I don’t know if all of the locations had them but the one near me did in the mid 1990s. They were large wooden fish carvings and I really liked them. I wish I could have bought one when they went upscale. This is the only image I can find of one.
You so funny.
My Daddy collected lobster thingys.
He wanted one of those when the Hot Springs(AR) Red Lobster redid the decor. He tried. Couldn’t ever get anyone to pull the trigger. He even called their corporate offices.
I have one, its a 4 foot long wooden codfish thats hanging in my garage. My girlfriend hates it and wants me to sell it, not going to do it.
I paid something like $50 for it at an auction about 15 years ago when I was still collecting quirky things. It hangs next to my 6 foot long 6 forked spearfishing gig. I loves me some fish, used to love Red Lobster until I realized there were better places with less salty food.
Emphasis added.
I haven’t been to a Red Lobster in over 30 years. What does the phrase “they went upscale” mean in this context?
Red Lobster used to be a basic seafood place with plain round tables, checkered table clothes, etc. Decor varied a bit but was often faux seaside lobster shack. Lots of weathered wood and a dozen large fish figures hanging about They closed all the basic places and either moved them (like my town) or took a few months off for a major redecorating. The new versions are secluded booths with dim lighting and dark leather chairs. Prices took a hike. But I guess it worked as RLs are considered by many to be a bit above the average chain restaurant and are often the place for celebrations.
One of my favorite saloons is the Hairy Buffalo near me. They had a real bison head mounted on the wall. They are impressively huge when you are eye to eye with one. One day I was sitting there and realized it was gone. I asked Mario the barkeep and he said it was shedding so they threw it out. Oh no! Man, I would have taken it home and sold it after scaring the dog and cats. You know what a bison head is worth?
Things aren’t working out too great – Red Lobster posted an $11 million third quarter loss last year due to severely underestimating how much all-you-can-eat shrimp people will cram into their maws for $20.
I don’t know if it’s the case with Red Lobster restaurants, but from what I understand a lot of that kind of decor is supplied by “pickers”. I’ve seen similar carved wooden fish (and just about any other kind of animal) at antique malls and estate sales. I’m sure there are brokers who comb those places with an eye out for things they can sell to restaurants or bars.
While this is likely sometimes true for the various “crap on the wall*” casual dining restaurants, my suspicion is that, in the case of Red Lobster, the big fish decorations were specifically made for them, as it seems like they were common across most (if not all) of their restaurants, prior to the remodeling described above.
Sometimes the signs and ephemera on a restaurant’s walls are truly recycled old stuff (I suspect that this is true of the stuff you see on the wall at Cracker Barrel); other times, it’s carefully curated by the chain’s management to look old, but is actually consistent from location to location (much of the decor at TGI Friday’s is like this).
*- And I say that with affection, as I had such a restaurant chain (Applebee’s) as a client for a number of years.
I enjoy the old crap on the Cracker Barrel walls. Once I was seated next to an advertisement from the 1920s featuring a 5 or 6 year old child who could eat nothing but the company’s cereal (Ralston or whatever). It gave the name and city she was from.
I later searched for her and did locate the woman and managed to track her for several decades using the Census records. So I guess she was healthy!
I think that he means it went to a more upscale decor, the fish hanging from the ceiling was kind of cheezy after a while. Upscale decor didn’t work for me, I spent a lot of time at Red Lobster in the 90’s as I was traveling for work and finally came to the realization that there were much better options out there.
Still many people I know still think of Red Lobster as upscale compared to the options they have in their small towns that are about 50-60 miles from a hub of middle of the road resuarants.I’ve taken people to nice seafood places and they were disappointed that they didn’t have cheddar biscuit and a plethera of deep fried choices. 
I think the ephemera in Cracker barrel might be a bunch of reproductions.
How easy is it to get real vintage Route 66 road signs, anymore. I counted 5 in the last Cracker barrel I was in.
I’m sure some may be real and possibly local to the area.
Chicago’s favorite fast food powerhouse Portillo’s is one of those ‘whole lotta crazy crap on the walls’ places. I’d thought they used to publish a range of dates for the decorations in the stores (like 1955-1961) but it’s now generalized to stuff like '30s Prohibition and 50s-60s.
There was a stained glass Popeye at the …Popeye’s I used to visit near a prior workplace. I think it was about 4’ tall and 2 ’ wide and was in a wall next to the counter.
It would seem that it really is antique stuff. They have an entire warehouse full of it in Tennessee according to the Today Show.