Rapid City Laundry (Gone)
Rapid City, SD
Photo courtesy Don Gardner

Here's an amazing sign for Rapid City Laundry and its Laundry Wash Woman in downtown Rapid City. The giant neon wash woman was one of the city's best-known landmarks, greeting customers with animated arms that appeared to scrub clothes across a washboard. Check out both the day and night shots—the sign really came to life after dark.

Rapid City Laundry was established in 1919 and operated from its Main Street location for decades. As traffic patterns changed over the years, the sign was even turned around to face the opposite direction so it would remain visible to passing motorists. It became one of the Black Hills' most recognizable pieces of neon and a favorite subject for photographers. 09-06

UPDATE: Rapid City Laundry closed in 2010, and the iconic animated neon sign was carefully removed before the building changed hands. Fortunately, the sign was saved by the property owner rather than being scrapped, although it is not currently on public display. 06-26

Cowboy Cleaners (Gone)
Wichita, KS
Photo courtesy Mark Hackett

The Cowboy Cleaners was one of Wichita's more memorable roadside sights. Perched atop the marquee was a fiberglass cowboy riding a bucking horse, looking as though he was ready to leap off the roof at any moment.

Cowboy Cleaners operated a chain of locations throughout Wichita, each featuring its own rooftop cowboy. Just as eye-catching was the large cut-out lettering mounted on the roof and side of the building, a style of advertising that was once common but has largely disappeared. It's hard not to miss those old rooftop signs that gave businesses so much personality. 09-06

UPDATE: Cowboy Cleaners closed in 2005, and its rooftop cowboy and signage were removed. While a few of the statues survived for a time at other Wichita businesses, they have since disappeared from public view, making this another classic piece of roadside history that's now gone. 06-26

American Cleaners (now Eleventh Street Lofts)
Tulsa, OK
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

This classic American Cleaners sign still stands proudly along Route 66 in Tulsa, even though the dry cleaning business it once advertised is long gone. During my earlier visits in the 1990s, this was still home to American Cleaners. Today, the beautifully restored building has been repurposed as the Eleventh Street Lofts.

Built in 1930, the Art Deco building is one of Tulsa's architectural gems. Fortunately, when the former cleaners was converted into loft apartments, the iconic vertical sign was preserved rather than removed. It's a great example of how an old commercial building can find a new life without losing the character that made it special in the first place. 08-17

UPDATE: The Eleventh Street Lofts continue to occupy the former American Cleaners building, while the restored vintage sign remains illuminated thanks to Tulsa's Route 66 Neon Sign Grant Program. The building is one of the best examples of adaptive reuse along Tulsa's stretch of the Mother Road. 06-26

11th Street Cleaners (Demolished)
Tulsa, OK
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Here's the sign for 11th Street Cleaners along Route 66 in Tulsa. The business may have been gone for years, but its classic neon sign remained a familiar sight for travelers long after the doors had closed. The building itself was eventually demolished, though thankfully the sign escaped the wrecking ball.

The old cleaners also had a brush with Hollywood fame, appearing in the 1983 film The Outsiders. Like so many vintage commercial signs, it became a recognizable piece of Tulsa's Route 66 streetscape and was a favorite stop for neon enthusiasts. 08-17

UPDATE: When this was originally posted, word was the sign might be donated to a museum. That rumor turned out to be true. After spending time in private hands, the sign was acquired in 2021 by Danny Boy O'Connor and is now preserved on public display at The Outsiders House Museum in Tulsa. While the original building is gone, the sign thankfully lives on. 06-26