This sign, salvaged from elevator shaft no. 2 in the Butternut building warehouse, Omaha NE, circa 1980 by the current consignor, a maintenance worker making repairs at the time, had apparently been used years earlier to block airflow leaks in the elevator shaft, and has never before been offered for sale to the public. Lot is accompanied by a City of Omaha Building Department “Certificate of Elevator Inspection” tag for freight elevator no. 2 and dated Sept. 11, 1962, as well as a brick fragment of the Butternut building.
The sign itself, one of two known designs, was created, marketed and distributed by the Campbell’s Soup Company for the use of its distributors and retailers as part of a patriotic advertising campaign in their retail outlets. This campaign backfired as the portrayal of the Campbell’s Soup cans in the formation of the American Flag was considered, by a majority of the population at the time, a desecration of the national symbol and due to the negative connotation, Campbell’s canceled the campaign. As such, very few signs were made in either style, and those in existence were hidden from view or repurposed for their material content, such as scrap metal.