California Neon In the San Fernando Valley
Once upon a time the Neon Age blessed the young city of Los Angeles with its florescent glow. Tubes filled with rare, iridescent gasses lit up Hollywood, downtown LA and stretched its glowing fingers through the San Fernando Valley.
Some still light up in a glorious blaze of color, others have lost their light, but their beauty remains and can only be seen in daylight. It can become a game finding them all. And like a Fabergé Egg during and Easter Egg Hunt, we’ve got a lot of small gems here in The Valley.
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 Star Lite
Room
A huge red star with white letters for the Star Lite Room on Moorpark St. in Studio City. A yellow swoop surrounds
the star. Drop by for a drink and tell them how much you love their sign! |
 Darby’s Coffee Shop
HAD a cool retro teal sign with giant white scripty letters. It has now been replaced by a rather unimaginative plastic sign. |
 Lorenzen Mortuary
In the San Fernando Valley. A cool neon sign
above a Spanish
Style tile roof. |
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Time To Buy
A work of neon art giving Ventura Blvd. its eclectic charm. The red arrow is animated. It circles the clock and points to the door. I caught it just as the last arrow lights. |
Hyland
Motel
One of my personal favorites, The Hyland Motel sits on colorful Sepulveda Blvd. and Hyland Ave.
Update 8/2005: This gem has now been torn down and
replaced by a plastic sign. |
Retro Rocket Liquor
On Vanowen Blvd, it is Probably named for the missile and spacecraft rockets built across the street at Rocketdyne. |
The
Reseda Theatre
This neon sign graces the art deco facade of the theater. The building is now for sale and the signs future remains uncertain.
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Corbin Bowl
This Famous bowling alley has hosted Hollywood stars and children’s birthday parties as a Ventura Blvd. landmark for decades. It is actually a mix of neon and Googie. |
Rubin’s
Red Hot
I retouched this photo to remove the For Sale sign and other extraneous crud so you could see the whole Rubin… Rubin’s Red Hot hot dog stand occupies prime real estate on Ventura and
Sepulveda Blvds. It’s on the market, but where will the sign go? |
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More Unique California Architecture
Well, technically no, this fabulous building doesn’t have anything to do with neon or signs
– but when was the last time you saw a building shaped like a pink Cadillac?The Pink Cadillac building is on Ventura Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley.
