Lost City: Chicago Edition: A Good Sign: Malloy's

Liquor stores in the older suburbs of great metropolitan areas are dependable sources of fine signage. The signs are usually pretty big, with a dash of style, and have stood untouched since they were erected some 40 to 75 years ago.

Here's the sign for Malloy's Finest Wines and Spirits in the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn. It has "served DuPage County" since 1933, the depths of the Depression—and just after Prohibition was repealed. So that's about as old as a liquor store can be in America, since, with the Volstead Act rendered every booze shop illegal.