Repair ClOSED

Fellow animator Chris Haga found my work on the Aniboom Sesame Street animation contest along with his own entry, and subsequently discovered that this lowercase L blog he already knew about was from the same bloke.  But never mind all that, it's his prime example of a ClOSED sign that is important.  Peabody Shoe Repair must be tired of fixing soles.

OIl VEY!

Tragedy strikes again.  CNN iReporter and U.S. Marine Corp photographer, Abby Burtener Manuel, snapped this photo on Grand Isle, Louisiana as Gulf residents mourn oil disaster in the wake of the BP spill.  At the rate of 40,000 barrels of oil leaking per day, it's no surprise that residents lack the will to capitalize the L's on their makeshift signs.

It seems this sign is somewhat of a tourist attraction.  Lowercase L reader Adam G reports the same sighting in the New York Times, and Adam "Oil" Wells submits the same screenshot as seen on the BBC!

WEllSY wrote:

Watching the BBC this evening, the saucy Fiona Bruce introduces a piece about Barack Obama visiting the US coastlines hit by the BP oil slick .

I was horrified. Not by the oil coated turtles or sticky sea birds but the warning sign, "BEACH ClOSED". Environmental disaster indeed.

By the way, the lack of posts lately is because I'm getting married.

Cafetorium ClOSED

Dashon B. speaks of this find:

This gem was found in Northhampton, MA, and even though there are many ClOSED signs floating around, this one is unique, as they caught them young (it's at an elementary school), and the word Cafetorium is completely awesome also.

I have to admit, I thought this CAFETORIUM was a bastardized spelling of CAFETERIA, until I read that it is actually a room doubling as both a cafeteria and an auditorium. Though, based on the ClOSED sign below, it could actually read CAFETORLUM, and we'd never know.

Goodwill ClOSED

Terence P. was shocked, SHOCKED! to find that this Portland, Maine Goodwill store was ClOSED.

Five Star no-L

Chris the Yard Sale Queen is back with another find, this time from Hollywood, Maryland. What's impressive about this sign, "STORE ClOSiNG PlEASE COME TO OUR lOCAT. IN HOllYWOOD", is that there are five — count 'em, FIVE — lowercase L's used where uppercase L's should be. The presence of the lowercase i in ClOSiNG is a nice attempt to balance the lowercase L situation, but it doesn't help much. This could technically qualify as an example of limited letter real estate, as is evident with the abbreviated lOCATION and the dangling D in HOllYWOOD. But it still makes me wonder what's up with these stencil letter kits always lacking uppercase L's. Do they just expect sign writers to construct their own uppercase L's by juxtaposing two lowercase L's?

PAUl ClOSED the DEAl!

Buddy and fellow blogger Paul Berger has been plagued, living in the shadow of my lowercase L success, continually having his submissions to the site rejected for one technicality or another. But after years of frustration, the Englishman in New York finally ClOSED the deal with this photo, found in Manhattan on Broadway between Canal and Houston.

Nicely done, Paul! Certainly better than this other one you sent:


I appreciate Paul's blind enthusiasm.

Keep them coming!

SlOPPY SlOPE

On the exact same street intersection here in Park Slope, Brooklyn, using the same bright orange colored boards, apparently the same author was hired to construct these ROAD ClOSED signs and post them on 3rd Street and 7th Avenue almost exactly a year ago. The signs certainly are different than they were last year, since the closure time is now 4pm instead of 3pm, and this year they were written in a bold style. So this author either has never seen this blog to learn a lesson in improper use of lowercase L's ... or he is fully aware and choses to mock me.

GRILlS Gone Wild

What do you do when you've got a bunch of GRILlS to unload, but you only have one uppercase L to make it happen? Found in Hudson, MA, Bob H. is back with the answer, which, of course, involves the substitution of uppercase i's for L's on this sign announcing "ClOSE OUT DFAlS". And what's the DEAl with DFAl? Did the lower part of the E fall off, or was there also an E shortage? This is the closest I've ever seen stenciled lettering look like the handwriting of a dysgraphia sufferer.

¡PlEASE!

