Last week, I was traveling south on Interstate 65 in Alabama. As I drew near the State capital of Montgomery, I started to keep my eyes peeled, hoping to see it. I’m talking about Alabama’s most infamous and beloved roadside oddity, the Devil Sign. It features a bright red devil, complete with a nasty-looking scythe, goatee, horns, and pointy tail, and the warning: “Go to church or the Devil will get you!” The guy who initially put it up meant it in all seriousness*, but today people enjoy it ironically. (I’m sure there are a few who proclaim “Damn right!” when they see it, then have to be all contrite for saying a bad word, but most folks, I daresay, smile when they see it. The sign has become rather beloved over the decades, almost like a welcome sign.)
The sign was, the last I had heard, toppled in a storm. People lamented its loss, with others wanting to know what had happened to it. As I drove past the Prattville exit, though, I let out a cheer. The Devil Sign was back! This new iteration was all crisp and colorful, the paint fresh, the Devil looking rested and recuperated, his scythe still as sharp.
*Maybe or maybe not. Legend has it the Devil actually came from an old billboard advertising a Red Devil gas station. See, he’s not so evil and devilish, after all.
