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I'd like to share my collection of cardboard ephemera from the city streets and thruways of America. Some pieces were found, some given, some created by me. If you find one please pick it up and send it my way along with its story. I'll gladly paypal ya the shipping costs or collect it at Roo in exchange for a year old Bud Light Clamato. I've written about some of my interactions with homeless folks here:
If you've seen some good ones over the years let's hear about them. I tend to dislike the gimmick signs (e.g. Ninja Stole My Family. Need Money For Karate Lessons and Weed) but the real ones often tell a little story in just a few lines. I live in Portland where there are lots of homeless folks out and about. I go downtown all the time for the sole purpose of seeing what kind of signs are being flown. Here's my personal collection and the stories behind each piece. It's small for now but I hope to grow it over the years. I list the signs first and their descriptions beneath them. Enjoy!
My creation. It can be seen in the following video:
My creation. It can be seen in the following videos:
I believe I found this near a bus stop in Dinkytown, the college area of Minneapolis.
I saw a man hitching in mid-Montana with a sign for my home base. I offered a ride in exchange for his sign. His name was Richard and he fed me donuts to keep me awake.
He’d had his appendix out in Idaho and the pack he carried tore his stitches, causing him to wheeze blood. He’d been back in the hospital for that and was now freshly on the road. He was heading to North Dakota to try profit from the oil boom, plying his trade of carpentry. I let him know Grand Forks was the wrong half of the state but he wanted to organize on our eastern crust before spinning back west to get a job. I dropped him off at the ND/MN border where he was going to sleep on the river bank for the night. Good dude.
Bartered for lunch from a young man at the head of the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis. On its side I wrote out the playlist of a mix CD I made for my sis. She was given the CD and sign. The sign was promptly regifted.
Found on the street near Lloyd Center Mall in Portland, OR. The sign’s flip side is the next photo.
Doggy helping showcase the flip side.
Sign I found in downtown Olympia, WA. While holding it for the photo a lady asked if I had anywhere to sleep and offered me pizza.
Olympia, WA. In the day I'd see this guy bike around town with his dogs in the cart. The next photo is also him.
At night he came downtown to play and sing cool songs on his keyboard. He kept the keys perched atop a skateboard which I unfortunately didn't photograph. The video is garbage quality but you can hear a few seconds of his music here:
Discovered this sad and artistic piece in downtown Portland next to a trash bin. A couple blocks away a man was passed out with his own sign. He had a cig dangling from his mouth and a BB gun at his side.
This is actually a neat collection to have. I always see an older man in Montgomery, AL holding a sign that says "Need Prayers. Thanks. God Bless." I believe he's homeless (looks homeless anyway) and he only ever asks for prayers while he sits atop a 5 gallon bucket on the median of a busy intersection. I'll snap a picture of his sign for you next time I see him.
RandyAnal I truly mean this in the best way possible, but you are quite possibly the most unusual person I've (never) met. I think spending time with you would be an eye opening experience, just seeing things from a completely different perspective.
Let that freak flag fly, and keep at it. I enjoy reading what you write.
This is actually a neat collection to have. I always see an older man in Montgomery, AL holding a sign that says "Need Prayers. Thanks. God Bless." I believe he's homeless (looks homeless anyway) and he only ever asks for prayers while he sits atop a 5 gallon bucket on the median of a busy intersection. I'll snap a picture of his sign for you next time I see him.
That'd be awesome if you got a shot. I've never seen anything like the sign you describe. Love it. I've always thought mine would say "Homeless Christian" or "Draw on me for a dollar" should the day ever arrive where I need to use one.
That'd be awesome if you got a shot. I've never seen anything like the sign you describe. Love it. I've always thought mine would say "Homeless Christian" or "Draw on me for a dollar" should the day ever arrive where I need to use one.
Well this is the bible belt so...honk if you love Jesus I guess (and yes, I've seen that sign too).
Today I found this buried beneath a bunch of wet trash on a bus bench in downtown Portland. I love this form of communication. Here's to hoping the sign had already been seen as I'm an asshole and took it.
I've been trying to decipher that myself. Initial guess was "Get Help." Perhaps "Get Heroin" haha. Maybe it's just someone's initials and their cardboard grammar is bad. 'Tis a mystery.
I thought the "G.H." meant 'get home' - I guess I'm a romantic; I hope those two probably terrible smelling people found love at or near 10.00pm that night, wherever 'home' is.
Found in downtown Portland. A large number of religious figures are living out the afterlife on scraps of cardboard.
I found five signs in one day. This was one of them:
Found in downtown Portland. The chunk missing from the bottom is where I used the sign to scrape my dog nephew's defecate into a fry box. He unexpectedly dumped on the street and I had to improv things to scoop it up.
Side 1:
Side 2:
I found this pile of scraps downtown:
Scraps assembled:
Side 1:
Side 2:
Written on the back of a Voodoo Doughnuts box:
I found this sign in downtown Portland and quickly stuffed it in my backpack as people were near. When I took it out an hour later I saw it was smeared in fresh human shit, hence the huge chunk now missing.
Btw, showed my gf some of your work and she is absolutely terrified.
I don't think she gets it. Or maybe I don't get it. Not sure which one.
I'm not sure if these cardboard stories are meant for female consumption haha. That being said, I've somehow managed to sleep with multiple girls in here despite the wall of human misery and fake rats everywhere.
Nothing like the fantastic stories (fabricated or not) that are heard in exchange for a few dollars/cigs and a moment of your time.
Exactly. Even if the story is bordering on bullsh*t or well past it they're almost always interesting and/or from a perspective that's far removed from the normal realm. I don't smoke but sometimes carry a pack for that express purpose.
Parking was free downtown today so I went out looking for signs. I found a standard "Anything helps" one and another that said "Hobo Olympics" with various tallies on it. I wish I'd been around to see what the games were.
Also, I Febreze my sign wall at least a few times a week haha.