The PlEASE in this sign found on the bathroom door at Café Viva on the Upper West Side of Manhattan isn't as confusing as others on this blog, but it's still no excuse for using a lowercase L when an uppercase L clearly would have made more sense.

ClOSED? C'mon!

The store owner who wrote this sign apologizes for the inconvenience they may have caused us by relocating their business around the corner, but he failed to apologize for the inconvenience of being confused by lowercase L's written to look like uppercase i's. This store on 7th Avenue here in Park Slope ClOSED in November, but opened a can of lowercase L worms in the process. It even looks like the uppercase L in PLACE was an afterthought, a feable attempt to squeeze in the L's base after it had already been written in the lower case.

And I may be off topic here, but "C'MON"! Is that really a left parenthesis to encompass "Mon, Tues, Wed Nov 6, 7, 8"? Because that parenthesis looks exactly like the C in ClOSED. Also, if it is supposed to be a left parenthesis, then the author is missing a final right parenthesis after "(6, 7, 8)", leaving the outer parentheses unClOSED.

I don't think I'll be venturing around the corner to see what they have in store.

ClOSE to Home

I wasn't looking forward to venturing out into the freezing cold today, but my elderly neighbor Bob was all out of cigarettes and could not find the strength to go to the store himself. So on my way out, just a few paces in front of me, what do I see flapping in the wind? These two orange signs, "ROAD ClOSED" on both corners of the street. I imagine the road will be closed for a film crew, as they often shoot movies and commercials in this picturesque neighborhood called Park Slope. But this one hits way too ClOSE for comfort. What are the odds that a perfect example of lowercase L misuse, printed on not one, but two signs, would present itself just footsteps away from my home? Now I'm quite sure there is a conspiracy, and Hollywood is in on it.

Could this be the work of the same street sign author who penned this orange monstrosity in Manhattan?

Aisle ClOSED

Found in a grocery store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, these two check-out lanes were ClOSED to customers ... and sanity. Apparently a single employee was put in charge of writing warnings on these conveyor belt blocks, but it looks like they picked the wrong man for the job. Maybe he should go back to stocking shelves or bagging, or living in a hole in the ground. If I ever find the anarchist bastard who did this, they're going to need a ClEANUP IN AISlE 11.

Case ClOSED

It's hard enough navigating through the streets of Manhattan, with all the potholes, pedestrians, messengers, traffic and construction. Throw in a sign for a ClOSED street and one could easily get lost in confusion. The author of this sign is not unfamiliar with the uppercase L, as he demonstrates in his master PLAN. So what kind of breakdown caused him to stall at 19th St? If you happen upon this alternate route warning, I suggest you escape from New York, with haste.

FAlSE AlARM

NOTE: The following images are NOT REAl
A while back, friend and fellow blogger PD Berger posted Lowercase L Goes Psycho, following an interview about dysgraphia with Research Fellow in Neuropsychology, Bart D. Brigidi, Ph.D.

In response to Berger's post, which features a lowercase L sighting of questionable authenticity, we received this letter from Adam Wells, Leeds mate and special effects guru from the UK:

[..] The 'artist' is clearly not a consistent lowercase "l" offender, 'MAPLE SYRUP' escapes.

Secondly, and more notably, unlike other examples displayed on the site, the "l" has not been squeezed in to its designated space; there is ample room left which suggests to me that the horizontal has been painted out in an attempt to join the dysgraphia gang - or simply undermine the important and relevant research of Mr Levin.

My main concern however, surrounds the fact that of all the important issues raised by EINY, this one has caused my lengthiest and hard-thought response. BOllOCKS.

Adam also included the three photos in this post, click them to see larger versions. I was amazed at the quality of these lowercase L sightings. "ClOSED" looks real enough, but the other two made me suspicious. I asked Adam about it, and he replied: "Unfortunately, you should be suspicious of them all. To back up my suspicions about the 'maple syrup' image on your site, I thought I'd illustrate a few forgeries for myself. Still on the lookout for genuine ones though, in an effort to oust these despicable people!"

Under normal circumstances I would never knowingly post fake lowercase L's on this site. But the examples that Wells submits are so well done that I felt I must showcase them here. I think we can all learn a lesson from this. Trust no one.