Cay Health Foods (Gone)
Bakersfield, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

The old neon sign for Cay Health Foods hung above its downtown Bakersfield storefront for decades. Its simple 1950s lettering came from a time when a dedicated health food shop was still something unusual.

Cay opened in 1948 as the Diet Specialty Shop and became Bakersfield's first health food store. It stocked vitamins, herbs, supplements, and specialty foods long before natural products became common in supermarkets.

UPDATE: Cay Health Foods closed in August 2013 after 65 years in business. The building remains in commercial use, but the vintage sign has been removed. 09-26

Bakersfield Veterinary Hospital
Bakersfield, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyns

The horse itself may not glow, but the neon lettering at Bakersfield Veterinary Hospital provided enough light to catch the attention of anyone passing along Chester Avenue after dark. During the day, the life-size horse standing above the entrance could be seen from blocks away.

Founded in 1923, the hospital treated horses, livestock, and household pets for generations. The big horse eventually became as familiar to Bakersfield residents as the veterinary hospital itself, making it a roadside landmark of sorts.

UPDATE: The veterinary practice moved from its longtime Chester Avenue location. The original marquee was removed, while the landmark horse went along with the large-animal operation to its newer facility. 09-26

Travelers Hotel
Salinas, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

The red neon blade sign for Travelers Hotel lights the way along an Oldtown Salinas sidewalk. Hanging above the entrance, the simple vertical HOTEL lettering adds a little glow to this early downtown lodging house. 02-06

The building dates to the early 1900s, when it served railroad passengers, agricultural workers, and commercial travelers passing through the Salinas Valley. It stands just off Main Street in the heart of Steinbeck country.

UPDATE: Travelers Hotel remains open as a budget and longer-term lodging property. The old red blade sign also survives, although it is unclear how often the neon is still illuminated. 09-26

Beck's Shoes
Salinas, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

Check out the old projecting sign for Beck's Shoes and Repair in downtown Salinas. The familiar Red Wing Shoes logo shares the marquee with the Beck's name, letting anyone looking for a sturdy pair of work boots know they had found the right place. 02-06

Danish cobbler and World War I veteran Ole Beck opened the business in 1919. Generations of the Beck family continued serving farmworkers, cannery employees, construction crews, and other customers from across the Salinas Valley. Beck's eventually grew into a regional chain, but this Main Street shop remained its historic home.

UPDATE: Beck's Shoes and Repair remains open, and the vintage Red Wing blade sign is gone. 09-26

IOOF (Gone)
Salinas, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

The glowing IOOF letters once hung above Main Street in Oldtown Salinas. The blade sign also carried the Odd Fellows' three-link chain, representing Friendship, Love, and Truth. Even if the initials left travelers wondering, the neon made the old lodge hall hard to miss. 02-06

Salinas Lodge No. 152 was one of the city's early fraternal and charitable organizations. The hall even appears in John Steinbeck's East of Eden, where Cal Trask looks toward its old town clock. The lodge also helped establish the cemetery where Steinbeck and his family are buried.

UPDATE: The Odd Fellows sold the building in 2010. The hall survives with a new use, but the IOOF neon sign has been removed. 09-26

Slater's Sporting Goods
Lone Pine, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

Cruising through Lone Pine on Highway 395, check out the old jumping trout sign for Slater's Sporting Goods. With its fish perched above the SPORTING GOODS lettering, the sign is a reminder of when every roadside town seemed to have a few signs made especially for the local scenery. One side even shows a different kind of trout than the other. 09-08

The storefront has supplied fishing tackle and outdoor gear since the early 1950s. Bob and Zola Slater operated it as Slater's Sporting Goods beginning in the 1980s, serving anglers, campers, and travelers heading toward Whitney Portal and the Eastern Sierra.

UPDATE: The shop remains open as High Sierra Outfitters. Its weathered trout sign was professionally restored and relit in 2020, bringing the neon back to Highway 395. 09-26

Bakersfield Arch
Bakersfield, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

At first glance, the Bakersfield Arch looks like a surviving piece of the old Highway 99 roadside. The structure itself is relatively new, but those big blue BAKERSFIELD letters really did greet motorists from the original arch built across Union Avenue in 1949. 12-08

The first arch doubled as an enclosed footbridge connecting two sections of the sprawling Bakersfield Inn. After the hotel closed, the structure deteriorated and was removed over earthquake safety concerns. Buck Owens helped save the original letters and financed a new arch near his Crystal Palace, dedicated in 1999.

UPDATE: The recreated Bakersfield Arch remains standing near Buck Owens Boulevard, still carrying the restored letters from the 1949 landmark. 09-26

Buck Owens' Crystal Palace (Closed)
Bakersfield, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The towering sign for Buck Owens' Crystal Palace was hard to miss near Rosedale Highway, especially with the recreated Bakersfield Arch standing right next door. Part museum, part restaurant, and part country music theater, the Crystal Palace packed plenty of Bakersfield personality into one roadside stop. 12-08

Buck Owens opened the Palace in 1996 as a home for the Bakersfield Sound. Inside was an Old West streetscape, rhinestone stage outfits, gold records, red-white-and-blue guitars, and even a customized 1972 Pontiac hanging above the bar. The stage welcomed everyone from Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson to Dwight Yoakam and Taylor Swift.

UPDATE: Buck Owens' Crystal Palace closed in August 2025 after nearly 29 years. The building and towering roadside sign remain, but the property is for sale and its future is uncertain. 09-26