other artist, such as pencil sketch created by BillSmith, former social studies teacher at Linton-Stockton High School.

Pencil Sketch of Park Sign

The slogan was used as the subject and title of a documentary produced in 2006 by Bill Barnes of Bill BarnesVideo Productions, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The one-hour documentary entitled“You’ll Like Linton: Memories of a Small Town and Its Treasures” used the music written by Nell Hamiltonas its theme song.

The documentary premiered on July 1, 2006, at Humphreys Park during the “34 Days of June.” The



documentary was produced in VHS and CD format and was available for sale at Markle Music in Linton.

You’ll Like Linton CD

In April 2007 the documentary won five Telly Awards, which honored outstanding local, regional, and cableTV commercials and programs as well as the finest video and film productions

The You’ll Like Linton slogan and signs have also been incorporated into postcards, depicting the eastsidesign and the caboose at the Humphreys Park. The post cards were produced by GreeneCountyIndiana.com inconjunction with Kegan’s Kandy Web Services. The project was administered by Kegan Inman with theadvising of Charles Garwood.



You’ll Like Linton Post Card

Caboose Post Card

The slogan has also been incorporated into T-Shirt designs. The shirts, produced by Linton Sporting Goodswere sold at the 2007 Linton Music Festival.



You’ll Like Linton T-Shirt Design

The City of Linton is proud of its slogan, which has a rich history in the community. The slogan has stoodstrong for many years and will likely be with the city as long as the residents truly like Linton.

References

Franklin, Halea. “Film on Linton now available,” The Daily World, August 30, 2006.

Franklin, Halea. “History lesson on Linton area offered,” The Daily World, August 21. 2006.

Franklin, Halea. “Linton City Council meets,” Linton Daily Citizen, December 14,. 2004.

Franklin, Halea. “Linton-native Barnes won five Telly Awards,” Greene County Daily World, April 14,2007.

Franklin, Halea. “Sign moved from Humphreys Park,” Linton Daily Citizen, August 3, 2005.

Jones, Tom. Telephone interview. May 13, 2008.

Kline, Craig. “You’ll Like Linton arch.” E-mail to Kegan Inman. 3 Feb. 2007.

Markle, Fred. Personal interview. May 2, 2008.

You’ll Like Linton Part 1 of 3. Dir. Shawn Quinlan. 1992. 2006. YouTube. 4 May 2008<http://youtube.com/watch?v=O8vzOgzzSr0>.

Pictures of the You'll Like Linton signs in Linton, Indiana.

http://greenecountyindiana.com/photos/view/313

you'll like linton - history

Documents

linton city garage

linton slogan tosurface

linton elks lodge

linton sheet musicmrs

sign youll

original signs

inmanthe youll

window youll