“No Vacancy” (bumper sticker)
Entry in progress—B.P.
1 January 1980, New York (NY) Times, “House Hunters Turning to Shrinking Rental Market” by Howell Raines, pg. 12:
Profit and loss aside, the number of renters seems certain to grow dramatically in the first years of the new decade. Some will be tenants by choice, others out of necessity. But all of them may discover that a bumper sticker currently fashionable in Texas is prophetic. it shows the skyline of Austin surmounted by a bold sign reading, “No Vacancy.”
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2 December 1984, Pittsburgh (PA) Press, “Silicon Gulch: Austin wakes up in stampede by new breed of high-tech Texans” by Paul Taylor (Washington Post), pg. B1, col. 1:
Developers are riding tall in the saddle—about to own the seat of city government.
The “no-vacancy” bumper stickers and votes on bond issues only seem to fire up the growth.
Google Books
Texas Government:
Policy and politics
Edition 4
By Neal R. Tannahill
New York, NY: HarperCollins College Publishers
1993
Pg. 45:
Still, many Austinites worry that growth is ruining the city they love. They display bumper stickers reading “No Vacancy” and warn of the dangers of “Houstonization.”
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Ted Samsel)
Date: 1995/08/03
Subject: Re: i hear the chronicle is it
: BTW, you can spot me on the highway, I have the bumper sticker that says, “Welcome
: to Texas, now go home!”.
Back in the ‘70’s we had a bumper sticker that had the pre-high rise Austin skyline (ja ja ja) with NO VACANCY emblazoned on it….
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Henry)
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 12:12:42 +0200
Local: Tues, Dec 24 2002 4:12 am
Subject: Re: The Lott thickens
When I was in school in Madison, I kept hearing all the stories: “Oh, Austin, man!” “Yeah, Austin!” “Austin!” Then I went there, spending the spring semester and summer of 1981 as a research fellow. I have to say that, in my opinion, the rap didn’t live up to the rep.
I remember a bumper-sticker that was very popular at the time, which depicted a silhouette of the Austin skyline (very distinctive, with the state capitol, the university tower, etc.). The text across the bottom said: NO VACANCY. That pretty much typified the atmosphere of the place. When they heard the first word out of my mouth, they knew I was a damnyankee—and that was it. (I vehemently refused to say “y’all”.)
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Crotalus Atrox
May 27th, 2007, 03:36 PM
What was that James McMurtry song that went something like, “They say I shoulda been here back about ten years, before it got ruined by folks like me.” ? I remember seeing cars purchased from Dallas dealerships, with University of Texas Longhorn Decals and bumper stickers featuring the skyline of Austin and the words, “NO VACANCY”. Kinda tells the story. Now that I’m here, let’s pull up the drawbridge.
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From: seymore
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:41:43 -0800 (PST)
Local: Thurs, Dec 24 2009 11:41 am
Subject: Re: Geez, more damn yankees coming to Texas
well… some years ago in the late 70’s we had a bumper sticker in Texas that was the state flag with the words “NO VACANCY” on it. Another was “let the yankee bastards freeze in the dark!”
In other words.. there are plenty of natives who are not all that pleased with the massive influx of nasty freaking yankees.