Fool the Crooks

With scrap bronze fetching up to $1.70 per pound, thieves are making your plaques a target.

While you can’t totally stop criminal activity, you can make your valuables a less tempting target by installing plaques from Atlas Signs and Plaques. While the price of foundry-cast bronze plaques is often over $450 per square foot, plaques from Atlas can be under $150 per square foot. The key is that plaques from Atlas look foundry-cast, but they are not. Atlas Plaques are created from a space-age man made material, and then coated with real metal that has all of the characteristics of the cast plaque, but at a much lower cost. Result is that thieves get something that even the most unscrupulous scrap dealer won’t buy. That is if they steal it at all. If they do steal or vandalize your plaques, replacement will be far less expensive.

Here is another idea for important plaques. Have Atlas create a replacement for your original, hang the Atlas plaque, and place the original in safe storage until the allure of this crime is reduced.

The news is currently awash in stories of the theft of any scrap metal of value. Thieves are stripping aluminum siding and gutters, copper wire, and brass and bronze plaques and turning them into cash to fuel their addictions. Abandoned homes, businesses, cemeteries, pumping stations, parks, government buildings, churches, bridges, and historic sites are tempting targets. Thieves are even stripping occupied dwellings passing up entertainment devices to strip the copper wire and plumbing. It must be easier to sell and harder to trace. But the best targets are plaques because they are heavy for their size and usually easy to remove.

We hate the concept of accepting crime and having to remove temptation to protect assets, but think of it having the last laugh by outwitting the criminals.

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Order your signs and plaques by MIDNIGHT on December 14 for delivery by Christmas at Atlas Signs and Plaques!

Atlas can create your custom gift and ship it standard USPS if we have your order by December 14th. That allows just time enough for our staff to complete your project to ship by December 21st. If the post office does their job, you should have it at your door on or before December 24th.

We try to make your last minute shopping enjoyable with custom personalized gift signs and plaques that show that you care. Order by midnight tonight and we will meet your deadline.

How late can I order a custom sign or plaque as a gift and have it arrive for Christmas?

The easy answer is that Atlas can create your custom gift and ship it standard USPS if we have your order by December 14th. That allows just time enough for our staff to complete your project to ship by December 21st. If the post office does their job, you should have it at your door on or before December 24th.

Obviously time is important, so getting your order to us sooner is best.

There are some ways to squeeze a couple of more days, and all you would have to do is select a FedEx delivery option that makes it work. Atlas is planning on working extra hard and long hours to avoid disappointment, and we will do our finest to complete everything. Please let us know that your plaque is a Christmas Gift in your communications, and we will let you know if we can do it on a case-by-case basis.

For the big and little guys, we suggest one of our personalized Man Cave plaques or our “No Girls Allowed” Signs. For the ladies, how about designating their special place with a personalized plaque that has special meaning.  Favorites for the home would include our Craftsman Style Address Number Plaque, or a whimsical No Solicitors Sign (which we agree is definitely not in the Christmas spirit, but is very necessary).

Have a golfer on the gift list, try our 19th Hole Sign. Have a veteran or someone currently serving to honor, pick from our Military and Service Plaques and add to their pride, and yours too.

We try to make your last minute shopping enjoyable with custom personalized gift signs and plaques that show that you care. Order early and we will meet your deadline. And, a big, Merry Christmas from all of us at Atlas Signs and Plaques.

A bit of nostalgia, and a great, ready to ship, holiday gift idea.

Put the finishing touches on your Christmas shopping, and purchase your Keep Calm and Carry On Plaque from Atlas Signs and Plaques on Etsy. These hanging plaques look as though they were formed from the remains of a downed Messerschmitt, but they are made of space age material, and coated with real aluminum. Wonderful wall art, they are ready to hang and take the edge off the most frantic day.

“Keep Calm and Carry On” is a phrase dating from World War II. The story is that this slogan originated on a poster that was issued by the British Ministry of Information as a reminder to keep the famous British “stiff upper lip” as England prepared for the inevitable German invasion. The full scale invasion never came, but the blitz did. Bombs blanketed England forcing the population to run for cover and endure incredible hardships as the reign of terror continued for years.

Despite the poster’s somber wartime beginnings, this bit of calming wisdom endures in a complex world. Atlas brings this famous inspirational poster to life as a plaque that says far more than its five simple words would imply. Massively appropriate for today’s busy life and chaotic economy. Take a hint from the Brits of WWII England, and “Keep Calm and Carry On” when things seem to be getting worse. Whether it is the economy, your kids, job, or trying to do too much with too little time, just hang this in the kitchen, or office to put things in perspective as you contemplate that all previous generations have had troubled times. They survived to prosper, and so will you.

The poster was printed by the millions, and was a reminder that the human spirit endures despite setbacks. As Winston Churchill said “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference”. In other words, Keep smiling in the face of adversity.

Shown with an almond for scale.

lilliputian vs. Goliath, Teenie Weenie vs. Humungous, Petite vs. Mammoth.

Small and Large

Pictured is perhaps the world’s smallest address plaque against what might be the world’s largest residential address plaque. The minuscule measure a scant 1½ x 2½ inches and the monster 24 x 18 inches.

Curiously, both are address plaques of the American Craftsman style available from Atlas Signs and Plaques. The smallest demonstrates the incredible detail possible using modern techniques, and the largest shows just how legible an address plaque can be when made big enough to see from a distance. Both address numbers are in the popular Copper Patina finish that is so fitting on homes in the Arts and Crafts, Bungalow,  Prairie, and Craftsman styles. The use of the appropriate Arts and Craft Font adds the final layer of authenticity to your home or business.