It’s roughly the shape of a cowboy boot, the paint is chipped, and the lettering — faint, but still legible — reads “Repairing.” Once, it likely swung above a Boulder cobbler’s shop, catching the eyes of passersby in need of new soles or stitched heels. Now, this boot-shaped wooden sign is one of the many artifacts anchoring “Signs of the Times,” the newest exhibit at the Museum of Boulder.

Housed in the museum’s Lodge Gallery, “Signs of the Times” — on view through June 29 — offers a walk through Boulder’s past, told in neon, enamel and hand-carved wood. Drawn entirely from the museum’s collection, the exhibit has gathered some of the city’s most recognizable, eccentric and memory-laden signs, offering a nostalgic look at how we’ve tried to catch each other’s attention over the decades.

The idea for “Signs of the Times” started, according to Museum of Boulder curator Elizabeth Nosek, with a simple realization.

“We have plenty of signs in our collection, but I just wasn’t seeing them get used,” said Nosek. “When we were planning which exhibits to install in the Lodge Gallery, we figured it would be a good opportunity to call attention to objects in the museum’s permanent collection. An exhibit of signage seemed like an odd concept, and maybe a little quirky, so we decided to give it a shot.”

The result is a thoughtfully curated commemoration of Boulder’s visual culture, a reminder that even the most ordinary of objects can sometimes evoke a rush of memories. The exhibition is also part of the museum’s broader effort to showcase the in-house collection, bringing out objects that speak to both private and public histories.

Not all signs are created equal, and “Signs of the Times” lays that out beautifully. The exhibit loosely groups its collection into three types: early trade signs, enamel advertisements, and the glow-and-flicker glamour of neon.

The earliest signs are among the most visually charming. There’s the aforementioned wooden boot, which once marked a shoe repair shop, and a candy-striped barber pole that might as well be a time machine for anyone who grew up getting buzz cuts in a red vinyl chair. Then there’s the butcher shop sign, an intricate piece shaped like a weather vane, featuring two oversized meat cleavers flanking a small painted cow. A bit grim, yes — but undeniably Boulder.

By the late-19th century, signs got slicker. One standout from the collection is a metal advertisement for a dye company, created sometime between the 1880s and 1890s. The sign is enamel-coated and features a whimsically illustrated fairy, showcasing a wink of fantasy marketing from an era when color itself could be a selling point.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a signage exhibit without some neon. Glowing tubes bent into cursive script or clock shapes became popular in the 1930s, and the museum’s collection includes a few that will light up during the run of the show.

The emotional heart of “Signs of the Times,” however, beats strongest in the signs that call Boulder home.

There’s the Mork & Mindy sign, pulled from the hit sitcom that turned Boulder into a pop-culture landmark in the late ‘70s.

“People just light up when they see it,” Nosek said. And they do the same for Albums on the Hill and Penny Lane, two music meccas whose signs speak to the city’s college-town soul.

Other pieces tap into even deeper wells of local memory. A trio of signs from the long-gone Yocom Photography shop pay tribute to the Kodachrome era, and might make you wish you still had that 35mm Canon in a drawer somewhere. Then there’s the photo of Prairie Pete, a literal prairie dog whose image was gifted to Tom’s Tavern as a thank-you for supporting open space preservation. When the restaurant closed in 2007, the photo was saved and donated to the museum.

Throw in the Boulder Dinner Theatre marquee (RIP) and a lovingly preserved Alpine Barber Shop sign from the Ideal Market

shopping center, and it becomes clear that this exhibit is more of a scrapbook than a mere display of signage.

For Nosek, who’s worked in museums for more than 40 years, the magic of this exhibit lies in the material culture.

“Objects like these speak in ways books or written records can’t,” she said. “They give people the chance to interpret history through something tangible.”

That tangibility is what makes the exhibit feel personal. Visitors might remember their first haircut under that barber pole, or they might recall buying film at Yocom’s before a family vacation. “Signs of the Times” is a reminder that history isn’t always framed behind glass. Sometimes, it hangs above a storefront, blinking gently and waiting for someone to look up.

In a town that’s rapidly evolving, “Signs of the Times” offers a moment to pause, look back and remember the places that made Boulder feel like Boulder. Every piece in the show was once part of someone’s everyday life: A straight razor-shave, a record store run, a bowl of chili at a long-gone diner.

As Nosek puts it, “Signs catch our eye, but they also hold our shared history.”

“Signs of the Times” runs through June 29 at the Museum of Boulder’s Lodge Gallery, 2205 Broadway, Boulder. For information, visit museumofboulder.org.