Text by Glyn, edited by Kurt
Once one of the most iconic features of downtown Yonge Street, the Sam the Record Man sign towered over the famous thoroughfare, while illuminating it with its inimitable, circular winking. The main feature of the sign was two, giant, two-story-high, white neon “records,” whose lights were cleverly programmed to give the illusion of spinning. Within the centre of each record, the words “THATS ENTERTAINMENT” were spelled out in red neon. Above each record, “SAM” was spelled out in red and white lights, in the blocky company font. Below were lightbox-style white signs pronouncing “YES THIS IS SAM THE RECORD MAN” in black and red, with “DIVISION OF SNIDERMAN'S MUSIC HALL” underneath in a smaller font.
The store was the vision of Sam Sniderman, who took his family's radio store and transformed it into a music retail business with, at one point, 130 franchises across Canada. The Yonge St. location, with it's extravagant signage, was the nationally-recognized flagship of the fleet.
Originally, Sam's Yonge Street location — which opened in 1959 — featured different signage. The “347” address was lit up vertically down the middle of the building. Above the ground floor display windows was similar “YES THIS IS SAM” signage. A giant, white SAM on a red background topped the building. Just below were prominent record labels of the day, including RCA Victor, Columbia, Decca, and Capitol. On one side of the building was a light-up thermometer, and a barometer on the other, to inform pedestrians of the current weather.
By the 1970s, Sniderman hired the Brothers Markle sign company, whose work can be found all over Toronto and the surrounding region, to design the first of the two spinning neon records. The adjoining property at 349 Yonge Street, formerly home to the storied Steele’s Tavern where an undiscovered Gordon Lightfoot honed his chops, was acquired by Sam’s and a second spinning record was added in 1987.
As the music business changed, smaller chains were squeezed out by international ones and physical media was being replaced with digital. Sam's locations everywhere began to fold, with the Yonge Street location closing for business in 2007. The City of Toronto attempted to assign heritage designation to the property in order to preserve the iconic sign however, the sign was removed to allow for construction of the new Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) Student Learning Centre.
The University reneged on its promise to reinstall the sign on the property and it was later relocated to 277 Victoria Street, high above Yonge-Dundas Square. The recreated sign was switched on in early 2018.
ICONIC SIGN: Sam The Record Man
Moderators: matt, kurtkraler, glyn
Re: ICONIC SIGN: Sam The Record Man
Once one of the most iconic features of downtown Yonge Street, the Sam the Record Man sign towered over the famous thoroughfare, while illuminating it with its inimitable, circular winking. The main feature of the sign was two, giant, two-story-high, white neon “records,” whose lights were cleverly programmed to give the illusion of spinning. Within the centre of each record, the words “THATS ENTERTAINMENT” were spelled out in red neon. Above each record, “SAM” was spelled out in red and white lights, in the company font.
The store was the vision of Sam Sniderman, who took his family’s radio store and transformed it into a music retail business with, at one point, 130 franchises across Canada. The Yonge location, with it’s extravagant signage, was the nationally-recognized flagship of the fleet.
Originally, Sam’s Yonge Street location — which opened in 1959 — featured different signage. The “347” address was lit up vertically down the middle of the building. A giant, white SAM on a red background topped the building. Just below were the logos of prominent record labels of the day: RCA Victor, Columbia, Decca, and Capitol. On one side of the building was light-up thermometer, and a barometer on the other, displaying the weatherof the day.
In the late-’60s, Sniderman hired the Brothers Markle sign company (whose work can be found all over Toronto), to design the first of the two spinning neon records. After the adjoining 349 property was acquired (formerly the storied Steele’s Tavern where an undiscovered Gordon Lightfoot used to hone his chops), a second spinning record was added in 1987.
As the music business changed, smaller chains were squeezed out by international ones, and physical media was being replaced with digital, Sam’s locations everywhere began to fold, with the Yonge location closing in 2007. The City of Toronto assigned heritage designation to the property in order to preserve the iconic sign. The sign was removed to allow construction of a new Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) Student Learning Centre.
It was later restored and relocated to 277 Victoria Street, above Yonge-Dundas Square, and switched on in early 2018.
The store was the vision of Sam Sniderman, who took his family’s radio store and transformed it into a music retail business with, at one point, 130 franchises across Canada. The Yonge location, with it’s extravagant signage, was the nationally-recognized flagship of the fleet.
Originally, Sam’s Yonge Street location — which opened in 1959 — featured different signage. The “347” address was lit up vertically down the middle of the building. A giant, white SAM on a red background topped the building. Just below were the logos of prominent record labels of the day: RCA Victor, Columbia, Decca, and Capitol. On one side of the building was light-up thermometer, and a barometer on the other, displaying the weatherof the day.
In the late-’60s, Sniderman hired the Brothers Markle sign company (whose work can be found all over Toronto), to design the first of the two spinning neon records. After the adjoining 349 property was acquired (formerly the storied Steele’s Tavern where an undiscovered Gordon Lightfoot used to hone his chops), a second spinning record was added in 1987.
As the music business changed, smaller chains were squeezed out by international ones, and physical media was being replaced with digital, Sam’s locations everywhere began to fold, with the Yonge location closing in 2007. The City of Toronto assigned heritage designation to the property in order to preserve the iconic sign. The sign was removed to allow construction of a new Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) Student Learning Centre.
It was later restored and relocated to 277 Victoria Street, above Yonge-Dundas Square, and switched on in early 2018.