The Return of the Neon Sign
There was a time when a large percentage of Downtown Raleigh businesses announced their presence with neon or an otherwise illuminated sign. This began to change in the late 1960s, as businesses fled downtown for the suburbs. Later, overzealous sign ordinances restricted the size and outlawed illumination, and the signs began to fade away.
Although Downtown has experienced a surge of growth and life in the past few years, it’s only within the past couple of months that the neon sign appeared poised for a comeback.
The Neon Stalwarts
Before we look at some of the neon newcomers, let’s look at the few that managed to survive.
Mecca’s sign is without a doubt the most memorable of the remaining downtown neon. Until recently, the only times one could see the sign lit was during the winter, when it was dark before closing time (7PM). Now Mecca remains open late night and is visible year-round.
After some detective work by Goodnight Raleigh readers, the Krispy Kreme sign on Person Street was dated to 1970.
The Firestone service station on South Dawson Street.
The Arby’s cowboy hat on Hillsborough Street.
[EDIT 04/12]
The neon sign of Joe’s Place, now Brewmaster’s Bar and Grill, has also been around for a long time.
The Neon’s Gone, but the Sign Remains
According to Raleigh sign ordinances, existing signs (that otherwise aren’t up to code) can remain in place provided it was still owned by the original business. In 2007, it looked as though the bulldozer sign atop the NC Equipment Company building on Hillsborough Street would need to be taken down as it had a new owner.
Luckily, city leaders recognized the sign’s historic importance and it was allowed to stay. The broken neon was removed and the sign was renovated not long after Lulu moved into the building.
Side note: The Wilmont Drug store barely visible in the foreground (most recently the home of Capitol Comics) will probably be razed in the coming months. A ‘Development Plan’ sign recently appeared in front of it, which almost universally means it is set for destruction.
Bringing it Back
The first new neon to appear in the center city was at Fox Liquor Bar on Wilmington Street late last year. Featuring only the word “LIQUOR,” the sign was designed by Josh Gajownik and created by Design Dimension.
About a month ago, Busy Bee Cafe installed a new hanging neon sign, designed by Artcraft. It was initially difficult to obtain permission from the city to install it. After some detective work by Ladye Jane Vickers (former Curator of the Raleigh City Museum), the management of Busy Bee were able to prove that the older business once at the location (also called Busy Bee) once had neon signage.
After that, it was easy to move forward and enlist the design work of Artcraft to make it.
Although the indoor neon sign above is likely new, Artcraft as a company has been a fixture of Raleigh for over 75 years. They are currently located on Hillsborough Street near the Capitol.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Downtown was once full of neon, and below are but a small few of the ones that once were displayed in Raleigh.
Boon-Iseley Drug Store on Fayetteville Street
The Hotel Sir Walter had not only this sign attached to the building, but one on top as well.
Hanging sign for Blackwelder’s Barbeque, in the building now occupied by Slim’s Downtown Distillery.
The College Grill was a small bar that operated until the 1970s, and has been closed ever since. It’s owned by Mitch (of Mitch’s Tavern) and he just lets it sit empty.
Studio 1 (previously home to the Varsity Theatre) was an X-rated theater at the time of the photo above. The theater later became a McDonald’s, then a college book store, and now sits vacant next to Mitch’s Tavern.
The giant neon sign of the Hotel Carolina, which was razed in the late 70s.
Above is Reddy Kilowatt, the neon mascot of electric utilities for about 60 years. This particular neon sign was on the west end of Hillsborough Street on the power substation near Arby’s.
Reddy Kilowatt is a corporate mascot and, well, “spokesthing,†created in 1926 by Ashton B. Collins, Sr., of the Alabama Power Company. Reddy has a lightbulb for a nose, wall outlets for ears and a torso and limbs made of lightning bolts. The character was licensed to power companies across the United States to represent electricity as a safe and useful utility. Employed by more than 200 different companies at one time, he is rarely seen outside of antique malls and garage sales these days.
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Although Downtown has only seen two external new signs recently, I hope this is a trend that continues. I also hope the City of Raleigh acts less like Cary with regard to sign ordinances and returns to its roots in allowing them. They serve as excellent way finding points and give character to an area–as well as serve as an artistic marketing device for small businesses.
04/11/2012
Interesting, very nicely done—and your point about sign ordinances is spot on, John. I remember Reddy KW very well. It’s great fun to go backwards.
04/11/2012
thanks for the first decent post on this website in the past year
04/11/2012
I just returned to Raleigh after a couple of years in southeast Iowa. It’s a relief and an eye-opener. The sole thing I miss about Iowa—and I do mean the ONLY thing—is that the drivers there are courteous and slow. The roundabouts on Hillsborough are very exciting…
04/11/2012
Hey John, nice post!
