The 7UP Signs on Sandy Blvd

Sandy Blvd, located in Portland OR has been home to two landmark 7UP signs over the years.  The most famous being the DRINK 7UP sign. This sign adorned the top of the former Steigerwald Dairy Building on NE 37th Ave and Sandy Blvd for over 50 years. The familiar sign was visible to surface traffic as well as travelers on the I-84 freeway. Closer to downtown Portland, a second 7UP sign used to rotate over what once was the Portland Bottling Company on NE 14th Ave and Sandy Blvd. The large DRINK 7UP sign has long been replaced and today while the rotating 7UP sign with the bottle on top has stop moving and has gone dark. The signs are often confused with each other, as are the locations and history behind them.  Each sign has an interesting story. 

7 Up was created by Charles Grigg who came up with the formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929. The product, originally named "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda", was launched two weeks before the crash of Wall Street in 1929. The are multiple theories why it's called 7UP. One theory is because it contains 7 ingredients, another believes it's because Lithium has an atomic number of 7. The last theory being that back in 1929, a bottle of 7UP was 7 ounces.

Drink 7UP Sign in 1976

Rotating 7UP Sign on Sandy Blvd

Drink 7UP Sign History

The 7up sign began life as the world's largest milk bottle on the corner of a dairy. After 10 years, the dairy was sold and a round tower was built around the middle portion of the milk bottle to enclose it. The tower was approximately 7 stories high. The top of the milk bottle was also enclosed with a structure that looked like a large paint can. The paint can sat on top of the building when it was owned by a roofing and paint company. Eventually, the roofing company left, sometime after this, the large 7up signs were placed over the paint can on top of the tower. 

The Steigerwald Dairy Company opens on May 19, 1926.

In 1926, Steigerwald Dairy Company, dedicated a new plant that featured a huge milk bottle at 37th & Sandy. The huge milk bottle measured 27 feet in diameter and at 75 feet tall, it was the tallest structure in Northeast Portland and the largest milk bottle in the world. On the building corner, there was a retail storefront where milk products were sold.  Next to the milk bottle, both walls appeared to be topped with a mound of whipped cream. The majority of the building was a milk processing and bottling plant. Milk was also delivered to homes in the local area.  A spiral staircase inside the huge replica was used to take a Christmas tree to the top each year. Lighted with red and green electric bulbs, the tree could be seen for miles. 

In 1936, the dairy was sold to Carnation Milk and quickly sold again to the Superior Roofing and Paint Company.  Superior Roofing did an extensive remodel of the exterior of the building to hide the milk bottle. The roofline was trimmed down and the middle portion of the milk bottle was enclosed by a turret like facade consisting of wooden framework with an exterior of lathe and plaster. The structure formed a tower approximately 7 stories high. The tower featured narrow, rectangular windows, which gave it a castle like appearance. The top part of the milk bottle was enclosed to resemble a paint can. One of Superior Roofing and Paint's specialty brands was Pabco Paint. The Pabco paint can would remain until 1943 when the building was sold.

This photo (c1939) and shows the Pabco Paint Company in the former dairy building

Tower With Paint Can on Top c1940

7UP Sign Installed Over Paint Can 1947

In 1943 the building sold and the paint can on top of the building was fitted with 4 7UP signs. Two of the signs were neon and featured the 40's style logo with rising carbonated bubbles with dual 7UP bottles on opposite sides of the old paint can. In between were painted 7UP signs with the same red logo.

The 7UP sign on 37th Ave and Sandy Blvd is actually a combination of 4 signs. 2 neon Drink 7UP signs and 2 simpler painted signs. The neon signs show carbonated bubbles rising with twin lit bottles. The sign features a 1940's 7UP logo with neon architecture. 

7UP Sign Time Line

 

1926  Steigerwald Dairy opens on Sandy Blvd

1929  7UP is created by Charles Grigg

1936  Steigerwald Dairy is sold to Carnation Milk 

1936  Carnation Milk sells to Superior Roofing and Paint

1937  Superior Roofing builds tower around milk bottle 

1941  Portland Bottling Company opens

1943  Drink 7UP signs installed on tower

1956  7UP sales increase by 22% 

2002  Drink 7UP signs removed from tower

2003  Budweiser signs replace 7UP

2014  Director's Mortgage sign replaces Bud sign

2016  Portland Bottling Company sells to Maletis

Portland Bottling Company 7UP Sign

The second 7UP sign on Sandy Blvd is located above the Portland Bottling Co. on NE 14th Ave where Couch Street and Sandy Blvd converge. It's a second generation, 3 sided art deco sign that used to rotate and light up. A sign was part of the original design and construction of the building. The sign also featured a 7UP bottle on top of it. Below you can see the 2 different signs over time.

The Portland Bottling Co opened on July 12, 1941 and was a big event that included a stage show, plant tours and free beverages. 

The original 7UP sign on 14th Ave different than the current sign. It was 3-sided and featured Double Cola, Hires and Mission Orange on each side. The 7Up logo was smaller and there was a bottle on top of the sign. It did light up and rotate.

By 1950, the sign had been changed to the current sign above the building. I've read this sign used to also rotate but was damaged in the 1962 Columbus Day storm. After the storm, the sign was welded into place. 

In 2010, the Portland Bottling Company was sold to Weston Investment Company. Weston covered the 7UP bottle on top with yellow paint and draped white tarps with advertising over all 3 sides of the 7UP sign. It looked tacky. Since then, the tarps have slowly rotted away exposing the old 7UP sign underneath. The sign won't go down without a fight!