This one gave me a jolt. It’s not the colors, which usually are not seen together in public. It’s the globe itself. One of these stood over a Norge Village Laundromat in south Fargo for many years – in fact, I think it’s still there.

It’s certainly a distinctive corporate symbol – a planet wearing an iron belt, covered with Wonder Bread wrapping. It’s the psychotic sibling of the Gulf 76 sign.

The chain may be gone, but many stores with Norge in their name survive – perhaps to satisfy the aging clientele, or because there was simply no reason to change it. Few people use a particular dry cleaners because of their name, after all. If you ran the only drycleaners in a 20 block radio you could call it the  Rusty Hanger and people would still come.