Timber Sign
Timber: The Natural Choice
A timber sign is a sign of any sort created from the wood of a tree. Timber is used in areas where it is either necessary or fashionable; for example, one could expect to see timber house number signs in both isolated small communities in heavily wooded areas, and large, expensive community housing lots with a "woodsy" theme.
Timber signs, as well as large rocks or boulders serving as signs, are fairly common in forested small towns. While government officials can afford to post metal or hard plastic signs where needed, the community members might find it cheaper, easier, and much faster to simply carve or paint a part of nature to serve their purposes. Unfinished timber house number signs, for example, can be found adorning houses or mailbox posts with as much frequency in the low-income areas as in the high-scale areas of a small town, simply because the material is so readily available.
Leaving the Forest
Timber goods, especially hand-crafted goods, are much less common (and therefore more valuable) outside of their native area. Timber signs are practically nonexistent within cities, where trees are purposefully grown for decoration or by legal requirement. It's much more common to see timber business and home signs in rural and suburban areas, where they are not as remarkable.
In suburban areas, home decorations made of timber can go for a good price. Timber furniture, picture frames, and house number signs are typically sold at a higher price than the same objects of a cheap, mass-produced material such as plastic. Although timber goods can be mass-produced, the fact that they are made of wood and not a synthetic material encourages people to perceive them as requiring more work, and therefore being worth more.
Timber business and house number signs communicate their respective owners' old-fashioned values and esteem for hard work. People who respect and love nature, or businesses that deal in natural products, are particularly likely to want timber goods to decorate their homes and businesses.
Timber - Cheap, Easy, Green
With people all over the world paying a great deal of attention to "green" products and processes, it's reasonable to expect that the popularity of wooden home signs is going to increase. Timber is available for use by anyone; it's easier to shape, requiring fewer tools and less training than most other materials; and, best of all, it's extremely cheap and renewable.
The biggest advantage plastic business and house number signs have over timber ones is durability. Wood, like any other organic compound, is vulnerable to decay, affected by weather patterns, and can become infested with bugs. While plastic business and home number signs don't have these problems, they can be more expensive, they don't offer the same aesthetic appeal, and their design and production is necessarily left to the control of someone who has the proper equipment for it. Timber business and house number signs can be customized by the owner, if they choose; they can even be hand-carved, sawed, dyed, painted, or burned using a woodburning torch. Any of these choices is not only simple, it's also creative and fun. Personalized house signs, especially those made from natural materials, are a testament to the homeowners' pride.
The next time you're at a tourist pit stop, have a look at the timber business and house number signs they offer, along with their other timber goods. These are the signs of a possible future lived in closer harmony with nature.