I’m a huge fan of old neon signs and was surprised to find out that San Jose has quite a few and many of the best ones are clustered along Santa Cruz avenue. I haven’t yet been able to figure out the reason for neon was popular for Santa Cruz Ave businesses. If you wan to explore the signs, check out this Metro article on San Jose’s neon.
Roosevelt Tamale Parlor Neon Sign
Looking over my past few posts, I’m seeing perhaps I’m a little too enamored with signs but here’s another one. This time from Roosevelt Tamale Parlor in the Mission District of San Francisco.
I’ve been wanting to see the Neon Museum since I found out about it back in April 2011 but no tours were available. I finally made it back and really enjoyed the tour. The tour guide gave a great history of Las Vegas told through the signs.
I found out the Las Vegas Strip started as mom and pop motels that were trying to catch people coming in on the highway before they reached downtown which had the major hotels in the 50’s and 60’s. Todays strip is where the old highway used to be, before the Interstates were built. The strip is outside of Las Vegas proper so there were few building regulations which made it easy for the small hotels to set up shop.
The top of the Capri Motel’s sign. The Capri is located in Santa Clara, right on El Camino.
This was my first outing with my new D800E. The resolution is stunning and the camera is joy to use. But when it comes to size and weight, it’s a beast of a camera. I’ll still be using my D7000 when I need to keep gear weight and bulk down.
I love neon signs so this Paul and Harvey sign always catches my eye when go to downtown Sunnyvale. I’ve never actually been inside. Perhaps I ought to try it out as the Yelp reviews are pretty good.
