Fadels...A Sign Of The Times

It was a normal drive to the next town south, but this time something was different, something had changed, something was gone.

The Fadels sign is no more.

The sign that's been in the same location for decades (I don't exactly how long...) has been taken down, though nature itself helped the crew assigned to dismantle the aging sign, a sign some called "an eyesore."

The billboard was literally a sign of the times, and it never fit in to its environment, nor did it make much sense. Before those in the Salt Lake Valley discovered what a great place Davis County was to live and raise a family, the Fadels sign stood alone in a field of weeds.

And it stayed that way for years. It wasn't until much later that I found out that Fadels was a furniture store in Salt Lake City. How or why they decided to put up a large sign, I don't know. What made things more confusing is the sign--at least to best of my recollection--never had anything but "Fadels" on it, no Fadels Furniture, no other details, just the singular word.

As time passed, the area was developed and homes began popping up around the sign. The city then put up a sound wall hiding the sign from the freeway effectively destroying the its usefulness. However, I believe the store closed years ago so it really didn't matter if anyone saw the sign or not.

In August, 2012, I stopped by and took pictures of the dilapidated sign, a sign in such disrepair that a tree--a big tree--was growing through the middle of it. I can only imagine those living in the neighborhood hated it and wanted it gone. To them it was just a big pile of rotting wood. To me, it was more.

As progress continues in my little town (not so little anymore...), it's another thing that's forever gone, another building, another landmark that my kids will not identify as being part of the town where they live. Us old-timers can no longer sit at the counter at the drug store on the corner of state and main, or in the seats at the Tom Boy Cafe or play on the big rocks at Farmington Elementary. Nor can we shop at the Farmington AG or buy pastries at the bakery across from the cemetery or go to Lagoon via the back gate or swim in the million-gallon pool with water fit to drink.

No, our kids live in a different world, and even though they play on streets paved and re-paved over and over again, they also ride their bikes over new roads to new homes for new families. And the kids growing up in those new homes will see us old-timers talk about the way the little town used to be and wonder what in the world is "a Fadels sign?"

What Is Fadels Anyway?

Last year, November 30th, to be exact, I drove by a local landmark and thought about taking a picture of it. It was dark and I decided to just drive home. After all, I could always take a picture of it later. The next day hurricane winds tore through our neighborhood and that landmark ceased to be. I never did get a chance to take a picture of the big Christmas tree in Farmington.

 

Today I drove south along the frontage road and I saw another landmark, the Fadels sign. Anyone who grew up in Farmington for the past 40 years knows exactly what I'm talking about. Back then the sign stood alone in a field of weeds. Everyone who drove north or south on I-15 saw the sign. We would ride by on our bicycles heading to Bountiful and see the big white sign with only one word on it. Fadels.

The sign wasn't like the billboards that line our freeways today. There was no mention of what Fadels was, or where it was. For all we knew, Fadels could have been some fictional place that existed only in the mind of a sign builder.

But Fadels did exist. It took me years to figure out that Fadels was/is a furniture store in Salt Lake City. I googled it and it looks like it's still there, and there's a store in Bountiful. I decided to stop by the sign today and I'm glad I did. There's a public notice from the city telling the owners of the sign to fix it up or it will be demolished. 

As an advertising device, the sign is no longer effective. For the millions of cars that drive pass by, the sign now surrounded by homes and sound walls, only those who know the sign is there can even see it. I suppose if it does come down no one will know except those of us that remember when that strange shaped sign stood alone in a field of weeds.