Pacifico Beer, Capuccino, Teen Center

This is my third different Pacifico beer neon!  All three have different, but beach-related neon images.  Some are in English and some are in Spanish (cerveza).  I've begun to notice many of the beer neons have images related to our locality, such as beach-oriented pictures or images dealing with our local Angels baseball team.  That neon will be coming up shortly.

The Cappuccino neon caught my eye because of its bright green colors.  Then I noticed the cup formed by the letter 'u' with the steam coming up.  Very clever.  This sign is located in Newport Beach.

The Teen Center sign is on an interior wall of the Newport Beach Public Library, and denotes an area set aside for teens to do work and talk quietly.  It's actually against a lighter wall and is very bright during the day.

Shoe Repair, Tiem Toc and Scissors

I loved the simplicity of this shoe repair sign!   It's on a store open for business in Irvine, but stylistically could have been in front of a store 50 years ago!

Tiem Toc means Hair Salon in Vietnamese.  This sign and the scissors cutting hair (part of the salon front window) are located in Garden Grove.   I took these pictures a few weeks ago when we ventured out for authentic Vietnamese food for dinner.

Land Shark and Tapioca Express

                                    

I continue to be amazed at the graphics and color of neon beer signs!  This one was is in the window of a restaurant near Newport Pier.

While the Tapioca Express sign is itself not neon, I was drawn to the colorful design of the neon beverage and surrounding stripes.  Note the little boba balls in the bottom of the glass!  I love those.  This comes from a business in Irvine.

Spa (P)edicure

Nothing exciting about this neon, yet another outtake from the 30 Day Challenge, but with its "P" unlit, it provides a nice complement to the (S)ports Cards neon also located on this line in the current group.   Care for an "edicure" anyone?   This establishment is located in Newport Beach.

Fire Rock, Sports Cards, Widmer

This morning I woke up early to see a beautiful sky full of clouds, so I left the house early, before 7 a.m. to go take early morning pictures at Newport Pier.  I got some lovely pier pictures, and walking around afterward, I passed a small closed restaurant/bar at the edge of the beach.  But over the bar were the Fire Rock and Widmer neons which had been left on!  So, of course I took the neon shots, since they were so colorful and arty, and today I get to upload new neons.  The Sports Cards neon is an old one, located in Costa Mesa, and is an outtake from the 30 Day Challenge, but I liked it because the first "S" was burned out, leaving a blue and pink remnant.  It just caught my eye.  And I added it now, since it made a nice balanced look to the current grouping of neons.  Just that simple.

Mexican Grill and Buck's Clocks

These, too, are outtakes from the 30 Day Challenge.   

The Mexican Grill sign is from a restaurant in Newport Beach, and Buck's Clocks is a clock store, also in Newport Beach.  Both are very bright and stand out clearly at night!

Express Tailoring, Flying Sumo, Smithwick's, Taco Rosa

More and varied neon signs!

1.  Express Tailoring is from a shop in Newport Beach, CA.

2.  Flying Sumo is a sushi bar in Park City, Utah.

3.  Smithwick's is an ale and I found this neon on a bar/restaurant also in Park City.  These photos (Smithwick's and Flying Sumo) were taken the same time as some of the Park City images in my 30-Day Challenge, and are outtakes from those days.

4.  Taco Rosa is a Mexican restaurant in Newport Beach.  While the Taco Rosa part of the sign is not neon, the rose, or rosa, in the middle is beautifully detailed and very colorful at night in the dark!

Schmidt's, Window Tinting, Jugos/Tortas/Fruta, Neon, Beauty Supply, Cleaners

These are several more neons I took during the 30-Day Challenge.  These were outtakes, as they didn't fit the pattern I was going for in the Challenge (words and designs).  But I took them anyway!

1.  Schmidt's is a restaurant that actually has two neon signs.  One is this vertical format with an arrow and the other is a more normal, horizontal format sign.  This one had more interest to me, though I did take a picture of the other one as well.  I took this photo the same day as I took the Blue Water Grill sign that I put into the 30 Day Challenge.  The restaurant is in Irvine.

