This photo wasn't even taken on a walk, but out out my car window. With my phone camera. While sitting at a red light. The colors at dusk were so striking that I really couldn't resist the temptation (I've often said that if I die in a car crash it will be because I'm saying "tree pretty"). In fact, for whatever reason, a couple of months ago I was driving the Burnside-Couch couplet regularly at this time of day, and did indeed say no to the shot several times. I'm glad I finally succumbed to that yummy blue sky.
It's the Portland Bottling Company/7Up Bottling Company building on NE Couch, of course. That 7Up sign glowing moon-bright in the sky is as iconic in this town as they come, especially on the East side. Its coverings and unveilings have made the news several times in the last decade, and there have been repeated speculations about the amount of time that's passed since the sign last spun (20 years? after the Columbus Day storm? some recent time after they replaced the ball bearings as mentioned in the KATU article linked above?).
The Portland Bottling Company itself has been in Portland for just shy of a century, though it's had its ups and downs according to the economy just like everyone else in the manufacturing industry--thus the attempt at harnessing the market on a trendy new health/energy drink which caused the most recent changes in the sign's appearance, before 7Up regained top billing. I have to admit, though, even if it's the sign which first catches my attention, it's the building itself which always turns my head so dangerously in traffic. I know I'm not the only sucker in this town for the sinewy beauty of an art deco line. As Bart King puts it, "the aerodynamic building gleams with the prospect of a brighter future through bottling soft drinks in fashionable digs." If the company has had fluctuating success, the building itself seems to hold tightly to a sense of optimism--that concern for public elegance and style which almost always only comes when more dramatic pressures are not at hand. In fact, this was the last building erected in Portland before WWII austerity demanded a temporary moratorium on such construction. Even the folks whom you can thank for the recently opened Burnside-Couch couplet realize the significance of the building, calling it a landmark and making its restoration and redevelopment a part of their development plans for the area.
A fun bit of trivia for us children of the 80s: according to the Inside Portland page linked above, Portland Bottling Company was also responsible for the production of later versions of Teddy Ruxpin. I have no idea how to fit this in smoothly with the discussion of this building, but it must be noted.
