You Will Do Better in Toledo Day is on Saturday, December 17th! We celebrate the city's slogan that day because December 17th, 1913 was the first time the original You Will Do Better in Toledo sign was lit. The story of the sign is as interesting as the sign itself.
In 1913 the Toledo Commerce Club held a contest to create a new slogan for the city of Toledo. The winning entry, "You Will Do Better In Toledo", was submitted by four people. It was determined that C.W. Lammers was the first to send in the slogan and he was declared the winner. The slogan was illuminated on a large electrical sign in downtown Toledo along with two other sections featuring a locomotive and a lake freighter.
An excerpt from the Toledo Blade from December 12, 1977, states: "The sign, above, was lighted first on the night of Dec. 17, 1913, while 8,000 spectators cheered and Mayor Brand Whitlock made a speech. The sign, built and donated by the Henry L. Doherty Co., new owners of the Toledo Railway & Light Co., was 100 feet long and 50 feet high. It was in three sections: the big locomotive, the slogan, and a lighted lake freighter. A second slogan read: "Where Rail and Water Meet." The sign came down in 1926 when the city offices that occupied the Valentine Building moved out."
For more information, check out our blog post on the history behind the sign!
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