COlD SODAS

This week marks the end of the summer, and possibly the end of Coney Island as we know it. This steely blue sign for COlD SODAS may have something to do with it, taken earlier this month when friend Meir and I rode our bikes down to the boardwalk.

SAlE 10% OFF

Ash P. found this sad sign at a now-defunct furniture store in Chandler, Arizona, where they once boasted a "SAlE 10% OFF eveything". Apparently that included the uppercase L in SALE and the letter r in "everything".

FlAT broke

Jason Lee found this extra can of paint left behind by the builders. The INTERIOR FlAT makes me want to get in touch with the small car inside.

FOREClOSURES

It's hard enough to be losing your home in a foreclosure. Now rub it in with some lowercase L salt with this FREE & ClEAR sign right in front of your house as people drive by, gawking. In this submission found by Mike S. on Flickr, the lowercase L in Foreclosures isn't too bad — we're letting very tall lowercase L's amidst small caps slide. But the lowercase L in FREE & ClEAR is a clear breach of capitalization conduct.

EAGlES SUCK

In light of the recent controversial signing of Michael Vick to the Philadelphia Eagles, this lowercase L back signage expressing how much the EAGlES SUCK seems entirely appropriate. Discovered by Gail on YMSWWC.com, this photo makes me wonder, if the kid was a bit older, might his parent have had enough room to complete the full uppercase L?

And in case Dogfighter Vick finds this blog, he might be interested in this former post.

TROUBlESHOOT

At first glance, I didn't think much of this lowercase L submission, as the word SAlE, with it's lowercase L taller than the other uppercase letters, does not qualify as a good example here. But then I read what Doug of Toms River, NJ said about this whiteboard he found:

I've been walking past this marker board at work for weeks until I finally realized today why it intrigued me. I am especially amused by the vertical presentation of "TROUBlESHOOT" Also, note that what appears to say VPI is in fact VPl, as it stands for "vertical platform lift."

Not to be confused with Visible Panty Line.

RETAlIATION

It's not uncommon to see the word PlEASE written with a lowercase L and all others uppercase. Even finding it written twice, as with PlEASE PlEASE DO NOT FEED CAT (no, you cannot has cheezburger) isn't such a stretch. But posting a correctional sign next to the offending one takes lowercase L to a new level of vigilance. Thank you, Keegan, for sending in this roadside read, and for reaching out to the offender with the hopes of educating him. And the world.

Though, Keegan, I must admit, I do find it amusing that you, self-appointed Signage Cop, almost had to resort to using a lowercase L in your own street smarts lesson, as you tried to fit CAPITALIZATION on that pretty white sign, but started to extended beyond a reasonable margin of comfort.

HEllO, Genius

Fellow Brooklyn blogger, mcbrooklyn, found this patronizing post on a wall next to a parking lot in neighboring Brooklyn Heights. It's ironic that the genius who wrote the sign, belittling the tailgater's mental abilities, exhibits clear symptoms of dysgraphia, not only with the trademark lowercase L in PlEASE, but with other randomly mixed lowercase and uppercase letters.

VINElAND: A Homecoming

So this is where it all began, with the bountiful YARD SAlE of Vineland, NJ. I went home to stay with my parents for the weekend, for my high school 20 year reunion, graduating class of 1989. As a child, I recall seeing signs for YARD SAlES throughout the neighborhood, and being slightly bothered by the single lowercase L within all uppercase lettered words. I shrugged it off because I figured it was just a local thing. But as I got older, I began to recognize that this was not an isolated event. It was more widespread than I imagined. And through this blog, we've discovered, together, that the lowercase L phenomenon transcends not only time, but lands and languages as well. As you can see, these signs were written in 2009, considered modern times by most standards. But the lowercase L in SAlE remains the same, as if stuck in 1979. Below, even QUAIl is a big FAIl.

12 FlAVORS

The 12 FlAVORS at this kosher ice cream parlor in Midwood, Brooklyn don't compare to the better known 31 flavors of Baskin-Robbins. Parve may have something to do with it, but it's more likely a result of the misplaced lowercase L scribbled into the otherwise all uppercase word.

There's also an unnecessary dot on the uppercase i in SIDE, but that's not what we're about here, folks.