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California Signs (page 17)

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Venice Room
Monterey Park, CA		 Ponzini's Community Garage
Morgan Hill, CA		 15 Mile Stop
Morgan Hill, CA
The Venice Room steak house opened in 1955. This sign may be from then. For more, see this website. [map]

Ponzini's Community Garage was founded in 1951. This sign may be older than that. The "Community" panel has been tacked on top of an original panel. [map]

The name of the 15 Mile Stop must be a reference to it being 15 miles south of San Jose. The restaurant and gas station are long gone but this sign remains. It was probably built in the 1950s. [map]

Moraga:
Moraga Center

Budget Motel
Mountain View, CA		 Fred's Place
Mountain View, CA		 Gold Room Saloon
Mt. Shasta, CA		 Veteran's Club
Mt. Shasta, CA
The Budget Motel sign appears to be from the 1940s or 1950s. The sign was previously painted blue. It was repainted sometime after 2012. This photo is from 2014. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Fred's Place opened in the 1950s in Palo Alto, CA. The bar moved to this location in 1960. I don't know if this sign was moved from Palo Alto or if it was built when the business moved here. The sign was repainted in 2019. This photo is from 2022. For more, see this website. [map]

I believe the Gold Room Saloon was established in 1963. This sign appears to be from then. [map]

The Veteran's Club bar opened in the early 1930s as Mugglers. It was renamed the Veteran's Club by 1938. This sign which has painted ripple tin panels appears to be from then. It is now known as Watson's Vets Club. The bulb cocktail glass was added sometime after the 1940s. The bulbs are proteced with plastic caps. [map]

Napa:
Bell Products [map]
Depot Hotel Italian Dinners [map]
Family Drug
Uptown Theatre
Val's Liquors

Route 66 Motel
Needles, CA		 Sage Motel
Needles, CA		 Fender's River Road Resort
Needles, CA
The Route 66 Motel was built from 1946-1947. It has been used for apartments since the 1990s. The sign is probably from the 1950s or 1960s. It was restored in 2012. [map]

The Sage Motel has been closed for many years but this sign remains. The sign is probably from the 1950s. [map]

Fender's River Road Resort opened in the 1960s. It was known as simply the River Road Resort Motel in the 1990s. It may have had another name and text on the sign originally. This sign was restored by Legacy Signs in Kingman, AZ in 2019. For more, see this website. [map]

Laundromat [gone]
Newport Beach, CA
This Laundromat sign was on the side of a vacant building that most recently housed a spa. There had not been a laundromat there for at least a decade. The sign was probably from the 1950s or 1960s. It was removed around 2020 and is now in a private collection.

U-Drive
Newport Beach, CA
2013: 2019:
The U-Drive sign was built in 1933 for a boat rental business near the Balboa Island ferry. It was restored in 1999 and again in 2014. The sign is still installed next to the ferry. For more, see this website. [map]

More Newport Beach:
Balboa Pharmacy

Carter Sexton Artist's Materials
North Hollywood, CA

2013:
2022:
Carter Sexton Artist's Materials opened in 1944. This sign is probably from the 1950s. The bottom panel originally read "Picturing Framing." In 2018, the sign was restored with new paint and neon. [map]

Vineland Wine Cellar
North Hollywood, CA		 Circus Liquor
North Hollywood, CA		 Silver Saddle Motel
North Hollywood, CA		 Dayton Tires
North Hollywood, CA
The Vineland Wine Cellar sign is probably from the 1950s or 1960s. The "liquor" letters were probably neon originally. Around 2019, the rest of the neon letters were backlit plastic. [map]

Circus Liquor opened in 1959 and this 32-foot-tall sign was installed then. The sign was repainted between the 2008 and 2013 photos shown above. By 2017, the paint had faded again. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

The Silver Saddle Motel sign was built in 1960. [map]

These Dayton Tires vacuum-form signs were mass-produced and were probably built in the 1960s and/or 1970s. This one is displayed at Roadrunner Auto Parts. [map]

Starlite Room (later Starlite Cantina)
North Hollywood, CA (now Van Nuys, CA)
2013: 2015: 2024:
The Starlite Room opened in 1955 and this sign was probably from then. In 2013, the bar reopened as the Starlite Cantina. The sign was painted red and white. The neon text was changed from "Room" to "Cantina". In 2021, the place closed and the sign was removed. In 2023, it was donated to the Valley Relics Museum. The word "Room" was restored.

More North Hollywood:
Victorio's Ristorante [gone]

Jolly Jug Liquor Store
Northridge, CA
The Jolly Jug Liquor Store signs are probably from the 1960s. [map]

More Northridge:
Shakey's Pizza Parlor

Norwalk:
Norwalk Square Shopping Center
Torch Room Lounge

Pini Hardware
Novato, CA		 DeBorba's Cocktail Lounge [gone]
Novato, CA
The Pini Hardware sign was installed in 1946 at the store's original location. When the business moved in 2004, the sign was restored and installed inside the new store. The sign may have had an animated hammer originally. For more, see this website.

DeBorba's Cocktail Lounge opened in 1906 as DeBorba's Saloon. This sign is probably from the 1950s or so. DeBorba's closed in 2018 and the sign is gone now. For more, see this website.

H-B Saloon
Oakdale, CA		 Negri's
Original Occidental
Occidental, CA
The H-B Saloon sign is shaped like a sign from the 1940s or 1950s. I don't know if it has always advertised for this business. [map]

Negri's Original Occidental opened in 1943. This sign is probably from the 1950s. For more, see this website. [map]

More Oceanside:
Star Theatre
Surf Bowl

Alameda Albany -
Apple Valley		 Arcadia -
Barstow		 Bakersfield Bay Point -
Beverly Hills		 Big Bear Lake -
Bridgeport		 Buellton Buena Park -
Carpinteria
Catheys Valley -
Corona del Mar		 Cotati -
El Centro		 El Dorado -
Escondido		 Eureka -
Garden Grove		 Fresno Gilroy -
Harbor City		 Hawthorne -
Lakeport		 Hayward &
San Leandro
Lakewood -
Live Oak		 Lodi -
Lynwood		 Long Beach Los Angeles Macdoel -
Mendota		 Merced -
Monte Rio		 Oakland
Ontario -
Palo Alto		 Pasadena -
Petaluma		 Pico Rivera -
Pomona		 Porterville -
Redondo Beach		 Redwood City -
Richmond		 Rio Nido -
Roseville		 Sacramento Salida -
San Bernardino
San Bruno -
San Luis Obispo		 San Diego Area San Francisco San Jose San Mateo -
Santa Barbara		 Santa Clara -
Santa Monica		 Santa Paula -
Stanton		 Stockton
Suisun City -
Ukiah		 Upland -
Vernon		 Victorville -
Wilmington		 Woodland -
Yuba City		 Museum of
Neon Art		 Valley Relics Museum

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