Pedro's Monte Carlo Arcade (Gone)
Hamer, SC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
There's no shortage of neon at South of the Border, and the Monte Carlo Arcade added a little more to the nighttime glow. This colorful sign stood outside the arcade beneath the giant Sombrero Tower, inviting travelers to drop in and spend a few quarters before getting back on I-95. 01-08
The arcade was part of the sprawling South of the Border roadside attraction, which got its start in 1949 and grew into one of those places that was almost impossible to miss. By the time you reached Dillon, countless billboards had already reminded you that Pedro was waiting just ahead.
Inside the Monte Carlo were rows of arcade games, pinball machines and the usual assortment of ways to make a pocketful of quarters disappear. But outside, it was the neon that caught the eye. With the Sombrero Tower rising overhead and Pedro signs seemingly everywhere, the Monte Carlo fit right into the colorful roadside scene.
UPDATE: The arcade remains open at South of the Border, but the Monte Carlo name and its old neon sign are gone. The game room is now known as the El Toro Arcade. 08-26
Reisert Insurance Agency (Gone)
Louisville, KY Photo courtesy Alan Culley
Insurance offices could put on a nighttime show, too. The Reisert Insurance Agency sign along Bardstown Road proved the point, with large vertical letters glowing above the street. Its scale and neon gave a practical neighborhood business the sort of visibility more often associated with restaurants, theaters, and automobile dealers.
The agency traced its beginnings to 1884, making the business considerably older than its illuminated advertisement. Generations of family ownership carried the Reisert name forward while Louisville changed around it. The projecting sign supplied a memorable public face, identifying the office to motorists and pedestrians after surrounding storefronts grew dark.
UPDATE: The agency moved from Bardstown Road, and the neon sign was removed. In 2025, The Reisert Group joined Shepherd Insurance, continuing the business's history under new ownership after more than 140 years. 11-26
Parsons's Rexall Drugs
Wadesboro, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
The projecting sign at Parson's Rexall Drugs gives downtown Wadesboro a familiar hometown pharmacy landmark. Its illuminated plastic panels may lack the glow of exposed neon, but the lettering and sidewalk placement still belong to the old downtown shopping tradition. Here, the sign points toward a business whose history reaches back well before electric advertising. 12-07
Pharmacist Fred Parsons established the company in 1875. Generations of customers have since relied on the locally operated pharmacy, making it one of Wadesboro's enduring commercial names. The Rexall identity connected the store with a nationally recognized network while allowing the Parsons name to remain prominent above the entrance.
Parsons's Rexall Drugs
Wadesboro, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
The business survived a particularly difficult chapter in March 1912, when its earlier building collapsed. Contemporary reports described people trapped beneath the fallen brickwork and several fatalities. Parsons continued afterward, moving into a newly erected downtown building that same year. That recovery adds a substantial story behind what might otherwise seem like simply another surviving drugstore sign.
UPDATE: Parsons Drug Company remains open, continuing more than 150 years of service to Wadesboro and surrounding Anson County. Its familiar downtown signage preserves the older appearance, while prescription delivery, curbside pickup, and other services keep the business useful to present-day customers. 11-26
Jim Reed Chevyland (Gone)
Nashville, TN Photo courtesy Rick Ibsen
The Jim Reed Chevyland display gave Nashville motorists more than a dealership name to admire. A glowing Chevrolet bowtie, bold billboard lettering, and the cowboy known as “Ol' Jim” combined into an oversized roadside welcome. With the cowboy moving above the lot, this was advertising designed to attract attention before customers examined the cars. 04-09
Jim Reed Chevrolet began in 1917 and moved to Broadway in 1930. Its signs became familiar features of Nashville's automobile row, where dealers competed with illuminated displays as well as showroom merchandise. The animated cowboy added a friendly character to a business already advertising on a substantial scale.
UPDATE: The Chevrolet franchise ended in 2009, and the dealership changed hands in 2011. The Chevyland billboard and neon bowtie were removed, and the former property was later cleared, ending this familiar Broadway roadside scene. 11-26
Windmill Beverages
Huntsville, AL Photo courtesy Rick Ibsen
Windmill Beverages is a chain in the Huntsville, Alabama area. All of their stores (at least the ones I saw) feature this neon sign. Many thanks to Rick Ibsen for info. 04-09
The locally owned business has served North Alabama for more than thirty-five years. Its expansion carried the Windmill name into neighboring communities, while the distinctive advertising helped connect the stores visually. It was a straightforward idea: take the business name, illustrate it at a generous scale, and let the lights attract attention.
UPDATE: Windmill Beverages remains in operation, listing nine locations across Huntsville, Madison, Decatur, Meridianville, and Owens Cross Roads. The familiar name continues along North Alabama roads, although individual stores' signs have changed over time. 11-26
Olympia Building Coca-Cola
Atlanta, GA Photo courtesy Paul Bauke
Now here's a sign worthy of Coca-Cola's hometown. Rising above the old Olympia Building near Five Points is this giant round Coca-Cola sign, glowing bright red over downtown Atlanta. At 33 feet across and covered in neon, this one could light up the whole corner after dark. 04-09
Atlanta had an earlier Coca-Cola spectacular beginning in 1932, establishing a tradition of oversized illuminated advertising downtown. After that display disappeared, the city spent more than twenty years without its familiar giant Coke sign. The Olympia installation brought the idea back on May 6, 2003, using a deliberately nostalgic design.
Olympia Building Coca-Cola
Atlanta, GA Photo courtesy Paul Bauke
The location added meaning to the advertisement. Coca-Cola was first served at Jacobs' Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta in 1886, placing the sign near the heart of the drink's beginnings. Although the display looked older than it was, its neon tubing and monumental script recreated the visual excitement of an earlier generation of rooftop advertising.
UPDATE: A replacement announced in 2019 exchanged the neon for LED illumination while retaining the familiar circular design. The Coca-Cola sign continues overlooking Five Points, but the original neon version photographed here belongs to an earlier chapter of this downtown landmark. 11-26
Reisert Insurance Agency (Gone)
Olympia Building Coca-Cola
Olympia Building Coca-Cola
