The “See Ruby Falls” barns are rightly famous because there were so many of them, and so many — even though faded — can still be seen. But take a drive through just about any rural area of America where 50-year-old farming structures are still standing, and you’ll find that barns pitched more than tourist attractions. A farmer could get a good paint job for the barn by agreeing to tout a product. For the advertiser, it was cheap. A little paint and a few hours of a painter’s time, and the advertiser could have a large billboard that would last a lifetime. You don’t see these too much any more, and the landscape is less interesting without them.

Mail Pouch barn

Price: $75

11 x 14, pen and ink and colored pencil, on Bristol board

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