Discovery & Restoration

     In June 2000 the Regan Building on California Drive in Burlingame was demolished to make way for a new structure. When the walls came tumbling down on this mid-1920’s building a surprise was in store. On the adjacent building, hidden from view for over 70 years was a beautiful piece of 1920’s Americana.

    Looking quite clean and unscathed, a full 14’ x 53’ wallscape advertising the Severn Lodge Dairy. 

   

   No longer protected from the elements, the wallscape began a slide into deterioration. Colors began to fade and chip with each season. The Historical Society expressed great interest in restoring the piece, yet funding remained a major roadblock. In the Fall of 2002, a letter writing campaign was undertaken to find a donor for the project.

    One such letter was sent off to the Dairy Council of California. Other letters were sent to major advertising corporations, like Clear Channel Outdoor. Michael Colbruno, Vice President of Governmental Affairs with Clear Channel Outdoor/Northern California, called the Society, pledging major funding to restore this rare piece of Americana. He was very well aware of its importance as an original outdoor painted advertisement. On a special trip to the Archives, he educated Society Board Members about the origins of outdoor advertising, billboards and wallscapes from the past to the present.

     This particular wallscape is a standard size of 53.5 feet wide and 14 feet high. It was created by Foster and Kleiser Outdoor Advertising, a company originating back to 1901, that would eventually become Clear Channel Outdoor. Colbruno stressed that it would be extremely unlikely that another one of this quality would ever be found in California. To make matters even better, he had just the right person, Mike Manente, to restore it.

About the Painter, Mike Manente. 

     Mike Manente was born in 1949 in Toledo, Ohio and raised in Cleveland. He received his MFA from Kent State, eventually teaching art for several years. He stumbled across the world of "pictorial painting," while trying to sell inter-office supplies (intercoms) to various businesses. In 1979, while making a pitch to a painting studio that sub-contracted for Foster and Kleiser outdoor, he discovered the sign painting industry and begged for a job. He proved himself by painting the now famous "Coppertone Girl" for the owner and was offered the job on the spot.