No one can drive anywhere in the United States without running into them somewhere — those golden arches.

They've become a symbol of American culture and today are recognized throughout the world. And the majority of them just happened to be produced right here in Wisconsin.

Everbrite, located in Greenfield, manufactures the yellow signs for McDonald's, and due to the mass quantities that pile up at the plant, it's often mistaken for the restaurant itself. But while the company doesn't specialize in hamburgers, it does in point-of-purchase — often known as "POP" — displays.

In the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design's Brooks Stevens Gallery of Industrial Design, 273 E. Erie St., the golden arches, along with a number of other familiar signs and displays, can be seen in "Neighborhood Bars to Exotic Cars: Milwaukee Point-of-Purchase Displays."

The exhibit showcases a line of products ranging from classic beer signs to a Pokémon statue, and tells the history of POP displays — found in supermarkets, sports stores, car showrooms, just about anywhere — which predominantly originated in the Brew City.

"Milwaukee is a national leader in (the POP) industry largely because of the breweries and printing corporations started back in the 1920s," said Mark Lawson, gallery director for MIAD. "It became a major source of signage and displays.

"We focus on this particular industry because it was something we hadn't looked at before. It's an interesting hybrid of part industrial design, part graphic design, part marketing."

Six companies are featured throughout the exhibit, all of which are local to the Milwaukee area, with several examples of their work advertised and explained.

Background history is provided on each company, along with their mission statements and strategies. But it's the signs and displays themselves that prove to be the most interesting.

Three of the original letters used on Milwaukee City Hall to notify citizens of upcoming events or important news over the years — World War II ending, for example — are present, along with photographs of the letters in use.

Flashy neon signs for Corona, Bacardi and, of course Miller line one wall of the exhibit. A sizable assortment of tacky beer signs from the 1970s in all of their wood-panel-and-gold glory — many of which can still be found in dive bars today — are displayed in a separate corner.

Kiosks for Nabisco, Allen Edmonds and Wilson baseball gloves abound, as well as displays that show what a Lego set looks like when assembled and the stands in toy stores that allow you to try out a new gaming system like X-Box.

"There's surprising diversity in the show," Lawson said, "Everything from very traditional-looking beer signs to very state-of-the-art visuals on a flat screen for a car company. "It's probably one of the most interesting and entertaining things for those who come and see it."

Even the menus mounted on the wall at Lambeau Field — listing the many kinds of sausage and beer available — are examples of POP displays.

According to Lawson, with only a handful of industrial design galleries in existence, the exhibit is one of a kind and gives students a chance to learn about the field and consider possible careers. "Neighborhood Bars and Exotic Cars" gives an inside look into the source and production of products you see on a daily basis.

"The scope of some of the companies is pretty vast," Lawson said. "A lot of the companies have their own manufacturing facilities for signs. They have research teams, people who are very close to engineers, working on the material. It's really a very well developed medium.

"Companies that work in this genre have lots of talent. I challenge people who come to visit to think about that, all of the skill that goes into it."

"Neighborhood Bars to Exotic Cars: Milwaukee Point-of-Purchase Displays" runs through March 14. It is free and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 276-7889 for more information.