This is a proposed Miss Mizzou highway sign printed in the Columbia Missourian on April 19, 1958. Used with permission of the Columbia Missourian.

As I talk about in the Miss Mizzou book, there were ideas being thrown around about having a Miss Mizzou sign on the newly built interstate 70 to get people into Columbia. Did a Miss Mizzou sign ever exist? Here’s the evidence I’ve gathered so far.

A story from the Columbia Missourian from August 5th, 1966 mentions that there might have been a sign:

“Miss Mizzou was greatly applauded in Columbia with sign announcing ‘Welcome to Columbia – Home of Miss Mizzou.'”

Inside the 1968 Miss Mizzou calendar, a similar tale is told, although the source material for this write up might have come from the 1966 article:

“Naturally, Miss Mizzou was much applauded here, particular when Caniff let her first name – Columbia – be known. New road signs announced ‘Welcome to Columbia – Home of Miss Mizzou.'”

I have two people who attest that there was a sign. One is a MU alumnus who graduated in 1959:

“There was a large sign, including, as I recall,  the graphic of Miss Mizzou on the sign. It was on Interstate 70 if you were approaching Columbia from the east coming from St. Louis. Don’t know if there was one on the Kansas City side. But as I recall, it was not up for long.”

Another local resident who grew up in Columbia also saw the sign:

“I think the sign was a vertical Caniff drawing of the lady herself, not a photo of Stiner, and it would have graced the shoulders of I-70, which would have been more than half-way complete across the state by 1959.”

The sign would have likely been something that wouldn’t have been officially endorsed by the city, but I’m at a loss as to who would have put it up. A rogue band of businesses? A lone Caniff fan who owned property near the highway? I’ve extensively searched reels of microfilm over and over looking for this sign. If anyone has any information about the sign, please let me know!