I'm puzzled by "wearing signs" in the underlined part of the sentence and wondering whether there may be two in a row misprints for "[wedding] rings" there.It was real hick country, not another big town for 20 miles in any direction. But there were a lot of plowboys with a hankering for something stronger than Moxie after a hot day in the field, and a lot of young bucks out duding it up with their drugstore buddies. There were also some married men (you know them, friend, they might as well be wearing signs) coming far out of their way to be where no one would recognize them while they cut a rug with their not-quite-legit lassies.
I did come across the expression "'show signs of wear" more often than once", but has it anything to do with the phrase in question? If yes, I can't figure out what.