Bedford, Indiana - Obsessive Sign Builder

Sam the Sign Man is now up for Village Idiot. There seems to be a new player in the sign war, the people that live across the street from the offensive signs are using their freedom of speech to share with the community their feelings about Sam the Idiot sign maker. [John, 09/04/2009]

Sam Shaw received numerous fines from the town of Bedford for his signs, and also the disarray of his house. The town finally got him to tear down the old house. The signs have since remained only painted white, without the red lettering that he was so famous for. His lot of land still has some old shacks and broken down cars on it, as well as the white plywood signs. I've not heard any news as to when he is officially supposed to have the lot cleared off to meet required codes.

Sam Shaw is actually a very interesting person (to say the least). His signs spoke out mostly political views, with the occasional reference to religion. [Jeff, 01/01/2008]

I recently ran across a tip about the "Obsessive sign builder" in Bedford, Indiana. The man who owns this home on "I" Street in Bedford, IN, is named Sam Shaw. He uses these signs as an outlet for his freedom of speech. He writes about local churches, politics, and education in Bedford. He has recently been under fire about the state of his property, but local community members help him out by paying his fines so that he can keep speaking the truth about problems in Bedford.

I have grown up in Bedford, IN, and this man is usually the talk of the town with his white painted signs with red painted letters on them. He is a very nice man to talk with, and he loves visitors, especially ones that like to argue with him about things. Most visitors probably wouldn't understand the signs because they are local news, but it is still very interesting to see someone actually using their freedom of speech. [April Rollins, 12/28/2002]

In Bedford, there is a worn-out house just north of "downtown" where the owner has erected several huge signs in his front yard (which is full of interesting junk) berating the minister of the local church, mocking his fellow townspeople, making political statements, etc. He changes the signs pretty regularly, but the last time I visited one of them read, "Any government big enough to give you anything you want is big enough to take it away." etc. This is John Birch country.

Also, the three little pigs diner is a nice place to stop for coffee after visiting - creepy childlike hand-painted depictions of the three little pigs in various states of distress all over the walls. [Heather Booth, 02/10/2002]