‘Salisbury Landmark’ Sign Finds New Snow Hill Home

‘Salisbury Landmark’ Sign Finds New Snow Hill Home
The historic Polar Bar sign is pictured inside Toy Town in Snow Hill. Photo by Charlene Sharpe

SNOW HILL – A piece of Salisbury history has made its way to Snow Hill.

The iconic sign that spent decades in front of the Polar Bar, the restaurant long considered “the” gathering spot for Salisbury teenagers, now hangs in Toy Town. Historic signs like the one from the Polar Bar add to the ambience in the Washington Street antique shop.

“I was shocked when I saw it,” said Michael Day, a Salisbury resident and Snow Hill’s economic development consultant. “It was a Salisbury landmark. I’m sure there are a lot of people that think it doesn’t exist anymore.”

Richard Seaton, proprietor of Toy Town, said he came across someone trying to get rid of the sign in Salisbury and recognized it immediately. He remembers the Polar Bar — where DeVage’s is now — although by the time he knew it the restaurant’s glory days were long past. He says there are plenty of people around however that spent their teenage years enjoying milkshakes at the Polar Bar as they listened to the jukebox.

“It was a high school hangout,” Seaton said. “That’s what it was for many years. It was a ‘Happy Days’ kind of place.”

He says several Toy Town visitors have already commented on the new addition to the shop.

“It takes them back to the day,” he said. “I’m sure some people that met there (as teenagers) went on and got married.”

Seaton said the Polar Bar originally opened in 1948. The sign, depicting a polar bear, initially sat on the building’s roof but was eventually moved to the front of the structure. The Polar Bar closed not long after its 50th anniversary in 1998. In 2004, DeVage’s renovated and took over the space, according to information compiled by Linda Duyer, assistant director of Snow Hill’s Julia A. Purnell Museum.

And so the double-sided sign — which Seaton says is in very good condition considering its age — has joined dozens of others in the expansive Toy Town. While it is technically for sale, it makes no difference to Seaton whether it leaves the store or not. Like the myriad of antique signs lining the walls, advertising everything from Coca-Cola to Tilghman’s Fertilizer, the Polar Bar emblem adds to the museum-like feel of the shop.

“If it stays here a long time that’s fine with me,” Seaton said. “Everything I buy I buy because I like it.”

Nevertheless he says old signs are big sellers at Toy Town. Signs that once hung in local shops are usually customer favorites.

And just what do they do with the classic advertisements?

“They hang them in garages, play rooms, man caves,” Seaton said. “We sell a mess of signs.”

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.