Rawson & Evans

Chicago, IL / New York City, NY
The Rawson & Evans sign company was established by Charles L. Rawson and Samuel Evans in 1890 located at 153 W. Washington St. Chicago, IL. They were most known for their style of chipped, ground, enameled, and embossed gold / silver leaf, reverse-painted, elaborate and beautiful ornamental glass signs and signage ever made. By the early 1900’s era Rawson & Evans opened a second office at 460 W. Broadway, New York City, NY.

The only other sign competitor that produced similar signs was Dawes Manufacturing Company located in Pittsburgh, PA. Dawes Mfg Co made lense-style reverse-painted glass signs with gold and silver leaf incorporated in them.

Many industries across the country took a liking to the signs that Rawson and Evans were producing and decided to hire them to produce signs both for their companies as well as products. Industries like soda, tobacco / cigars makers, general store, bars, drug stores / pharmacies, banks, whiskey distillers, breweries, and textile manufacturers, all had a vested interest in their signs. They eventually closed in 1940 due to lack of sales.

Various breweries took a liking to what Rawson & Evans was producing and decided to tire them to produce signs for both their brewery as well as the products they produced. Among these breweries were Barbey’s Inc., Sunshine, Deppen, Yuengling’s, Edelweiss, Coors, Anheuser-Busch, Anchor, Pabst, Schlitz, Olympia, Napa City, Enterprise, Petersen, Yosemite, Buffalo, Bellingham Bay, Leinenkugel, Los Angeles, Bluff City, California, Trimmers, Moose, Duluth, Columbia, Budweiser, Jackson, Cooke, Leinenkugel, Garden City, Mutual, Wm. Gebhard’s Morris, Hofmann Bros., Guinness, Anheuser Busch, Luxus, and Schlitz just to name a few.

Below are a few examples of Rawson and Evans signs: