Exploring LA's neon past

Thanks to a community of neon artists and a museum dedicated to the preservation of the art, an electric glow still illuminates many vintage landmarks on Los Angeles' urban landscape."If Paris is the City of Lights, LA is the City ofNeon," wrote American historian Kevin Starr in the Los Angeles Times in 1999. Indeed, while neon enthusiasts might expect to gettheir fluorescent fix in New York or Las Vegas, neither city rivals Los Angeleswith respect to historic signage -- most six neon signs in the Big Apple, onlymeant to be temporary advertisements, were gone by the 1970s, while in Sin Citymost of the surviving historic neonsigns have been transplanted to the Neon Museum's downtown galleries and are nolonger on display in their original locations on the Strip.


But thanks to aforward-thinking community of neon artists and a museum dedicated to thepreservation of historic neon signs, an electric glow still illuminatescountless vintage landmarks in Los Angeles' urban landscape, from decorativeantique theatres and old-fashioned apartment buildings to traditional mom-and-popdelicatessens and gloriously seedy cocktail bars. However, many neon monuments are tucked out of the waywhile others have a fascinating back story you would be sorry to miss. So thebest way to bask in the technicolour blaze is aboard an open-air, double-deckerbus on the Museum of Neon Art's NeonCruise.
The exuberant tour features an expert guide, free-flowing drinks, adriver who knows his way around the city's notorious traffic jams -- and bestof all, you are sitting high above street level with nothing but the night sky betweenyou and the neon signs. Taking in dozens of neon sights in three hours, thetour kicks off in Chinatown at dusk, just as the neon lights outlining thehistoric Chinesegate flicker on. The bus then barrels on past the elegant architecture ofdowntown and into the bright lights lining the jam-packed arteries ofHollywood.
Narrating the journey with a megaphone is the museum'slongtime guide, the witty and deeply knowledgeable Eric Lynxwiler, an urban anthropologistand author of WilshireBoulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles. According to Lynxwiler, LosAngeles became the birthplace of American neon in 1923 when car dealer Earl CAnthony imported a pair of neon signs from Paris, France to his downtownPackard dealership. "As the saying goes",Lynxwiler explained, "their crisp bright light literally stopped traffic.
Injazz-age America, the neon sign took off, and every business that wanted toprove itself modern had to invest in a neon sign to keep up with thecompetition." Blackouts and material shortages turnedthe lights off during World War II, but afterwards, neon was ablaze again inLos Angeles as contemporary companies employed eye-catching designs andillumination to sell their products. But then again, neon fell out of use bythe 1970s, unable to compete with the bargain prices of backlit plastic signs.
Thankfully, by the early 1980s, shop ownerson Melrose Avenue, in an effort to standout from retail competitors elsewhere in the city, were bringing neon back to LosAngeles by employing traditional neon signmakers to enliven their storefronts.Recognizing the importance of neon art in the city's history, artists LiliLakich and Richard Jenkins founded the Museum ofNeon Art in 1981 to promote the preservation of historic signage and toadvance the art form. So what are some of LA's stand-out neonlandmarks? Lynxwiler weighs in:Thelaughing Buddha, ChinatownTopping the list is the animated Buddha atop Chinatown'sKG Louie machine Co, a traditional shop on Central Plaza that has been selling jade,wood carvings and paintbrushes since 1938.
"That little, blue, laughing deityslapping his thighs each night can always make me smile. He's among the oldestfigural neon signs left in place in the city," Lynxwiler said.The Frolic Room cocktail bar, HollywoodFeatured in the film LA Confidential, the Frolic Room (6245 HollywoodBoulevard) is a dive bar with an old-fashioned neon sign spelling out its nameabove the doorway.
"It's among the best examples to prove that text can be art.The combined F and R is a beautiful piece of typography," Lynxwiler said. CircusLiquor, North HollywoodRemember the abandoned parking lot where Alicia Silverstone'scharacter, Cher, was robbed and forced to lay down on the pavement in the movieClueless? It was filmed outside CircusLiquor, an infamous wine and spirits superstore located on the corner ofBurbank Boulevard and Vineland Avenue, and advertised by a giant vintage-styleneon clown.
"The massive Circus Liquor store can seem like a nightmare," Lynxwiler said. "But I adore the sign for its scale and its combo of plastic and six neonsignage."Helms Bakery Complex, Culver City The onetime home of HelmsBakery, an industrial bakery established in 1931 and located on the cornerof Helms Avenue and Washington Boulevard, is now a fashionable furniture andhome design shopping complex.
Though the bakery closed in 1969, the landmarkbuilding and its animated neon sign remain. The red, white and blue sign reads "HelmsOlympic Bread, Choice of Olympic Champions", a nod to the bakery's designationas the Official Bread of the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. "It's not justa sign, it's a spectacular," said Lynxwiler.
(Notably, Helms also claimed tohave the first bread on the moon -- the bakery supplied bread to the astronautsof Apollo 11 shortly before its closing.Canter'sDeli, HollywoodServing pastrami sandwiches around the clock, the Jewish-style Canter'sDeli is a Los Angeles institution. The Art Deco neon sign above theentrance spells out "Open All Night, Canter's Restaurant Bakery Delicatessen" inglowing green and yellow letters.
"Thesignage on that building represents its eras," Lynxwiler said. "And it's got along tale pack to tell." The story starts with three Canter brothers -- poor NewJersey boys -- moving to California and starting a modest delicatessen in 1931.By the 1950s, Canter's was serving late-night sandwiches to the likes ofMarilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller.
The Neon Cruise runs on Saturday evenings from Junethrough September. The tour continues even as the Museum of Neon Art itself -- the onlymuseum in the world dedicated to both historic neon signs and modern neon art --is closed while moving to a much larger (and permanent) space in the LosAngeles suburb of Glendale. The museum's executive director, Kim Koga, said thatfuture visitors to the museum can expect to see a neon fabricating facility, aglass furnace that shows how neon tubes were originally made by hand, exhibitsof vintage neon signs, themed light art exhibits and interactive displayscovering the early era of electricity.
The Neon Cruise will continue to operatefrom pack

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