The Neon Museum is in Las Vegas. They have a number of signs, about 8 as of
now, restored and functional along Las Vegas Boulevard. But then they also have the Boneyard where they have more than 150 signs or remnants of signs you can
tour. The boneyard is a 2 acre complex that has a walking path through the
signs. You are not allowed on your own but must be on a guided tour. Our
guide was very knowledgeable and really loved the signs. He was a fountain of
knowledge. All of the guides at the museum are volunteers.
click photo to enlarge
I wanted the first tour of the day so it would not be hot and we ended up
with a bit of fog that burned off by noon but was not as pretty for
pictures.. sigh... The Neon Museum office is in the old La Concha
motel office. The building is shaped like shells and had to be disassembled
and moved to the current location. The architecture style is called Googie
and it has large shell shapes that look like they are supported by glass but
in reality the structure is very strong. It was the new space age
architecture and was
popular in the 50s and 60s.
click photo to enlarge
One of the things we found out is the large Neon signs at the casinos were
not owned by the casinos but rather leased from the sign company, YESCO,
Young Electric Sign Company. When the lease was up if it was not renewed
they would take the sign back and store it to maybe reuse parts of it on
another sign. It is a very interesting off the beaten path part of Las Vegas
history and was an enjoyable tour.
