OK — back home safe.  Here are some photos from yesterday’s shooting.  I started the day with a long drive out to see Roy’s in Amboy.  This long-closed gas, food & lodging complex is really in the middle of absolute nowhere.  There were no signs of life there — but, evidently, work is still going on:
http://www.amboyroute66.com/frontpage.html
Back in June, there was a Kickstarter campaign to raise $16,000 to restore the sign — but only about $1,000 was pledged.

Since around 2005, the town of Amboy — or at least the land where these buildings are located — has been owned by man who owns the Juan Pollo fried chicken fast food chain. It must have been soon after that when a smaller Roy’s sign was built for a Juan Pollo in Barstow (at a former Arby’s building).  But that location is now closed:

The former Whiting Brothers gas station in Newberry Springs.  Closed since 1968:

Also in Newberry Springs — the long-closed Henning Motel:

 

All my life, I’ve heard about the Calico Ghost Town in Yermo.  I finally made it there today:

 

Back in Barstow.  Yes, the Sands Motel sign had neon and a different color scheme until 2009.  Here’s a photo of its old look:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11036774@N07/2120865066/
And when they went monkeying with the sign:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92136363@N00/3741298725/
Note how they sliced off all chunks on the right hand side of the sign and moved all the letters over:

 

Former rivals and next door neighbors in Barstow — the Astro Motel (now the Astro Budget Motel) — its original look:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12597438@N07/4379144495/

and the former Imperial 400 Motel — this location in better days:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12597438@N07/3522121665/

More about these chains and loads of photos at my page here:
http://www.agilitynut.com/modarch/chain.html
In Helendale — a Polly gas sign.  The station was demolished long ago.  A fenced dirt lot since at least 2003:

 

On to Victorville and the California Route 66 Museum.  This sign was replaced with a plastic box sign but luckily this sign was saved & has been on display at the museum since at least 2007.   The rundown motor court buildings are still there:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31086818@N08/5162522893/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65446203@N00/8178995530/

The museum also has a couple of signs from the former Hulaville in Hesperia:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2891

 

One of the highlights of the day for the dogs was exploring the abandoned dinosaurs in Apple Valley.  Four acres of dirt and dinosaur statues.  This was to have been a mini golf but the project started in the 1970s was never completed.  Very sad — but still wonderful.

 

On up into the mountains — Sparkle really got a workout this weekend!  Up to Big Bear Lake to shoot a couple of things.  This one was not on my list.  Madlon’s Restaurant in Big Bear.  Their website explains that this was built as the Knusperhauschen Restaurant in the 1970s:

 

The sun ran out in Yucca Valley — just enough time to grab one more sign.  I don’t know what it advertised for originally — Sky Harbor Shopping Center?

 

The next trip and blog post will be the weekend of January 18 when the dogs at I will head back to the desert for more goodies & fun times around Palm Springs.  Until then, don’t forget more photos from this weekend over at Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

Best to all of you in 2014!

dj & the dogs

I’ve been wanting to make this little trip for a while.  Winter seems like a good time to head to the desert & avoid the heat even though the days are so short.  In summer, you get maybe four more hours to shoot — but it’s not a good time of year to break down in the desert.  Today’s shooting was made even shorter because I stopped at Griz’s foster parents in Acton for a couple of hours.  I adopted Griz (one of my dogs) from them in May and it was fun to show them his tricks, muscles and all that.

Lots of miles between stuff but, despite that, I was pretty productive.  Let’s start with the Valencia Lanes in Newhall.  Maybe the sign had neon panels originally.  The building was not worth shooting:

 

From Lancaster — originally, the Bermuda Inn.  Here’s what the sign looked like then:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21002889@N05/5196654585/

Later, as the Bon Reussite Resort, it was “a fat camp for celebrities that was kept very discreet.”  Evidently, closed for at least 15 years:

 

From Rosamond — at the Kieffe & Sons Ford dealership.  Neon removed — but, thankfully, the sign is still there:

 

From Tehachapi —

This wooden sign is also at Kelcy’s:

 

From Inyokern — a reworked older sign but fun lettering and colors:

 

