This sign in Lakewood, CO was repainted in 2014 but that didn’t last.

This sign in Lakewood was originally installed on the roof:

The Bugs Bunny Motel in Lakewood was built in 1952. Around 1997, Warner Brothers came after them and they changed the name to the Big Bunny Motel. The sign was changed (note the gap between the “B” and the “i” and the remaining neon “s”). The sign was pretty ratty with rust when I took this photo in 2012:

In 2015, the sign was repainted and everyone was shocked with the results. The fonts were changed but more appalling was the new bunny no longer holding a can and a carrot and painted inside the shape of the panels – yikes!

The Celebrity Lanes in Glendale, CO was built in 1960 and it was a really big deal with 80 lanes. This article has all the details:

http://buckfifty.org/2009/02/04/celebrity/

It also had an incredible sign with spinning sputniks:

The sign was adapted two years later for the new name:

Around 1979, it became the Celebrity Fun Center and the sign’s panels were changed again. The place closed in 1994 and was demolished the following year. The sign was destroyed but one of the sputniks was retrieved from a junkyard and is now displayed on the roof of the Lumber Baron Inn in Denver:

The Golden Bowl in Golden, CO was built in 1955 and this sign was most likely installed then. It had neon originally. It closed in 2014 and was demolished. The sign was saved and is now displayed inside the Natural Grocers supermarket that was built on the site:

Let’s move on to some mid-century buildings. One of my favorite chains in the Denver area were these Big Top convenience stores — for details & lots more examples, see my website here:

https://www.roadarch.com/modarch/food6.html

The first three locations were built in 1959, with 10 more between 1960-1964. They had big signs projecting from the roof and self-serve gas pumps.

There were at least 15 built with plans to build 100 of them. But the chain folded in the early 1970s and only 10 of these locations survive — all adapted for other purposes. One of these is inexplicably located in Ypsilanti, MI. Here are three that I reshot on this trip.

In Denver – now a meat market:

Another in Denver is now a Snarf’s Sandwiches:

And this one in Golden with a crappy add-on roof but still the original underside continues into the interior of the tattoo studio:

Let’s close with one more sign. The Pagliacci’s Italian restaurant opened in Denver in 1946. It closed in 2012 and the building was demolished. The rooftop sign featured an incredible neon clown extension sign:

This sign was sorta kinda preserved. The clown was (badly) replicated with a white background and stuck way up at the top of the new Lumina Building. Thank you Google StreetView because I’ve never had the stomach to shoot it. I sure hope someone saved that original tubing:

The text panel was turned into a triangulated planter located inside the building. I guess that’s a good thing?:

There are still about 3 more days of Colorado coming before we move on to Kansas. Just a reminder, there are other photos from each day being posted simultaneously over at Flickr here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

Happy trails,
dj & the dogs