I was very sad to see another sign defaced.  This one in Vallejo still had neon until at least last summer.  My photo from 2014:

And now….

 

These embossed Schwinn signs used to be everywhere — now there are just a few scattered around the country.  The one is in Fremont:

I stopped by Bell Plastics in Hayward to see a few of Bruce’s new acquisitions.  This fiberglass boy with a burger is a mystery to both of us.  I suspect it was a one-off since I’ve never seen one before:

 

Bruce just got this guy from Moody, AL.  These Pioneer statues were produced by International Fiberglass, the makers of so many recently so-called “Muffler Men.”  More about their Pioneer statues at this page at my website:
http://www.roadarch.com/giants/ifother3.html

You might notice the half globe on the left.  Yep, Bruce has also got an Atlas statue or two now.  He’s got a lot of restoring to do!

This towering sign is also in Hayward.  If you’re curious about the cool building next door, I’ve got info about Caspers Famous Hot Dog locations here:
http://www.roadarch.com/eateries/hotdogs2.html#Hay1

Moving on to Oakland.  I’ve never been able to catch this sign in full sun.  My last photo from 2015:

And now… Another one destroyed with backlit plastic:

I’m so glad that this florist sign in Oakland is still hanging in there — even though there’s now a coffee shop below it (Black Spring Coffee Company):

And then it was over the bridge to San Francisco for Day 1 of the three-day Neon Symposium.  An incredible gathering of neon sign fans & experts.  If you missed it, mark your calendars for this time next year & get tix early (it sold out this year).  This was the first of, hopefully, many more to come:
http://sfneon.org/

I’ll probably be back tomorrow night with Day 3 of this trip.  In the meantime, don’t forget about the some other photos from this trip over at Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

Good night,

dj & the dogs