Kramer Junction Antiques (in Kramer Junction) — has loads of petroliana like this:

and indoors (note: a lit Dog n Suds sign in the middle and a large Pep Boys statue on the right):

A couple of the signs inside:

While I’ve seen several Fisk Tire Boy statues, I’ve never seen a Fisk sign before:

 

Silver Dollar Liquors in Boron, CA:

 

Another sign from Boron.  Obviously, the Desert Lake Motel originally — and apparently pretty swanky:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8194795@N05/2737788676/

 

I zipped up to the Borax Visitor Center in Boron to shoot the 20 Mule Team statues.  While there, I found a nice photo-op spot for the kids.  The plaque describes this as a 190 ton truck tire, 11 feet tall.  Left to right, that’s Grem, Nik, Griz & Fix:

Hard to pick the cutest, isn’t it?

 

From Lenwood — I don’t know what this place was originally:

On to Barstow for the last bit of the day and this post’s photos.  Tom’s Welding has amassed a huge collection of signs.   There were a lot more that I couldn’t get to since the place was closed for the day:

 

B&B Plumbing:

 

Most of the signs are dark in Barstow at night – but here’s a nice oldie:

 

and this one is obviously new — but awfully nice:

That’s it for today.  I’ll get photos from tomorrow up on Monday or Tuesday.  It’s gonna be a long drive home tomorrow night — compounded by holiday traffic.  In the meantime, don’t forget — more photos from today over at Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

Back home and fueled with caffeine.  I think I can knock out this wrap-up post from this weekend.

Seasons Greetings from the Abominable Snowman in Huntington Beach!  This guy was inside someone’s front window.   I shot this just as the sun was coming up en route to the beach — so I got some palm tree reflections.

 

From Santa Ana.  This one’s been on my list for a while.  This is a tile floor entrance — no longer a shoe store — but, miraculously, this survives and is in great shape:

 

From Riverside.  Followers of my blog may remember my photo of this sign from August:

I was then tipped off my one of my readers, Monika, that it had been repainted just a couple of weeks after that photo.  I got a chance to see it today and was pretty unimpressed.  Apparently, they just slathered the paint over the rough spots — and the paint is peeling already.  It looks like the “i” in Pizza is also broken:

 

From Perris.  The was previously the Chief Theatre — and maybe something else before that.  This blue paint job is from around 2010.  Here’s a nice night photo:
http://photography.paulliebrand.com/2010/08/07/a-night-at-the-perris-theater/

This theatre is a twin to the former Tower Theatre in Dinuba, CA.  Here’s my photo of that one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/10273249254/

So, this theatre must also be the work of S. Charles Lee and built around 1940.  I’m pretty sure Mr. Lee would have something to say about that siding on the tower!

 

I took a drive out to remote Winchester to see if John Cerney’s painted signs were still there at West Coast Turf.   John wasn’t sure.  He said that the signs had taken quite a battering from the sprinklers and that he was supposed to go repair them but they never called him back.  I managed to find them — back behind the building.  Propped up and damaged — but it was still fun to see them.

This is what the sign below used to look like (the only photo I could find) and evidently there’s a couple of people missing now:
http://gobigorgohomeblog.com/content/CA-billboard-people.gif

And here’s an article about these soccer player signs —

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/hemet/hemet-headlines-index/20101026-hemet-lakeview-soccer-giants-will-be-repaired.ece

 

On to San Bernardino — where annoying clouds moved in.  A nifty spinner sign which I’m assuming doesn’t work anymore.  It most likely worked like this one at the Cherokee Trading Post in Budd Lake, NJ — from my YouTube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HyMIpy2sCQ

 

I was tipped off about this place at Charles Phoenix’s “Architecture in L.A.” show.  The letters rock back and forth but the owner doesn’t turn the sign on any more:

 

A couple more signs from San Bernardino:

 

And lastly — I’ll throw this photo in since I haven’t put any doggie pix up in a while.  This photo was taken at home in Ventura of me & the “kids” by a stranger with her iPhone.  This time of year, I’m racing after work to get to the beach just as the sun is going down.  There are lots of other sunset gawkers there with their iPhones and beach chairs — but usually they don’t go down to the water and we have the beach to ourselves:

 

And don’t forget — more photos from this weekend over at Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

I hope you all have great holidays!

