Holiday Bowl (Demolished)
Hayward, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

Check out the neon marquee at Holiday Bowl in Hayward. The Holiday lettering was joined by a three-dimensional bull outlined in neon, giving bowlers a preview of the Bashful Bull restaurant waiting inside. Stop by on the weekend for some Red Bull, or come during the week to shoot the bull with friends. Either way, this was one bowling alley that left the roadside glowing.

Holiday Bowl opened in 1958 with 40 automatic lanes and enough room to keep a crowd entertained around the clock. The huge complex was designed by Bay Area architect Robert L. Lustig and became one of Northern California’s busier 24-hour bowling stops. When hunger struck between games, the ranch-themed Bashful Bull was ready with something a little more substantial than a snack from the counter.

The bull on the sign was more than a random mascot. It advertised the restaurant while giving the big marquee a little extra roadside personality. The sign was built by Electrical Products Corporation, and that neon animal probably caught as much attention along Mission Boulevard as the Holiday Bowl lettering itself.

Holiday Bowl (Demolished)
Hayward, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

Holiday Bowl also found its way onto the screen when scenes for the 2006 comedy The Darwin Awards were filmed at the old bowling alley. By then, the lanes were nearing the end of a 47-year run, but the building still had enough retro character to play itself. No artificial bowling-alley set needed here.

UPDATE: The Holiday Bowl shut its doors back in 2005. The neon no longer glows at this ten pin alley favorite. 02-13

UPDATE: Holiday Bowl closed in 2005 and was later demolished around 2020 for a mixed-use residential and commercial development. The attached Holiday House is gone too. The neon marquee and its Bashful Bull mascot were removed from Mission Boulevard. 09-26