Hand-Painted Farmstand Sign Group — Sweet Corn, Corn Cob & "Men Wanted"

Sometime between the New Deal and the arrival of interstate highways, a farmer — or a farmer's son with a steady brush hand — made these signs to run a roadside operation. The "Sweet Corn Ahead ¼ Mi." panel went up at the highway turnoff: green ground, yellow brush lettering, a hand-painted arrow pointing the way. The corn cob silhouette — jigsaw-cut from solid wood planks, painted on both sides in vivid yellow with orange kernel detail and green husks — stood at the stand itself, the kind of oversized prop that made you slow down and stop even before you read the words. And when the ears were ready and the crew was short, out went the "MEN WANTED FOR PICKING" plank: cream ground, bold black block capitals, the phrase "for picking" in a contrasting italic hand that suggests a second pass with a different brush — or a second person finishing the job. Together, the three pieces form a complete operating kit for a mid-century American farm stand: the road sign, the point-of-sale prop, and the labor notice. All three retain their original iron screw-hook hangers. None are maker-marked.

Americana and folk art collectors have driven sustained interest in hand-lettered agricultural signage precisely because so little of it survived. These signs were built to work, not to last — nailed to fence posts, left out through winters, repainted when the lettering faded, and eventually burned or rotted. Sets that come through together, with honest field wear rather than decorator patina, in consistent stylistic register, are the exception. The "Men Wanted" sign carries particular documentary weight: seasonal picking crews were a defining feature of American farm labor from the Depression years through the early 1970s, when mechanical harvesters ended the practice across most of the country. Labor-recruitment signage from that era surfaces infrequently in the Americana market, and almost never alongside the directional and promotional signs that it would have accompanied in actual use. The corn cob cutout's double-sided finish — painted on both faces, shaped to hang free — shows a maker who was thinking three-dimensionally about roadside visibility, not just slapping paint on a board. This is vernacular design working at its most purposeful.

CONDITION

Good overall with age-appropriate wear throughout — honest field condition, not decorator distressing. The Sweet Corn sign shows paint chipping at edges and corners, surface abrasion to the green ground, and significant scorching to the raw wood reverse consistent with outdoor use over many seasons. The corn cob cutout retains strong color on both painted faces with minor edge wear and scattered nail holes at the lower section. The "Men Wanted" plank shows heavy crazing and lifting to the cream ground paint, paint loss along the lower edge, and dark weathering into the wood grain; lettering remains fully legible and intact on both faces.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

Sweet Corn Sign

• 14" H × 19¾" W × ¾" D
• Construction: Solid wood, multi-board panel
• Hangers: Iron screw-hook hangers (2)
• Finish: Painted face / raw wood reverse
• Unmarked

Corn Cob Cutout

• 27" H × 19½" W × ¼" D
• Construction: Solid wood, jigsaw-cut silhouette
• Finish: Painted both sides
• Hangers: Iron screw-hook hanger
• Unmarked

"Men Wanted for Picking" Sign

• 6½" H × 36" W × 1" D
• Construction: Single solid wood plank
• Hangers: Iron screw-hook hangers (2)
• Unmarked

Scale Reference

• U.S. $1 Bill (6.14" W) Shown for Scale — Not Included