Debra Jane
Grem, Griz, Fix & Nik

Another eyeball appointment for Sputnik in Culver City — another excuse to go picture-taking.  Nik’s eyes have nice low pressure — but he has injured his blind eye somehow.  Easy enough for such a nutso, hyperactive, nearly blind dog to do.  So, the vet wants us back in a month — which means you’ll be hearing from me again soon enough.

Before we move on to today’s festivities… some good news for those of you into Roto-Spheres.  For those of you that don’t know what they are, I have the full story & photos of all of them here:
http://www.agilitynut.com/sca/roto.html

The good news is that Dutler’s Bowl in Mankato, MN is starting a fund-raising project to get their sign spinning again.  The woman who owns the place was nice enough to send me a t-shirt.  I’m sure you could call them up and order one for yourself if you like — and support the noble cause:

The neon on the Dutler’s Bowl Roto-Sphere has been working since 2007.  But it hasn’t spun since 1980.  What’s interesting about this sign is that the band around the center of the sphere isn’t like the others — it doesn’t have that groove around the center.  This might mean it never counter-rotated originally but only spun in one direction on the pole.  I’ve put the owner in touch with my buddies in Shreveport who can hopefully help get this one fully functioning.  In other news…  the Jarrell Company in Dallas is also planning on getting their rusty Roto-Sphere restored & spinning again.

*******************

Now, on to today’s goodies.

From Carson — this “Four Heel Drive” truck appeared in the 1994 “Flintstones” movie.  I think it’s back up for sale now since it was on the lot of an auction house.  More photos of the car here (warning: turn your volume off):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPLyEJeRfCY

 

I’ve posted this Giant Head from a hair salon in Redondo Beach at my blog before.  But I thought you might want to see it again with its winter wardrobe.   It was 67 in Redondo Beach today…

 

Also in Redondo Beach.  From pies to pancakes — a former House of Pies, now an Original Pancake House.    Here’s a vintage photo that shows what the building would have looked like originally:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elmwoodparklocalhistory/

 

A big ‘un from Torrance:

 

Two Angel Food Donuts locations in Long Beach.  OK, so not as big as the stucco Randy’s Donuts — but still wonderful.  A whole section about giant donuts and donut signs at my website starting here:
http://www.agilitynut.com/sca/donuts.html

 

More Long Beach.  This camera shop was established in 1946 — and is still open!

 

This red sputnik is installed on top of the Best Auto Parts & Repair sign.  Note the different lengths of bulbs.  This was frequently done with these signs.  More examples of them at this page:
http://www.agilitynut.com/sca/roto3.html

 

A random shot of concrete screen & man-modified nature.  Note the lava rock at the bottom and the old-fangled antenna on the roof:

 

Holiday cheers from Long Beach!   A good time to remind you that all my photos are clickable — clicking on them makes them larger.  Long Beach is loaded with Art Deco & Streamline Moderne since most of the city was leveled in the 1933 earthquake and rebuilt:

Blue on blue.  My apologies to my pals in the Northeast that are dealing with snow and ice right now.

 

From the Long Beach Airport.  This is actually on the tile floor, rotated 90 degrees for you:

 

Back in Carson:

 

A double drive-thru dairy store in Lakewood.  I believe this is a former Alta Dena dairy store:

 

And another former Alta Dena dairy store in La Mirada — now an auto repair place:

 

I am deliberating about adding a Dairy Store sub-section to the mid-century modern section at my website.  There are so many of these Alta Denas still around here in SoCal — and then there are more of chains in Florida, Indiana, etc.  There could even be a book in it  — send those publishers my way — I’m ready!

Last photo for the night – also from La Mirada.  The Imperial Telegraph Hand Wash.  Don’t you love that towering sign and all those faux gas lamps?  The lamps continue on down the canopy on the left as well.

 

The day wrapped up nicely with a sunset run for the dogs at Huntington Beach.   We’ll pick up there again tomorrow morning and then I’ll have more Orange County & other stuff for you in my wrap-up post.  I’ll try to get that to you Monday or Tuesday.

More photos from today over at Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/