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Wilton Feed and Produce (originally a service station)

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originally a service station
c. 1937. 304 E. 5th St.

This is a high point of the popular Moderne in Iowa: a feed and produce store clothed in bright, shimmering red, blue, and white glazed brick and tile. The checkerboard pattern, a trademark of the Ralston Purina Company, was added later to the building's street facade. A large-scale checkerboard pattern runs across the entire upper section of the building, meeting at the center of the building a composition of vertical pilasters that curve into the projecting sign. The geometry and color of the design make the whole building (appropriately) a sign reaching out to its potential vehicle-oriented clientele.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim
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Data

What's Nearby

Dartings Sinclair (now a Mobil Service Station)
House
Commercial Building
Presbyterian Church
de Sinnette Octagon House

Citation

David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, "Wilton Feed and Produce (originally a service station)", [Wilton, Iowa], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IA-01-ME395.

Print Source

Buildings of Iowa, David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, 154-155.

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