Texas Gifts for Men: Porcelain Signs With Real Lone Star History

Buying for a Texan is harder than it looks. He already owns the boots, the hat and a cooler with a sticker on it. So the best Texas gifts for men are usually the ones that tell a story he already loves, whether that’s an oil boom, a soda from Waco or a ballpark under a dome. Porcelain signs do that well, and they hang on a garage wall for decades. Here are some ideas, with the history behind each one.

The photo at the top shows a wall of cowboy boots for sale at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Carol M. Highsmith took it on February 21, 2014, for her America Project at the Library of Congress. Every pair is a little different. Some have flowers stitched into the shaft, some are tooled leather, and one is bright white with black trim. In short, it is a fair picture of Texas taste.

What makes good Texas gifts for men

First, think about where he spends his free time. For many men here, that is a garage, a shop, a game room or a back porch. Those walls are usually bare, or covered with whatever came free with a truck part.

Second, pick something tied to a place or a memory. A man from the Panhandle may care about Route 66. A man from Houston may still talk about the Astrodome. Meanwhile, a man from Waco will tell you which soda came first.

Finally, choose something that lasts. Porcelain advertising signs are made by fusing glass to steel in a kiln, so the color does not fade the way paint or a printed poster does. They also hold up in heat and humidity, which matters in a Texas garage in August.

Texas gifts for men who love the flag

Texas is one of the few states where people fly the state flag as proudly as the national one. The Congress of the Republic of Texas adopted the Lone Star flag on January 25, 1839. Its blue stripe, white stripe, red stripe and single white star have stayed the same since. Oddly enough, nobody knows for certain who designed it.

That makes the flag an easy choice. It is not tied to a team, a company or a city, so it suits nearly any Texan. Our Texas flag porcelain sign puts the Lone Star flag inside the outline of the state. It is 11 3/4 by 11 3/4 inches, with glossy porcelain on both sides in red, white and blue.

Oil boom history on a garage wall

Modern Texas started with a gusher. On January 10, 1901, the Lucas well at Spindletop, near Beaumont, blew oil more than 150 feet into the air. It flowed at about 100,000 barrels a day, and crews needed nine days to bring it under control. Nothing like it had been seen in the country before.

Several companies grew out of that field. Gulf Oil was one. Another started in 1902 in Beaumont as the Texas Fuel Company, and it grew into The Texas Company. The name Texaco is short for it. In 1915 it moved its offices to 1111 Rusk Street in Houston. Then, in 1928, Texaco became the first American oil company to sell under one brand name in all 48 states.

Its logo was a white star in a red circle, a clear nod to the Lone Star. Later versions put a green “T” inside the star. Because of all that, Texaco porcelain signs are a natural fit for a Texas shop. We tell the rest of that story in our post on Texaco porcelain signs. Our Texaco red star porcelain sign adds a pin-up girl to the red star, and the full range is in our Texaco porcelain signs.

Texas gifts for men who grew up on Dr Pepper

Ask a Texan about soda and you may get a history lesson. A pharmacist named Charles Alderton created Dr Pepper in Waco, while he worked at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store. At first, customers simply asked for “a Waco.” The owner, Wade Morrison, gave it the name that stuck.

The name “Dr. Pepper” was first used commercially in 1885. That is one year before Coca-Cola came along, which Texans like to point out. Later, the drink went national at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis.

The ads are part of the fun. For years, the company told people to drink one at 10, 2 and 4 o’clock. During World War II, a radio show called The 10-2-4 Ranch aired across the South. Also, the company dropped the period after “Dr” from the logo for good in 1950, so older-looking designs often still have it.

For a soda fan, our Dr Pepper Wake Up Your Taste porcelain sign is 12 inches across with a pin-up girl and “Good For Life!” There are more in our Dr Pepper signs.

Texas gifts for men from Houston

We ship from Houston, Texas, so this one is close to home. In 1962 the city got a National League team called the Colt .45s. Three years later, the team moved into the Astrodome and took a new name, the Astros, which reflected Houston’s role in the space program.

The Astrodome opened in 1965 as the world’s first domed multi-purpose stadium. People called it the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” The Astros played there through 1999. Likewise, the Oilers played football there from 1968 to 1996, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo used it from 1966 to 2002.

For a lot of Houston men, the Dome is where they saw their first ballgame. Our Houston Astros porcelain sign shows the Astrodome with baseballs orbiting around it. It is 11 3/4 inches across, with glossy porcelain on the front and back.

Route 66 and the Panhandle

Route 66 crossed the Texas Panhandle from 1926 until it was decommissioned in 1985. It ran from Glenrio on the New Mexico line, through Amarillo, and on toward Texola, Oklahoma. Amarillo was the only major city on the Texas stretch.

There is a good bit of trivia, too. Adrian, Texas, west of Amarillo, calls itself the midpoint of Route 66. It sits about 1,139 miles from both Chicago and Los Angeles, and a sign in town says so. Our Route 66 history covers the rest of the Mother Road.

For a road trip fan, one of the easiest Texas gifts for men is our Texas US 66 highway shield porcelain sign is black and white, 11 1/2 by 11 inches, with porcelain on both sides. You can find more in our Route 66 and highway signs.

Game day picks

Football is close to a religion here, so a team sign is always a safe bet. The Dallas Cowboys began play in 1960. Our Dallas Cowboys porcelain sign says “Est. 1960” and shows a cartoon player riding a bucking horse on a navy ring. It is 12 inches across.

For an Aggie, the Texas A&M porcelain sign has a college football design and measures 11 3/4 inches. Otherwise, browse all our porcelain sports signs.

More porcelain signs for his wall

If none of these feels right, start with a room instead of a brand. Our man cave signs and garage signs cover gas, oil, soda, beer and travel. Vintage porcelain signs also look good in groups, so two or three smaller round signs can fill a wall nicely. When it arrives, our guide on how to hang porcelain signs covers drywall, brick and garage studs.

We ship from Houston, Texas. US orders ship for a flat $10, and international shipping is available at checkout. If a sign is not right, you have 30 days to return it. We pay the return shipping, and you get a full refund.

Texaco, Dr Pepper, the Houston Astros, the Dallas Cowboys and Texas A&M are trademarks of their respective owners. This article is history and commentary only. We sell porcelain advertising signs that celebrate these names, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by any company, team or school named here.

FAQ: Texas gifts for men

What is a good Texas gift for a man who has everything?

Something for his wall. A porcelain sign tied to his city, his team or a Texas brand he grew up with is personal, and it lasts for years.

Was Dr Pepper really invented in Texas?

Yes. Pharmacist Charles Alderton created it at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, and the name was first used commercially in 1885.

Why does the Texaco logo have a star?

Texaco started in Beaumont in 1902 as the Texas Fuel Company. Its red circle and white star point back to the Lone Star of Texas.

Do porcelain signs hold up in a hot garage?

They do. The color is glass fused to steel, so it resists fading from heat and sun far better than paint or printed tin.

The featured photo is “Fancy cowboy boots for sale at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo in San Antonio, Texas,” by Carol M. Highsmith, February 2014, from The Lyda Hill Texas Collection of Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America Project, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. It is in the public domain. You can see the full photo on Wikimedia Commons.