Skip to main content

The Sign

In this episode, The Sign . . .

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of or remember the futuristic design of the 1950s dubbed Googie architecture? Googie architecture was optimistic, experimental, and exciting. And you might already be familiar with it. Animators for The Jetsons used Googie buildings for inspiration.

Entering Las Vegas, Nevada, from California on Arrowhead Highway/Highway 91, now called “the Strip,” you can still find cherished remnants of roadside America from its motoring past.

While visiting Las Vegas in 2014, staying at Mandalay Bay, I was delighted to discover  the “The Sign.” It’s worth a look just to glimpse Las Vegas’ history.

That is provided you have the pluck to make your way from your room through the maze of the modern monolith hotel/casino and can get outside for an early morning walk; you, too, can discover this quaint roadside attraction.

Admittedly, I’m an early bird, out the door by 5:15 a.m., enjoying a light breeze and a pleasant 78 degrees. Keep in mind even in late May, temperatures in the desert can quickly exceed 100 degrees. My morning walk reminded me of the dramatic scale contrast between the old and the new. The 1950s roadside motels sit in the shadow of the massive Mandalay Bay.

Headed south as the rays of golden sunrise peek over the horizon, unknowingly, I approached the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada sign, built in 1959 and now powered by a solar array. Amazingly, I had never seen this sign before (except in movies).

As I approached from the north side, the large bold red and blue scripted font read, Drive Carefully Come Back Soon. Huh, what’s this? I thought. So, I crossed the street to the median and walked around to read the placard next to the large solar panels.

Here are a few fun facts:

  • 25-feet tall
  • Designed in 1959 by Architect Betsy Willis
  • It is a horizontally stretched diamond-shape
  • The design was never copyrighted and remains in the public domain
  • The white neon circles were designed to represent silver dollars
  • In December 2008, a 10-acre parking lot was built for tourists
  • Added to State Register of Historic Places in December 2013
As it’s known to the locals, the sign is located in the center median at 5100 Las Vegas Boulevard South, just north of the historic stone pillars of the old McCarran Airport and across from the Bali Hai Golf Club. According to the GPS on my phone, this landmark sits in the town of Paradise and is located roughly four miles south of the city limits of Las Vegas.

Surprisingly, the design looked familiar. So, I did a quick Google search and tapped on the Googie link; I had seen this style before. Some examples of those familiar with Los Angeles are Norms Restaurants, Johnie’s Coffee Shop on Wilshire Boulevard, the oldest McDonalds in Downey, California, which opened in 1953, the classic drive-in theater signs, and the central Theme Building at the Los Angeles airport.

Today, you can see many diamonds in the desert in Las Vegas, but not one that represents such a blast from roadside America’s motoring past.

I'm Patrick Ball; keep those screens lit, and thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
My cousin and I were in Vegas in '75. Small town youths in sin city. We stayed at the Hilton. Bill Cosby was headlining there. We slept during the day and went out at night. We were in a blur of alcohol,gambling and strip shows. Quite fun. We saw Cosby's act, Sheckey Green and other famous people I can't remember. Steve Lawrence was in the audience at one show and I got within a foot of him as he was leaving..WooHoo! I had long hair back then and I must have looked like a drug dealer or buyer because people kept coming up to me during our Vegas stay to sell or buy drugs from me. Pretty funny. My only drug was alcohol at that point. Our week went by quickly and we flew back home..first class..cheap back then. Those were the days...
August 25, 2020 at 9:32 AM
Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

Mom Was Right

In this episode: Mom Was Right (Again!) . . . Remember that old saying, "Mom knows best?" Well, this week, it resonated profoundly. I vividly recall my mother's steadfast remedy for the common cold, which was ingrained in my 1960s childhood: "Rest in bed, drink plenty of fluids, and take aspirin to reduce pain and fever." . . . Or now that I think about it, this may have been a Bayer aspirin commercial–Simple . . . Fast-forward to the age of AI and endless medical information at our fingertips, and guess what? Not much has changed. Yet, somehow, this week, Lori and I were blindsided by a cold—the first in over five years. My incredulous "How could this be?" quickly morphed into a dawning realization. Our company's annual meeting, a melting pot of colleagues from Illinois, Texas, Vietnam, Colorado, Northern California, and the Central Valley, was a veritable petri dish of germs. And, oh, the germs found me! Getting sick, especially after a long str...
2 comments
Read more

Whispers of Spring

In this episode, Whispers of Spring . . . Spring has a way of sneaking in when you’re not looking. One day, you’re shaking off the last chill of winter, and the next, you realize the light has shifted, stretching shadows just a little longer. It didn’t make a big fuss about it—no dramatic entrance, no trumpets—just a quiet unfolding, like an old dog settling into a sunny spot on the porch. Last week, Daylight Saving Time kicked in, which meant we all fumbled with our clocks, grumbled a bit, and then, like frogs taken aback by a warm rain, leapt forward into longer evenings. The sun now lingers, in no rush to set, hanging in the sky like a tossed coin that refuses to fall. With the extra daylight, we find ourselves drawn outside once again, migrating to the back patio like folks are drawn to a warm campfire. The lawn chairs are right where we left them, waiting like old friends. The air hums with wind chimes, their tuned cylinders catching the breeze and weaving together something that...
1 comment
Read more

Special April Fools' Edition: Did You Fall For It?

In this episode: Special April Fools' Edition: Did You Fall For It? (And a Little Baseball Nonsense) Welcome, fellow baseball aficionados and purveyors of the peculiar, to a very special, dare we say unpredictable, issue of On the Fly! Today, the air is thick with . . . well, probably just regular air, but a specific mischievous something is buzzing around. Can you feel it? Does that tingling sensation make you double-check your shoelaces and suspiciously eye any unusual packages? Yes, dear readers, it’s April 1st! A day steeped in mystery, shrouded in playful deception, and frankly, a day where you shouldn't believe anything you read (except maybe this . . .maybe). But before we descend into a whirlwind of whimsical falsehoods (don’t worry, we’ll mostly keep it light!), let’s take a quick, slightly wobbly, historical flight through the origins of this most unreliable of holidays. Whispers from the annals suggest a few intriguing possibilities for why we dedicate this particula...
Post a Comment
Read more

At 92–Don's Digital Daydream

Listen to the audio here. In a world of his own–lives, ole' Doctor Don, Not one world, but three, 'til the setting of the sun! There’s his Blog-World , so bright, with words all a-whirl, And Book-World , with stories of boy and girl! Then, Day-World , where legs didn't leap, didn't run, Just shuffled and creaked 'til each day is done. But his brain, oh, his mind, it’s zippy and keen, A most curious fellow that ever was seen! At ninety and two, with a twinkle so bright, He met Chatty and said, "What a strange delight!" This box with the answers, so quick and so bold, Of theology and stories, new truths to unfold!" "Integrity, relationships, where do they fit? This thing makes me wonder, bit by bit!" He ponders and pokes with laughter and a grin, "Til POOF! he has gone to a world from within! A world made of words, a fantastical place, Where limits of the body, left not a trace! He Soares, and he zooms, with a thought and a rhyme, Trans...
1 comment
Read more