Friday, June 24, 2011

Fountain Coffee Shop Sign, San Francisco

Fountain Coffee Shop

Posted by David Thompson
Place: ,

4 comments:

  1. HelsJune 24, 2011 at 11:50 PM

    I wonder which came first - the vertical fin down the front of a picture theatre or vertical advertising signs in front of shops. Both were shaped the same way and both had moving, neon lights.

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  2. David ThompsonJune 25, 2011 at 9:19 PM

    Good question Hels. I am doing some work at the moment with building permits for the St Kilda area and I am astounded by how many neon/electric signs were erected during the 1930s. I haven't counted each would but I would estimate there were 300 or 400. No doubt none were as elaborate as this US example but it shows how there were in those pre Second World War days. I suspect that shops would have have smaller fin-style signs because they would have been generally smaller buildings and operated generally during the day where large cinemas could support larger signs and use them so effectively to bring people in for those Saturday night features.

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  3. rob (moderne melbourne)June 27, 2011 at 11:18 PM

    David have sent you a PDF of a study about neon signs, prepared by Simon Reeves some time ago for the City of Yarra. Would you mind sending a copy to Helen.

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  4. David ThompsonJune 28, 2011 at 8:22 AM

    Thanks Robin. I'll certainly pass it on to Helen. I was interested to see that one of the main neon sign companies was Claude Neon Lights in South Melbourne. Their count for St Kilda is up to 160 by 1941. Another company in South Melb was Neon Electric Lights who have installed over 115 so far.

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