San Luis Obispo Night Lights

       The night belongs to neon. 

      The bright lights and warm colors of neon signs draw grownups like fireflies attract children with Mason jars. Neon is a gaseous element that ionizes and glows red when enclosed in a glass tube and charged with an electric current. Other colors are produced by adding other gases, or by coating the inside of the tube with phosphorescent materials.

      British scientists identified Neon in 1898. Georges Claude is usually credited with displaying the first neon tubes at the Parisian Exposition in 1910. He brought neon signs to the United States in 1923. Here they quickly caught on as a dramatic advertising medium, especially at automobile dealerships, bars and restaurants, hotels, motels, and movie theaters.  Neon signage perfectly complemented then popular Art Deco and Art Moderne design.

      San Luis Obispo once glowed with neon, beckoning residents and travelers alike. Most of the old signs are gone. Of the ones that remain, a few are inoperative.

This photo essay highlights some of the neon signs that still survive, relics of an era when nighttime SLO radiated neon exuberance. 

SOURCE: "The History of Neon Signs," Inventors.about.com
                "Neon Sign History," Wikipedia

Bull's Tavern on Chorro Street Foster's Freeze on Marsh Street           Let's Bowl, Pismo Beach     Ratliffe Welding on Higuera Street Mo's Bar B Que, Pismo Beach    Pepe Delgado's Mexican Food on Monterey Street   Splash Cafe, Pismo Beach  Brad's, Pismo Beach    The Palm Theater on Palm Street

Elks Lodge on Elks Lane      Fremont Theater on Monterey Street    Homestead Motel on Olive Street & 101 On-ramp    Madonna Inn        Manuel's on Broad Street        McCarthy's Bar on Court                                     Street    Mee Hang Low on Palm Street    Shanghai Low on Palm Street                    Alex BBQ, Pismo Beach       Sunset Drive-In

The Sunset Drive-in Theater on Elks Lane

Go to Page 2 of San Luis Obispo Nights