Museum’s relics stuck in the past
A STICKY HISTORY
Consider the bumper sticker, that easy-to-apply accessory that gives others a glimpse into the vehicle owner’s personality, tastes, hobbies, political affiliation or sense of humor. They can be loud, crude, sly, thought-provoking; they can advertise a business or brand, a sport or team; a bumper sticker can urge world peace or indicate that the person displaying it isn’t all that concerned about the accomplishments of your honor student.
They also help tell the story of our times, and to that end a small, colorful slice of Arkansas cultural, political and advertising history is preserved on the walls of the Bumper Sticker Museum at Ad Craft of Arkansas Inc., 1122 W. Third St., Little Rock.
The collection of hundreds of stickers dates back to the 1960s and runs the gamut from political campaigns (“Boswell for U.S. Senate,” “Kelly Bryant for Secretary of State”), to radio stations (“KLAZ, 98.5 FM” “KAAY”), civic promotion (“Cotter, Arkansas: A Good Place to Live,” “Visit the White County Fair”) and, of course, the Razorbacks (“Fiesta Bowl Bound!”).
Along with stickers there are signs advertising events at Barton Coliseum, newspaper promotions, businesses and others. On the counter are current stickers for sale catering to everyone from the MAGA crowd to supporters of President Biden.
Ad Craft was founded in 1958 by Gene McCoy II and his wife, Idella. Their daughter, Randi McCoy Evans, is now the firm’s president; their son, Sherman, is vice president.
Evans, 68, was at the shop on a springlike day last week when we stopped by to gawk at the stickers and signs.
“In the early days, Dad was doing political stuff, but he said that they had to do something else the rest of the time,” Evans recalled. “So we started screen printing bumper stickers, signs and decals.”
The museum starts in the lobby and stretches into the shop. The first stickers were put up by her older brother, Gene III, in the late ’60s, Evans said. It was named by Little Rock attorney Bob Edwards.
“He met us in the ’90s and he said: ‘This place is a bumper sticker museum,’” she said.
The shop stays busy printing new items for clients, but Evans said visitors are welcome to see the sticker collection during business hours, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.
‘ATLANTIS’ ON TV?
There may be some good news for fans of the late Arkansas author Charles Portis. In an interview earlier this month with the Washington Post, actor Michael Cera (“Arrested Development,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Life & Beth”) said he’s hoping to direct a limited-series adaptation of Portis’ hilarious 1985 novel “Masters of Atlantis.”
Cera acquired the rights to the book in 2015.