You'll Like Linton
You'll Like Linton
By Kegan L. Inman
The You’ll Like Linton slogan was widely used as a result of a slogan contest held prior to the 1930s, though the origin of the slogan may be found to have been used before the contest.
A recollection made by Lillian R. Reister, who worked in the office of the Harting Brothers Coca-Cola Bottling Plant in Linton, contributes the slogan to a gathering of friends at the Linton Elks Lodge. Reister recalled in an interview for the video “You’ll Like Linton, Part 1 of 3” that Otto Harting came into work laughing one day. He stated: “You know, as we came back from the Elks, me and my buddies last night, we were talking about something that might improve Linton, the business and so forth.” He continued: “I just happened to have a piece of chalk in my pocket, and we stopped by Froeschke’s Shoe Store and I scribbled on the window ‘You’ll Like Linton’.”
The contest held prior to the 1930s to choose a slogan for Linton allowed the You’ll Like Linton slogan to surface again. Both Otto Harting and Lenora Strietelmeir submitted the winning entry and were deemed co-winners of the contest.
In the 1930s Nellie May Hamilton, founder of the Triad Music Association in Linton, composed a song entitled “You’ll Like Linton.” The song was introduced by the Triads during one of their performances in the 1930s. One of the last time the group preformed the song was at its program in honor of America’s Bicentennial in 1976 at the Linton-Stockton High School Auditorium.
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Mrs. Hamilton and her husband Wayne were responsible for having two large metal signs constructed with the help of Linton City Mayor E. V. (Doc) Bull. The original signs, which were installed to promote civic pride, were placed at the then city limits.
One sign was located over the entrance to Humphreys Park on State Road 54 East, and the other was located at the intersection of West Vincennes Street, Fifth Street Northwest, and State Road 54 West.
The original signs were painted black and lit with red neon lights. Due to the expense of the neon lighting, the signs were painted green in the late 1960s with white letters illustrating “You’ll Like Linton.” The signs were then illuminated by using spotlights.
The original stands for the signs were constructed from the stands that once held the tank at the old Linton Coke Gasification Plant, which was located on the property that now houses the Linton City Garage. The stands were originally painted black to match the signs and then repainted green at the time the signs were modified in the 1960s.
In the early 1990s Craig Kline, who was a city employee at the time, constructed two new signs under the direction of Linton Mayor Jimmie K. Wright.
The new signs, built at the Linton City Garage, included cut out letters outlined in black with back lighting to allow the sign to be illuminated.
Frosted Plexiglas was installed inside the sign to protect the cutout openings and to keep birds from nesting in the sign.
The new signs replaced both of the original signs. However, the original stands were used as they were sturdy enough to support the new signs.
Humphreys Park You’ll Like Linton Sign (crafted by Kline) with Original Stand
One of the original signs, however, had its lighting transformers removed and tube holes welded shut before being painted to match the other signs. The lettering was painted white and outlined in black on this sign rather than being cutout due to its condition.
In 1996 this sign was placed on the southside of Linton just south of the railroad tracks on State Road 59. The sign is lit with a street overhead street light, which has half of the globe painted black to direct its beam for better illuminating the sign.
With the addition of a third sign, a new stand was required to hold this sign. The unique style of the new stand was attributed to the use of traffic light poles which had been discarded by the Indiana Department of Transportation when they replaced the traffic lights in Linton in the 1990s.
The arms that extended from the poles were welded together to form the support on which the sign was attached. The new metal stand was painted green to blend with the sign. As the structure of these poles was not altered, the new stand was considerably taller than the original stands as well as having a more modernistic streamlined design.
Interesting, the very existence of the You’ll Like Linton signs can be traced to the use of recycled materials in the 1930s—even before recycling became a popular trend in the United States. Thus the tradition of the You’ll Like Linton signs being constructed from recycled materials was continued—perhaps more out of financial necessity than nostalgia.
At the time the sign was place on the southside of Linton, the city planned to place a fourth You’ll Like Linton sign on the northside of Linton, most likely somewhere along Northeast Fourth Street at the city limits. This sign never materialized as the second original sign was rusted beyond repair and had to be discarded.
In December 2004 the State Highway Department planned to begin a construction project which involved the intersection of State Road 54 and Park Road, located beside the city park. The Indiana State Department of Transportation requested that the sign be removed as it had been erected on the state right-of-way. The city dismantled the sign and stored it at the city garage.
Kelly Foglesong who served on the Linton City Council and was an employee at Peoples Trust Company, now Main Source Bank, was instrumental in having the You’ll Like Linton sign re-established on the eastside of Linton. After receiving approval from Mayor Tom Jones and the city council, Foglesong approached the bank about donating the use of its lawn at the banking center at the intersection of State Road 54 East and Lone Tree Road as the new location for the sign.
The sign, which had been removed from Humphreys Park, was installed at the new location at the beginning of August 2005, but a new stand was constructed as the original one was in horrible disrepair.
The style of the new stand was similar to the one located on the southside of Linton as discarded traffic light poles were used once again. However, this time, the stand was not painted but retained the original metal-gray color of the traffic light poles.
During the last week of March 2008, a wind storm blew the sign down from its stand on the eastside of Linton. The damaged sign was retrieved by city employees and taken back to the city garage to be repaired.
As of May 2008, the city planned to restore the sign and return it to its position on the eastside as soon as funding becomes available.
The You’ll Like Linton slogan has also had many other uses in Linton throughout the years. The La Touraine Coffee Co., Inc., based in Boston, Massachusetts, produced and sold a one-pound can of coffee stating: “You’ll Like LINTON’S extra rich-method grind COFFEE.” An unopened can of this coffee is on display at the Linton-Stockton Chamber of Commerce.
In recent years, the City of Linton has dedicated itself to using the slogan within its day-to-day operations. Many of the city-owned vehicles proudly display the slogan in the same curved fashion as the sign and then followed by the name of the department.
Some of the departments displaying the slogan on their vehicles and equipment are the Street Department, Electric and Water Departments, Fairview Cemetery (city-owned and maintained), and Sanitation Department.
The Police Department has also included the You’ll Like Linton sign in its newly designed emblem. The emblem is also displayed on the uniforms of the officers as well as on the door of its facility.
The slogan is also used in other various locations around the city. The new sign placed at Humphreys Park in 2006 incorporated the “You Like Linton” slogan in its design.
Also the caboose at Humphreys Park features the You’ll Like Linton slogan.
In 2008 the city officials of Linton used the You’ll Like Linton slogan on city directory.
The Linton-Stockton Chamber of Commerce logo has the You’ll Like Linton slogan incorporated in its design.
The outline of the original sign with its stand may also be found on the website for the City of Linton. The slogan was also included in the heading on its home webpage in 2008.
Local artist Norma Witherspoon used the You’ll Like Linton theme for her well-known watercolor of Humpreys Park, originally created for Citizen National Bank, known now as Regions Bank, in Linton. Later the bank gave complimentary prints of the three-panel park scene to its patrons.
The You’ll Like Linton signs have been the subject used by other artist, such as pencil sketch created by Bill Smith, former social studies teacher at Linton-Stockton High School.
The slogan was used as the subject and title of a documentary produced in 2006 by Bill Barnes of Bill Barnes Video Productions, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The one-hour documentary entitled “You’ll Like Linton: Memories of a Small Town and Its Treasures” used the music written by Nell Hamilton as its theme song.
The documentary premiered on July 1, 2006, at Humphreys Park during the “34 Days of June.” The documentary was produced in VHS and CD format and was available for sale at Markle Music in Linton.
You’ll Like Linton CD
In April 2007 the documentary won five Telly Awards, which honored outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs as well as the finest video and film productions
The You’ll Like Linton slogan and signs have also been incorporated into postcards, depicting the eastside sign and the caboose at the Humphreys Park. The post cards were produced by GreeneCountyIndiana.com in conjunction with Kegan’s Kandy Web Services. The project was administered by Kegan Inman with the advising of Charles Garwood.
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Caboose Post Card
The slogan has also been incorporated into T-Shirt designs. The shirts, produced by Linton Sporting Goods were sold at the 2007 Linton Music Festival.
You’ll Like Linton T-Shirt Design
References
Franklin, Halea. “Film on Linton now available,” The Daily World, August 30, 2006.
Franklin, Halea. “History lesson on Linton area offered,” The Daily World, August 21. 2006.
Franklin, Halea. “Linton City Council meets,” Linton Daily Citizen, December 14,. 2004.
Franklin, Halea. “Linton-native Barnes won five Telly Awards,” Greene County Daily World, April 14, 2007.
Franklin, Halea. “Sign moved from Humphreys Park,” Linton Daily Citizen, August 3, 2005.
Jones, Tom. Telephone interview. May 13, 2008.
Kline, Craig. “You’ll Like Linton arch.” E-mail to Kegan Inman. 3 Feb. 2007.
Markle, Fred. Personal interview. May 2, 2008.
You’ll Like Linton Part 1 of 3. Dir. Shawn Quinlan. 1992. 2006. YouTube. 4 May 2008 <http://youtube.com/watch?v=O8vzOgzzSr0>.
