Disneyland Sign

Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica, CA
Photo courtesy Georg Balandran

With the sun setting over the Pacific, the Santa Monica Pier sign makes quite a welcome to the coast. Commissioned by the pier’s business association and installed in 1941, the familiar arch advertises a yacht harbor, sport fishing, boating, and cafes. Generations of visitors have passed beneath its neon lettering, with many Route 66 travelers making this their final photo stop.

UPDATE: The historic sign is scheduled for removal on October 20, 2026, for restoration during the Pier Bridge replacement project. Its return is expected in late 2027. 10-26

Condes Restaurant
Universal City, CA
Photo courtesy Georg Balandran

Look up while wandering Universal CityWalk and there’s an old restaurant chef still working above the crowd. The Condes’ Restaurant sign originally came from Gardena, where it was built in 1960 for the restaurant’s opening. Measuring some 20 feet long, the marquee used flickering neon flames to give its oversized cook a little action.

Brothers Ben and Raymond Conde shared the restaurant’s cooking and management duties. They also gave the sign a personal touch, periodically repainting the chef to resemble whichever brother was running the kitchen. Apparently, even a neon cook needed an occasional change of appearance.

UPDATE: The rescued marquee continues its second career among CityWalk’s historic neon signs. Universal’s 2026 guide places the chef above Sephora, near VIVO Italian Kitchen. The Gardena restaurant may belong to another era, but its cook still has a crowd below. 10-26

Norwalk Town Square
Norwalk, CA
Photo courtesy Adriene Biondo

Towering over the Five Points intersection, the Norwalk Town Square sign comes from an era when shopping centers gave motorists something worth looking up at. Developed between 1951 and 1954, the center was designed by noted Los Angeles architect Stiles O. Clements. Its enormous roadside sign announced the new shopping destination to a growing community, back when acres of parking and a towering neon marquee were part of the suburban shopping experience.

Take another look at the sign’s unusual outline. That giant shape represents a redwood tree with a roadway passing through its trunk, a reference to the corporate emblem of Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company, which developed the center. Quite a way to work the company logo into the scenery. With its exposed framework and oversized lettering, this was a landmark meant to catch the eye well before a driver reached the parking lot.

UPDATE: The familiar marquee has picked up a few changes since its completion in 1954. The hoops crowning the structure and the word “Town” were added during the 1980s, giving the original Norwalk Square sign another chapter in its roadside history. More than seven decades after its debut, the sign remains a familiar reminder of the days when a trip to the shopping center began with a beacon above the boulevard. 10-26

Clayton Plumbers (Gone)
Westwood, CA
Photo courtesy Georg Balandran

A dripping faucet usually means trouble, but along Westwood Boulevard it once meant a great neon display. Installed in 1947 above the shop at 2023 Westwood Boulevard, the Clayton Plumbers sign turned a plumbing problem into a roadside attraction. Three illuminated drops descended from the spigot before ending in a splash, spelling out the reassuring message “The Leak Stops Here.”

Standing some 20 feet tall, the animated marquee gave passing motorists a reason to watch an entire advertising cycle. First the faucet, then the drops, then the splash. For roughly 60 years, this was one leak West Los Angeles could enjoy without calling somebody to fix it.

UPDATE: The Clayton Plumbers sign is scheduled to come down on April 16th. According to the National Trust's Preservation Online, the owner of the business says the Clayton Plumbers sign is to costly to maintain and will be donating to the Museum of Neon Art (MONA). The 20 foot tall sign was originally installed at the Westwood location in 1947 and most recently restored for $20,000 in 2001. The Los Angeles Conservancy as well as MONA is hoping its remains in its place along Westwood Boulevard like it has been for the last 60 years. . Many thanks to Adriene Biondo for alert. 04-07

UPDATE: The Clayton Plumbers neon marquee was removed later in 2007 and moved to the Los Angeles County Museum of Neon Art (MONA). 01-11

UPDATE: The sign was removed in 2007 and donated to the Museum of Neon Art. The original metal structure proved too deteriorated to restore, so a replica was installed beside MONA in Glendale in 2015. The original entered the museum’s storage collection, while the recreated sign brought the dripping faucet and its neon splash back outdoors. 10-26

Apache
Photo courtesy Georg Balandran

Sometimes a short name gives a sign maker plenty to work with. Check out the lettering on this Apache neon sign, where the distinctive letterforms give the name a look all its own. There’s no mistaking it for a standard panel ordered out of a catalog.

This nighttime view captures the appeal of the old marquee, with the lettering doing the work of catching the eye. One more example of how a business could make its name memorable before a customer ever stepped through the door.

Bleecker Bobs (Gone)
Melrose
Photo courtesy Georg Balandran

A little record hunting along Melrose once came with an unusual face overhead. The Bleecker Bob’s Records clown marquee gave the shop a neon personality of its own, fitting right into a street where the storefronts could be as interesting as whatever was for sale inside. With its glowing grin, this was quite a way to announce a place to browse for music.

For anyone who remembers spending an afternoon flipping through record bins, the sign brings back a familiar kind of stop. There might be an album worth taking home in the next stack, followed by another discovery a few rows over. A quick look could turn into a much longer visit. Outside, the clown kept watch over Melrose, becoming part of the scenery for shoppers who may never have ventured through the door.

UPDATE: The clown marquee is no longer at the former Melrose shop. This nighttime photograph preserves its appearance during the record store days, though an exact removal date is not known. One more face missing from the old Melrose streetscape. 10-26

"Bottle" Liquor
Garden Grove, CA
Photo courtesy Georg Balandran

Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall? Well, the bottles on this “Bottle” Liquor sign in Garden Grove had another trick. A sequence of neon outlines gave the appearance of a bottle tipping, adding a little movement above the liquor store below.

Animated signs like this were made to hold a passing motorist’s attention for an extra moment. Catch one part of the sequence and there was a reason to watch for the next. A simple bottle could become a small nighttime show, all accomplished with bent glass tubing and carefully timed flashes.