Wednesday Walk: The Story of a Sign
Learning about what once was through a roadside sign, plus why do I care about my toilet paper's square footage?
Welcome to Willoughby Hills!
As is typical every Wednesday, today I’m bring you a smattering of topics that I hope will make you a bit more curious about the world around you and give you something to think about later.
If you like what you’re reading, you can sign up to have this newsletter delivered to your inbox every Wednesday and Sunday for free:
Fresh Eyes
I’ve been opening my last few Wednesday Walks talking about the unpredictable weather here in Boston lately, as we constantly swing between cold and snowy or rainy and warm (at least, relative to this time of year).
The snow that blanketed our yard a few days ago in the photo above has once again melted and we are back to bare ground.
The one positive in all of this has been getting to experience the joy of the subtle changes in weather through the eyes of our new puppy, who is now about three and half months old (and has been in our family for about six weeks).
Yesterday was the first day in a few weeks that the grass has been completely exposed, and our puppy couldn’t have been more thrilled to sniff the lawn again and dig his nose into the dirt. He gets great pleasure from playing in the snow, but I could tell that there were so many more scents to excite his senses in the raw soil.
It occurred to me that since he was born in late fall, he’s never experienced the feel of green grass, flowers, or insects before. I got excited thinking about what his reaction will be to crocuses pushing up through the ground in spring or having the brown and barren front yard turn a vibrant green in the summer.
Appreciating the simple joy of the change in seasons or the weather can be difficult when life is busy, but I like that having a puppy forces me to slow down and take in the world around me at his pace.
Sign of the Times
This weekend, I was on a multi-day video shoot that took me to the South Shore of Boston, an area that I don’t visit too often. Anytime I’m down there, I am always intrigued by a particular sign that sits along I-93 in Braintree (just down the road from the last Sears store in New England).
After passing the sign on the first day, I decided to arrive a little early the next day so that I could pull over and snap some quick photos. Here’s the sign in all its glory:
The sign advertises a park and ride lot for a bus that travels between suburban Braintree and Logan Airport known as Logan Express.
At one point, the lower oval advertised a Dunkin’ Donuts that was inside the bus depot. According to reviews I could find on Four Square, it sounds like the Dunkin’ Donuts closed sometime before 2016, which is surprising because there are literally Dunkin’ Donuts everywhere in Massachusetts! (This is just a few miles from Dunkin’s world headquarters in Canton, MA).
I never quite understood the sign. It’s incredibly midcentury modern, plus it also has a lot of blank ovals that seem to be serving no purpose. There are three other suburban Logan Express depots, none of which use a similar motif.
The sign’s existence a curiosity, but not one that I invested any time in investigating further. But the story of this sign’s origins fell into my lap after I posted about it on my Instagram. One of my followers, Michael, shared this memory with me:
“I remember when it was a drive-in theater and mini-golf course. Can still remember driving by it at night from the back seat and being excited because I could see the movie playing for about 30 seconds.”
A drive-in movie theatre! Of course- that’s why it has such a midcentury look!
There seem to be very few photos of the drive-in era, but here’s the sign in its original state at some point before the drive-in’s closure in 1985:
There aren’t many records of this theatre online, but it seems to have been one of the first double screen drive-ins. An advertisement for the theatre’s opening posted on Cinema Treasures shows that the opening movies were The Mountain Road (released in 1960) and Hercules Unchained (1959), so it seems like 1960 is a safe opening date.
In the 1960s, the Twin Drive-In faced steep competition in the region. In addition to the Quintree Drive-In, which operated on the Quincy-Braintree line, there were several more in the area according to the Patriot Ledger:
“In the drive-in heyday, there were nearly a dozen drive-in theaters south of Boston. In addition to the ones in Braintree, there were drive-ins in Weymouth, Marshfield, Avon, Abington, Canton, Dedham, Brockton and Kingston, and just across the Neponset River in Dorchester.”
These days, there are only three drive-in theaters left in all of Massachusetts. The closest one to Braintree is a 90 minute drive away in Wellfleet, near the tip of Cape Cod.
I’m glad that the old drive-in sign in Braintree was able to be saved even if the theatre is now gone. I always appreciated the quirkiness of it driving past on the highway, and now I know a little bit more about why it looks the way that it does!
Down the Toilet
Yesterday, I stopped into my local Trader Joe’s to pick up a few groceries. While I was there, I grabbed a package of toilet paper too.
I’ve always been a fan of the Trader Joe’s store brand because it is made from 100% recycled content, 80% of which comes from post-consumer content (most other toilet papers are made using virgin fibers).
For some reason, I decided to take a closer look at the label and noticed that it included a rating for obvious things like the number of rolls in the package, the number of sheets per roll, the size of the sheets, and (oddly to me) the square footage contained within the entire package.
I was amused by this and tweeted about it, comparing the square footage of my pack of toilet paper to other random square footages. For example, this toilet paper had a greater area than a hotel room at Disney’s Pop Century hotel, but was smaller than a 1947 Levittown Cape Cod house.
I started checking online, and it turns out that most brands actually list the square footage of their toilet paper- who knew?!
As I did some more digging, I learned that there’s a whole coupon clipping side to the internet where people share tips about saving money on toilet paper. Hip2Save encourages readers to always price toilet paper based on square footage:
“Since the price per roll varies greatly by brand, the best way to calculate the price is per square foot. To do this, take the price of the toilet paper and divide it by the total square feet, which is usually listed right on the package.”
The New York Times Wirecutter has even published a guide to saving money on toilet paper. There’s a clue in their article by Elissa Sanci as to why square footage may be the most important number to know:
“Because there is no industry standard, sheet sizes vary from brand to brand. Some brands, such as Quilted Northern, make square 4-by-4-inch sheets, while others, like Kirkland Signature, go with 4½ by 4 inches.”
By using square footage as a baseline, it ensures an apples to apples comparison and not a squares to rhombuses one.
The NYT piece links to a toilet paper value calculator created by Victor Ly that allows a user to input the number of rolls, the sheets per roll, the price, and even apply any discounts or coupons. With that data, Ly’s calculator will grade the purchase using a letter grade for the value of the price.
I suppose there are budget conscious consumers out there that want to make sure they’re cleaning their rear end for the absolute lowest price.
If not for the internet, these people would just be alone in their local grocery stores trying to tabulate a good deal. But it seems they have found a community to share information, and here in this community, we’re chatting about it. The internet wins again!
Thank you for reading! I always love hearing your thoughts, so please drop a line in the comments.
I publish new issues every Wednesday and Sunday. Sign up to always receive the latest issue and support my work:
Other Wednesday Walks
Please consider sharing this with a friend that you think might enjoy it or you can post it on social media.
If you’ve missed past issues of this newsletter, they are available to read here.
Stay Safe!
Heath
I am very thankful I chose TP on softness not square inches. I giggled while reading this. Glad I don’t have to match TP square inches to ...oh, wait . I am a proper old granny and mentioning my .... is very improper.
When it comes to toilet paper, I just buy what's on sale :)