Letter about Swofford sign

Thanks for pointing me to the 1985 Daviess County Historical book about Don Swofford opening the Ford dealership in 1958. This week I found even more.

I’ve always suspected that the sign maker, Federal Brilliant of St. Louis, was part of Federal Electric Sign Company. I am correct. Federal Electric Sign was the one who raced over to France when neon signs were invented and patented by George Claude. They secured the patent rights to produce neon signs here in the states. Federal Electric eventually morphed into Federal-Heath and they’re still in business big time. Their HQ is in Dallas and I found a guy there who’s very interested in historical stuff just like us.

This guy is the archivist for the company and he helped author a book that tracks the company’s history from their founding in 1901 up to 2015. He delved into it today and found that in 1930, Federal Electric Sign of Chicago bought a sign company in St. Louis called Brilliant Signs. They renamed the company Federal Brilliant.

I can’t remember if I told you about the brass electricians’ union label I found attached to my sign. It had this number stamped into it: 112233, which stands for 11/22/1933. I thought it had to be a date stamp because it wasn’t until very late in 1933 that a German scientist discovered how to make white neon (and a bunch of other colors). Just as soon as Ford learned that white was available, they went straight to it, probably sometime in 1934.

My sign and others made by other sign companies used red and blue neon because that’s all they had. It may very well be that my sign was a one-off. That fact alone could ordinarily cause suspicion among collectors as to whether or not it’s genuine. But the photo of the sign hanging on Swofford’s dealership building in Gallatin helps prove it’s legit.

If the sign was indeed a one-off, there’s no telling how valuable it might turn out to be. But a collector friend of mine from Illinois just sent me to an auction website where another sign collector’s estate was being sold. In that sale was a Ford sign like mine, made by Federal Brilliant Co. with the teal colored oval ring. It’s the same sign as mine but it’s in horrible condition — no neon or supporting hardware and beat up, rust-stained faces.

As recently as last week, my communications with the Operations Manager at Federal Heath (distantly related to Federal Brilliant) and I were thinking that my sign may have been a one-off. But I guess we just settled that question. Now we know at least two were made, but only mine has the accompanying provenance. Mine will hang in my new shop someday.

So, now I have one last detail to complete my quest. From the sign’s date of manufacture, Nov. 11, 1933, until Swofford opened his dealership in 1958, I’d like to find out where the sign spent 25 years before Don Swofford got it. The book we looked at last week mentioned that some guy named Moore was instrumental in helping Swofford obtain the dealership.

Do you know anything about this Moore guy and whether or not he had that Ford dealership and sold it to Don?

Chris Kuchem

Ph: 913.244.3322
email: [email protected]

Editor’s note: Conversations about the neon sign Mr. Kuchem acquired from Don Swofford have been exchanged, with letters from Chris published in this newspaper in Jan. 10th and Aug. 1st editions. This letter adds to the story. Chris still seeks to copy any old photograph showing the sign as it hung on the original dealership building prior to the Swofford Ford dealership. He also seeks to buy a copy of the blue hardback history book, “125 Years with the Gallatin North Missourian” which is no longer in circulation.