Looking for an article or tongue in cheek names for industries. Examples; Lauston Foundry, Old King Coal Co.
Lewh
R. U. Knots lumber mill.
Dewey, Cheatem, & Howe Attorneys at Law
S. Queaky Chair Company
Those are DPM kit names, there is more but those are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head
Our local utility company used to be Iowa-Illinois Gas and Electric. I was thinking of abbreviating it to Ia-Nois Gas Company (pronounced I annoy).
Tom
From Terry Walsh (one of the earliest advocates of way freight switching:)
- Thrust and Parry Fence Company
- Burns and Burns Fuels
- Barque and Knotts Lumber Company
- Laydee-Zunder Warehouse
John Allen had a Westcott Bookstore (with a subhead on the sign, Ancient Manuscripts, allegedly a reference to the long lead time between article acceptance and publication in MR.)
Not an industry, but interesting nonetheless - two streets in Rapid City, SD. Kno Place paralleled the C&NW tracks. Sum Place was one block to the north.
Chuck (Who named stations after ex-girlfriends until wife caught on)
Some folks put together a pretty extensive list a while back.
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/528926/ShowPost.aspx
and
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=34133
I think John Allen’s sign also said something about “pieces re-written at a reasonable rate” or something similar; Lynn W. was noted for editing and rewriting pretty much every article that went into MR - whether they needed it or not, according to John Allen!!
Ole King Coal wouldn’t be too bad, King is a common last name and Ole isn’t too uncommon a first name here in Minnesnowta.
There is a booze shop in Cottage Grove MN near both BNSF and CP mainlines that is called “G.Will Liquors”.[:P]
Iowa Illinois Gas and Electric huh? You must be in my neck of the woods, we got them after they bought Sherrard power!! But anyhow I love John Allens quick wit when it comes to his ideas. I have wanted to add a few industries like this.I.M. Bloated Natural Gas sounds like a fun one,Mr Lemons Used car emporium?Ima Felon BailBonds!
Fun to say the least.
Well, Walthers does have “O.L. King” Coal… http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3015
Not so much a funny Co. name, but just south of Louisville on I 65 on a hillside, there’s a billboard that advertises “Tattoo’s while you wait”! Like theres any other kind? [%-)]
Phartz & Howe Baked Beans
Dedshortz Electrical Supplies
Hardlee-Abel Paving Company
A. Nall Retentive Plumbing Supplies
Spewing-Chunx Fresh Produce - Our spinach is to die for
Sam N. Nella Poultry Distributors
Vi Agra Construction - We can get it up in half the time
Andre
One good source is a Yiddish dictionary online. A lot of the old Three Stooges businesses and names came from Yiddish. Among the goodies I found (with the translation):
Shmata’s Fine Clothing (rags)
Shiker’s Bar (drunkard)
Chotchke’s Gifts (actually spelled Tchotchke, a cheap trinket)
Heizel’s Hotel (house of ill repute)
I’m sure there are many more that can be created from various languages. Spending a little time online with one of the dictionary sites may cause people around you to think you’ve lost your mind when you are laughing to yourself.
Hi, excuse the crudity of it but we had one over here in the UK that did the circuit for a while it was called “R Sole - Shoe Makers”.
Shaun