The signs with the cryptic messages began appearing in July, sprouting along Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington. “Businesses are Nibblicious During Construction,” said one. Others said businesses were “opalescent” or “radiant.”
Who was this mad sign maker?
It turns out it was the Capitol Square Business Association, which placed the bright yellow signs along the busy street as work continued on the Massachusetts Avenue reconstruction project .
Instead of putting up the boring, age-old phrase, “Businesses open during construction,” the group tacked slogans featuring an entire alphabet’s-worth of terms to utility poles and trees running from Grafton Street to the Cambridge city line. Other signs were pinned on poles along parts of Lake Street. The signs still say “Businesses are . . . during construction,” but the adjective in each sign differs and is written in bigger, bolder letters.
“The words ranged from ‘awesome’ to ‘zippity,’ ” said Jan Whitted, a member of the Capitol Square Business Association and owner of Artbeat, which features art supplies and classes. “We felt that just because businesses are open during construction, that phrase doesn’t always express fully what we are about.”
At least one of the words could not be found in the dictionary. Nibblicious is an unofficial mix of the words “nibble” and “delicious.”
Whitted said she came up with the sign designs as she was walking to her store one morning this summer.
She said the concept was inspired by the iconic Burma-Shave advertising campaign that was popular from the 1920s to the 1960s. The company posted signs along highways that, when strung together, typically told jokes and rhymed.
After brainstorming with members of the association about ways to draw attention to the East Arlington business area, despite the disruptive construction, the group forged ahead and created the signs.
“The purpose was to be evocative and fun while not necessarily using proper English,” Whitted said. “People noticed them right away, and it did what we were hoping it would do: It made people laugh.”
Rudy Maniscalco, owner of Sugo Cucina Italiana, which opened in the midst of the construction three weeks ago, said the signs “definitely caught people’s attention.”
“It gave people driving by the idea that businesses are doing well, and businesses are open even with all the construction going on,” he said.
The $6.84 million project, which began last year and is headed by the state Department of Transportation, will reconstruct Massachusetts Avenue from Pond Lane to the Cambridge line.
The bulk of the sidewalk repairs on the northeast side of the street have been completed, according to an update on the town’s website. Work on the sidewalks along the opposite side of the road is underway.
According to project details, crews will begin milling the street to prepare it for repaving beginning Aug. 30.
MassDOT officials expect the project will be “substantially completed” by the end of the year, with the final touches done by the spring of 2016, a spokesman said.
While Whitted said her intention was to draw in customers as they passed by orange cones, barrels, and heavy machinery, some people were indifferent about the campaign.
Frank Fazzolari, owner of Vincent’s Barber Shop, said not all businesses are “doing fabulously.”
“This year [the construction] killed me. They were out here during prom, graduation, and Communion weeks. And those are big weeks for me,” he said. “Some of the clientele is on the older side, so the older guys can’t jump over stones or walk through rubble. When they see an orange barrel out, or a sign that says ‘sidewalk closed,’ they don’t bother.”
He said the signs can be “a little bit deceiving,” although the sidewalks have reopened outside his shop and business has picked up a bit.
Whitted said the slogans weren’t meant to say, “We are doing fine,” but rather “Come see us, we are pretty cool.”
“I’d say 90 percent of people, including our customers, thought it was really fun,” she said.
Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.