The Marketplace: Sign of the Times

Business might be better at the Pomfret Spirit Shoppe, mused Proprietor Bernard Patenaude, if only the cars on Route 169, between Pomfret and Woodstock, Conn., didn't tear by so fast. So he had a big sign painted:

SLOW DOWN NUDISTS CROSSING

AHEAD Motorists slowed to a crawl. Some even turned around and crawled back. Business boomed at the Pomfret Spirit Shoppe. But the state police said no. There was a law against private citizens' telling motorists to slow down, and besides, the sign was too close to the road. Proprietor Patenaude pondered about it all winter. This week he has a new sign ready for installation along Route 169—farther back from the road, but bigger:

WATCH OUT

NUDISTS CROSSING

AHEAD