City Dry Cleaners (Gone)
Delano, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Look up near the roofline along High Street in Delano for the City Dry Cleaners Sign. The old streamlined marquee had a long, sweeping shape made to catch the attention of passing motorists. Even better, the neon tubing appeared to be intact when this photo was taken. It must have been quite a sight glowing above the downtown storefront after the Central Valley sun went down.

City Dry Cleaners sat along Delano’s main downtown commercial strip, facing the Southern Pacific railroad corridor. It was a fitting spot for a rooftop sign designed to be noticed from down the street.

UPDATE: City Dry Cleaners and its streamlined neon sign were already gone by 2012. A Greyhound sign had appeared at the location by then, replacing another small piece of Delano’s old downtown roadside scenery. 09-26

Merced Laundry (Gone)
Merced, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

Sitting outside the old laundry building in downtown Merced, this Merced Laundry Sign kept things plain and simple. No fancy graphics or neon spectacle here, just the name of the business spelled out for everyone passing along Main Street. Sometimes a roadside sign does not need to try too hard to get the message across.

Merced Laundry later became an environmental cleanup site because of solvents associated with its years as a commercial laundry and dry cleaner. After the business closed, the old building remained boarded up and in disrepair.

UPDATE: The abandoned Merced Laundry building burned down on February 9, 2017. The simple old sign disappeared along with the building, leaving this photograph as a reminder of another longtime downtown business. 09-26

Madera Cleaners
Madera, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Cruising through town, check out the colorful marquee for Madera Cleaners & Laundry. Bright panels and a distinctive roofline shape advertise same-day service, giving an everyday business a little extra roadside personality. Even without a suit to pick up, the old sign offered a reason to stop with the camera. 11-05

The Cappelluti family has operated the business through four generations, with a community history spanning more than 75 years. That is quite a procession of shirts, jackets and special-occasion outfits passing across the counter. Other drop-off locations have come and gone, while this building remained the longtime home base.

UPDATE: Madera Cleaners & Laundry remains open as a fourth-generation family business. The rooftop sign framework survives, although the colorful advertising panels shown here have been replaced with newer branding. Its familiar outline remains recognizable, preserving a little of the old roadside look above the building. 11-26

Sparkle Cleaners
Bakersfield, CA
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

Check out the vintage sign for Sparkle Cleaners along Monterey Street in Bakersfield. The name seems just right for a place promising to send clothes back looking a little brighter. By the time this photo was taken in 2010, the sign and building already looked like they had been part of the neighborhood for many years.

Sparkle Cleaners opened at this location on November 10, 1950. The grand opening even included a live radio broadcast on AM 550. In 1959, the company added a drive-thru carhop service, making laundry pickup a little more convenient during the tail-fin era. Sparkle eventually grew to 18 locations around Kern County.

UPDATE: The family business continues today under the Today Cleaners and Sparkle Uniform & Linen Service names. The original Monterey Street facility remains open as the company headquarters, although it appears the lettering was redone with neon stripped off in the past few years. 09-26

Firebaugh Laundromat
Firebaugh, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

Somewhere along the streets of Firebaugh, this faded old sign once pointed the way to the Firebaugh Laundromat. The lettering had already spent plenty of years baking beneath the Central Valley sun when this photo was taken. It was worn and weathered, but the message and arrow could still be made out.

The Firebaugh Laundromat & Dry Cleaning Agency dated back to at least the mid-century years. Its old telephone number was OL 9-2318, from the days when local numbers came with exchange names like OLive.

UPDATE: The exact location and current status of the laundromat and its directional sign remain unknown. Since the sign was already heavily faded when photographed in March 2006, it may have disappeared in the years that followed. 09-26