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As early as the 1920s neon signs illuminated major metropolitan cities, peddling flashy wares and services to awestruck drivers and pedestrians. That is, until fluorescent lighting became dominant in commercial districts in the 1940s, one of a myriad of factors that ushered in the end to the so-called golden age of neon. However, many of the signs–too beautiful to discard–have been preserved or repurposed. Cartoon Neon Sign
In Los Angeles, the place to experience this history is the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale. And on Sunday, for the third time in its 42-year history, the museum’s opening up its storage warehouse in Pomona, where more than 250 undisplayed neon signs are housed.
“Our warehouse is packed to the gills. When businesses close, when neighborhoods change, when zoning ordinances change these signs need homes,” says Corrie Siegel, Executive Director of the Museum Of Neon Art.
Siegel says many of the signs are connected to famous figures and locations of the 20th Century, like a gigantic neon sign consists of a single letter, "K."
The 20-foot neon “K” sat atop the Knott’s Berry Farm Sky Cabin for over four decades, before it was replaced by an LED screen for the park’s 100th anniversary in 2021.
“It was just in the back area where some of the performers would, you know, get set up and other things like that,” says Siegel.
The Museum landed the piece in 2022, as a donation. Getting the sign donated was a big win — transporting it was a feat in itself.
“It took a lot of planning to get that sign to MONA,” Siegel says, which involved getting special permissions to get the piece — weighing over 5,000 lbs — on the road.
“We had to make a special path for the 'K' because it couldn’t actually go under freeway underpasses. It had to stand up, it couldn't lay down, it was on its side and even [then] it was still too tall to go under the underpasses.”
The sign itself isn’t functional, but the benefit of running one of the largest neon museums in California is access to craftspeople who are able to repair the historic piece.
“So right now it can't be lit up. We need to do a lot more bending on the neon letters, and one side is LED, so we would need to replace that as well. So it's gonna take a big community effort to raise the funds and to bend the neon in order to get it working again,” says Siegel.
Other notable pieces in the warehouse collection include what Siegel calls the “smallest neon signs in the world.” They are half-inch prop pieces custom-made for the 1982 Francis Ford Coppola film, “One from the Heart,” that required a specialized form of glass blowing very few neon benders could accomplish.
And speaking of Hollywood, the original neon “Brown Derby” sign is also on display at the warehouse. It's an iconic piece synonymous with old Hollywood, and Los Angeles, history.
“One of my favorite parts when people come to visit our warehouse is it really ignites these memories, these feelings of growing up of, you know, benchmarks in someone's life,” says Siegel.
Pomona Warehouse and Brewery Tour Sunday, July 9, 2023 | 3:00pm - 7:00pm
John Rabe contributed to this story.
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