I designed and fabricated the Busy Bee sign using neon and a 30’s era aesthetic tying to the Cafes history. In this particular case the city and especially Tania Tulley of the Historic Preservation department were very helpful and supportive. While the ordinances can at times be problematic, the real issue is finding progressive minded business owners (like Chris & Woody at the Bee) who are willing to establish a reasonable budget allowing for creative design, fabrication, and the use of atypical materials such as Neon.
If the business owner has vision, he or she can realize the benefits of visibility and recognition as provided by unique graphics products (including neon). The benefits dramatically outweigh the costs. Not everyone understand this as is evident by the truckloads of generic flat boring and ineffective signage and branding all over town. We routinely recommend what we consider to be the most appropriate products and frequently find that the client is more concerned with the budget of today than the loss of effectiveness tomorrow. This shortsightedness is the real reason Raleigh as a community suffers from a lack of Neon, Downtown as well as other similarly amazing and effective sigh types.
As a result, many (though certainly not all!) of the Sign and Graphics producers cater to the client in providing just what the client ordered, “something fast, something cheap”, and this becomes the standard that we all have to look at every day.
The CIty seems to be progressive enough to understand that unduly limiting the options available to business owners (with over regulation) is stiffling, visually speaking, and retards the development of a unique visual charecter – community wide. If more owners saw the issue similarly, we would likely have more cool shit to look at and they would likely gain marketshare due to the subtle effects of recognition bolstered by better signage, etc.
We have done some other neon work downtown as well, including SOLAS on Glenwood, Primp on West St., ORYX on Glenwood, Empiire Tattoo on Avent Ferry, HAVEN (closed) on Glenwood. Also NOIR and The DIner on Glenwwod are Neon-ish, though I actually lit them with LED, they are designed utilizing reverse neon style common in the 40s and 50s.
There are some other excellent neon pieces around downtown, especially on G-South, and they all add to the character and success of that area.
Harrell SIgn Co is another historical provider of Neon Signs in the Raleigh market, and the only sign company older than Artcraft as far as I know. They have been making Neon Signs for Raleigh since the late 20s, and we did not start doing neon here at Artcraft until the 40s.
If anyone is still reading…a BIG thanks to Mark Shearon, owner of DMS Neon here in the area who bends all of my glass to my spec. Without Mark on our team we would not be able to put these projects out on the street. Mark also sells Neon Signs in this market.
Thanks for the great Post!
-Jim Jackson, owner, Artcraft Sign Company
04/11/2012
A fascinating look at DTR neon — nice work, John! I’d like to add one more to your list — the large ‘Restaurant’ sign above the entrance to Brewmasters Bar and Grill at the corner of Martin and Dawson. It probably dates to the late 1940s. I love the way it aligns to the curved corner entrance of the building.
Russ — I, too, vividly remember Reddy Kilowatt. Also, the ‘bulldozer’ sign a couple blocks away was another landmark neon sign I loved as a kid. The treads of the ‘dozer were engineered with the neon tubes in such a way that when it was lit up at night it appeared it was actually moving — fascinating to a 10-year old!
04/11/2012
The neon bulldozer was at N C Equipment Company, I think. I do remember…
04/12/2012
Jim Jackson makes some very good points about the types of signs that have now become so common in Raleigh (and most other cities.) Many are not terribly unique or interesting, though they do serve the main purpose of identification. It’s hard to blame a business owner for being cautious with the budget, especially if the business is just getting started. It can be very rewarding, though, when one realizes the value that a unique and interesting sign can provide for the business.
For years, neon was the only practical way to display the name of a store or restaurant on a “self-lit” sign. Incandescent bulbs were available, but spelling out anything more complex than “DINER” would have been difficult. Translucent Plexiglas didn’t become widely used until the 1950’s, and LEDs are just beginning to have an impact.
So neon was it, and Raleigh was well-illuminated with the stuff.
You can see some more examples of neon (and other types of signs) on the “Historical Pictures” gallery page of the Harrell Sign Company website.
http://www.harrellsign.com/
Jim Reid
Harrell Sign Company
04/12/2012
Does anyone know what happened to the Reddy Kilowatt neon sign referred to in this article?
Sandy Shultz submitted the image of the sign. Sandy are you out there? Do you have any idea what the fate was of this particular sign?
06/05/2012
the first ‘new’ neon sign downtown was installed at foundation on fayetteville street in 2009. great article.
07/28/2012
I hate how Mitch doesn’t do anything with the space below his restaurant, it would be the perfect little bar. I guess he’s too afraid that another staircaseless bar on Hillsborough would take business away from him to sell it.
01/10/2014
Thanks for the post! I’m visiting the area, and hunting neon while I’m here. I shoot neon everywhere I go. So much is disappearing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85853333@N00/sets/72157600098763231
01/10/2014
Nice Photography work there Jeremy! Give me a ring or email if you want to shoot some of our neon stuff in Raleigh. I also have a bit of retro style neon in the shop Downtown. Google us: Artcraft Sign Company.
-Jim, Owner, Artcraft