For your consideration, this lot includes Yellowstone National Park history in the form of a brass placard, "Property of W. A. Hall Company Gardiner, Montana 289" from the historic Gardiner, Montana store, W. A. Hall Company, circa 1930s-1940s. In 1903, early visitors to Yellowstone National Park arrived by train to Gardiner, MT. As these visitors disembarked from the train and set foot into the gateway to “Wonderland”, their eyes were immediately drawn to two sights: the iconic Roosevelt Arch, and the adjacent sign on the W.A. Hall store reading, “W.A. Hall Sells Everything” in large white letters. The W.A. Hall (William Alexander Hall) store was a routine stop for park visitors to gather supplies for the trip ahead. Hall literally did sell everything including groceries, dry goods, hardware, furniture, clothing, and more. The building also served as the post office and a drugstore for many years. There was even a dance hall upstairs. The industrious entrepreneur provided tourists and locals with everything they might need for life and travel at the turn of the century. Not surprisingly, the W.A. Hall sign on the western wall of the building, which serves as the main office and a retail store for Yellowstone Forever, began to fade considerably. The faint “ghost sign”, which invokes the mood and feel of the early days at Yellowstone’s north entrance, is itself an important piece of the park’s history. In an effort to preserve this unique landmark, Yellowstone Forever secured a grant from the Montana Department of Commerce: Office of Tourism and Business Development to restore the sign and thus maintain the historical integrity of one of America’s most iconic scenery backdrops. The placard is embossed, the black ink partially faded, the patina is consistent throughout, some scratches noted, in overall good condition, measures 5"L x 2.25"W approximately