Tag: Americana

Oregon Hotel. 

Two days after the eclipse we passed through the town of Mitchell, Oregon on the way to the Painted Hills. I had originally intended to view the eclipse from the Painted Hills, but altered plans after reading forecasts of crowds and limited services and impassable traffic – predictions that were mostly fulfilled on eclipse day. There are cafes in Mitchell, and we had planned on stopping for lunch, but all were closed since the eclipse-viewing hordes had stripped them of food, and all were waiting for supplies to arrive. The lone gasoline station in Mitchell had run out of fuel, but fortunately was re-supplied the morning of our visit. We stopped at the general store on Main Street, where the only food left on the shelves were a few dusty cans of SpaghettiOs. We drove on. 

Ghost Sign: Cock Bros. / Furniture & Undertaking / Fuller “They Last” Paints.

At first encounter, this sign touting furniture and undertaking may seem odd, but really, what is a coffin if not furniture for the great beyond? It was common for a community’s cabinet maker to also be its chief casket builder. In the case of the Cock brothers, they bought their business in Union, Oregon in 1906, and by 1917 had expanded their enterprise into a grand brick building with one room for furniture sales, and parlor for their funeral business. 

Ghost Sign: Cock Bros. / Furniture & Undertaking / Fuller “They Last” Paints.

At first encounter, this sign touting furniture and undertaking may seem odd, but really, what is a coffin if not furniture for the great beyond? It was common for a community’s cabinet maker to also be its chief casket builder. In the case of the Cock brothers, they bought their business in Union, Oregon in 1906, and by 1917 had expanded their enterprise into a grand brick building with one room for furniture sales, and parlor for their funeral business.