SIGNS OF DAYS (MOSTLY) GONE BY

The world is quickly turning into plastic. "New is good," seems to be the rule as the familiar is replaced with the temporary gaudy.

But alleyways and side streets have ways of harboring the phrases of the past. Signs in downtown Sapulpa remind one of the days when soft drinks were only a nickel, and when telephone numbers had three digits, which, of course, you told to the central operator.

The drive-up window at city hall hasn't heard a customer push the buzzer in a long time now; whoever lettered the "NO TRESSPASSING!" sign wasn't worried about public criticism of his penmanship.

These images, too, will soon give way to the shiny aluminum facade or the wreckers' ball.