What did that sign say? Take a look at old highway billboards in Miami
By Miami Herald Archives
Roadside billboards: We love them and we hate them.
We call them a blight on the cityscape. And then we can’t erase them from our memories.
Remember the Coppertone girl, with the mechanical naughty dog pulling down her bathing suit bottoms?
Remember the promise of Interama, the world trade zone that never got built?
What about those mouthwatering fast-food ads where the burgers looked bigger than life?
While street billboards have been scaled back thanks to new laws and proposed laws, many are still plenty visible. And downtown areas are moving to digital ones that flash and change.
Let’s take a look at some of the billboards of the past, courtesy of the photo archives of the Miami Herald:
Development dreams
A sign advertising ‘Interama,’ a proposed theme park that was never built at what became FIU’s north campus. Miami Herald File
Airport area
A lineup of billboards near Miami International Airport in 1961. Mike Smith Miami Herald File
Billboards line LeJeune Road near Miami International Airport in 1965. Bill Sanders Miami Herald File
Downtown Miami
A billboard on Miami Avenue in 2003. Raul Rubiera Miami Herald File
In 2000, a billboard mural on a building on Northeast First Street and Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami. Candace Barbot Miami Herald File
In 2002, a billboard near the Northwest Fifth Avenue bridge at Miami River Drive. Miami Herald File
In 2001, a cluster of billboards in Miami. C.W. GRIFFIN Miami Herald File
Coppertone
The famous Coppertone sign in Miami lit up at night in 1982. David Walters Miami Herald File
The mechanical Coppertone sign near the Golden Glades in North Miami-Dade. Miami Herald File
Patriotic
In 1999, Outdoor Systems Advertising employees Sebastian Nasselo, top, and Armando Cacciavillani lower a rope holding a platform they used to paint a billboard referring to three American soldiers captured by Yugoslav forces. Truly Nolan and Outdoor Systems had the sign erected together. It was in Pembroke Park, on southbound Interstate-95 just south of Hallandale Beach Boulevard, near the Broward-Miami-Dade County line. MARSHA HALPER Miami Herald File
Bilingual
In 1971, the billboard on the left, on Flager Street in Miami carries an advertisement in English, while a twin on the right duplicates the message in Spanish. Miami Herald File
Coral Gables area
In 2000, the Yupi.com billboard on Bird Road between LeJuene and Douglas in Coral Gables. DAVID BERGMAN Miami Herald File
Royal palm trees in the median of South Dixie Highway just south of Douglas Road block southbound drivers’ view of an advertising billboard in 2006. John VanBeekum Miami Herald File
In 1995, a billboard on South Dixie Highway near Bird Road. Chuck Fadely Miami Herald File
In 1998, a Levi’s billboard at Bird and Douglas roads. Chuck Fadely Miami Herald File
Broward
In 2007, the Church by the Glades in Coral Springs caused some contoversy with a billboard along I-595 in Davie. The billboard advertised a new series hosted at the church: The Bare Naked Truth on Sex. J. Albert Diaz Miami Herald File
Shopping
In 2001, a billboard for Sawgrass Mills mall near the new Dolphin Mall in a shopping war. Chuck Fadely Miami Herald File
Fast food
5/30/02 Photo by Tim Chapman/Herald Staff (Miami) Thur. Bill Barrier (cq), waves from a billboard off US One at SW 102nd Street to intorduce a new sandwich, the “BK Back Porch griller” (cq) as a promtion. For business. Tim Chapman Miami Herald File
The Florida Keys
In 2002, a billboard advertising the Mosquito Magnet in Florida City. The sign was along US 1 just before the 18-mile stretch heading to Key Largo. Al Diaz Miami Herald File
Jobs
In 2003, a Broward County Sheriff’s Office billboard at the corner of Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 54th Street in Miami advertises job openings. Miami Herald File
Hurricane fallout
In 2004, Hugo Pinto carries his belongings outof his mobile home in Lantana after a billboard fell on top of his home during Hurricane Frances. No one was home at the time that the billboard, advertising Bubba Burgers, crashed down on top of his home. Chuck Fadely Miami Herald File
Education
In 1995, 16-year-old 10th grader at Northwestern High Aljallah El was a winner in the ”Larger Than Life” billboard contest. Patrick Farrell Miami Herald File
Politics
A billboard asking whether President George W. Bush is missed stands along I-95 just south of Northwest 151st street in Miami-Dade in 2010. PATRICK FARRELL Miami Herald File
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