2.  Window Tinting and Neon - I came across this sign as I was driving to visit my dad one night.  They're located in the El Toro/Irvine area.  It was dark out and the sign was in the window of a closed and darkened business, so it really jumped out from the street.  I circled back, pulled out my trusty point and shoot and took the picture!   Actually the Neon sign was located not too far away, and I took that too.   An upcoming entry will be another neon sign from the Neon Sign store, but I haven't processed it yet (shame on me). 

3.  Jugos Tortas Fruta - this was a sign located in a little strip mall in Garden Grove that we stopped at the night I also took the photo of the Foot Reflexology sign, which is in the 30 Day Challenge.  I knew this would be an outtake, since I took it the same as the more interesting Foot Reflexology sign, and the challenge called for one photo a day.

4.  Beauty Supply - This sign isn't particularly interesting, but for its colors.  Again I was out and about, in Costa Mesa, and the bright sign in the dark window at night caught my attention.

5.  Van's Cleaners - this is a fun sign in Corona del Mar.  But, half of it is burned out.  I found this sign during the 30 Day Challenge, and noticed that half of it was burned out.  I took the shot anyway, and hoped the sign would be fixed.   Lo and behold, a year later and it's still not repaired.  I guess it's destined to remain in its current state, so it is what it is!  I'll bet it looked great when it was fully lit.  Maybe there is a new owner and it's not really Van's anymore.  That's a possibility, too.



Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood

West Hollywood, California is hosting a display of neon signs and art that were once displayed along Route 66.   These have been temporarily placed along Santa Monica Boulevard, which at one point was part of the old Route 66, and which still has quite a few neon signs of its own advertising businesses along that street.

Some of these signs are the ones on the limited exhibition; others are permanently located there.  Descriptions of these neons comes from On Route-66 Lights, a brochure put out by the city of West Hollywood.

1 and 2.   Zinke's Shoe Repair sign from their store in Glendale.  It was built in 1928 and was donated to the Museum of Neon Art in 1983.   These two photos are from the front and back sides of the display along the center median on Santa Monica Boulevard; each side is in a different color combination, and each is an animated sign, with the hammers moving up and down to strike the heel of the shoe, creating the spark.

3.  Quick Splash 'n' Dash Carwash is an ongoing self-serve manual car wash on Santa Monica Boulevard.  It is also an animated sign, with the "water" spray moving continuously.

4.  The Dancing Couple sign graced La Fonda Mexican Food restaurant in Glendale, CA from 1946 to 1984, when it was donated to the Museum of Neon Art.

5.  Baby Blues BBQ restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard features this sexy temptress in a side window.    Since sex sells, she is leaning back, ready for a squirt of Baby Blues' killer house-standard XXX Porno Sauce.

6.  The original Diver sign, built in 1950, was located at the Virginia Court Motel in Meridian, Mississippi.  When the hotel was demolished in 2000, the sign was saved and is located at the Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles.  The sign on display in West Hollywood is a replica.

Woody's, Tokyo Love, Ciao, Korean BBQ, Mirrors, Zlaket's Market

Well, I found some time to work on and upload some of the neon signs I took photos of a few months ago.  I'm going to try to be more disciplined in processing and uploading more regularly, since I'm now carrying a point and shoot camera in my purse so I can always be prepared to take pictures of interesting neon signs I see!

More about this current batch:

1.  Woody's - I spotted this sign in the window of an antiques store in Old Towne, Orange, near the traffic circle.  I was drawn to it because of its bright colors and intricate design.

2.  Tokyo Love - we passed a Japanese restaurant in Garden Grove bearing this sign.  Unlike many of the others, it seems to be more 'home-made' in its look and design, but definitely noticeable!

3.  Ciao is a independent restaurant on Balboa Island that serves great food in a wonderfully casual atmosphere.  I love eating there!

4.  Korean BBQ is located in Newport Beach, actually quite near Tapas Restaurant, whose neon is in the row beneath.

5.  Mirrors - I found this neon sign while driving in El Toro.  I was sort of surprised that the lower letters were not upside down as a mirror image of the top letters.  Oh well.  But still colorful!

6.  Zlaket's Market is located in the old downtown area of Garden Grove, not too far from the Gem Theater, seen on the row below!