History:

With the rise of a new marquee at Aria, a look at six classic Las Vegas signs

Thursday, March 29, 2012 | 2 a.m.

The neon signs evocative of the early days of Las Vegas have mostly been replaced on the Strip by large, flashy video boards. But throughout the city, smaller neon signs for local businesses and motels still stand and carry on a tradition that has helped define Las Vegas’ image for decades.

“What I think is great about smaller signs that are more for local businesses or small motels is they represent a time when neon in Las Vegas was this really creative, dynamic medium,” said Danielle Kelly, executive director of the Neon Museum in downtown Las Vegas. “It was a great tool for competing with your neighboring businesses.”

The Neon Museum has become a final resting place for many of the classic signs from Las Vegas’ past and is currently undergoing a remodel to make the museum more accessible to the public.

But many neon signs can still be found in use around town. The Sun spoke with Kelly for a rundown of some of the can’t-miss pieces of Las Vegas history:

Blue Angel

A dainty winged figure in a blue dress, the Blue Angel sign stands high above its namesake motel at 2110 Fremont St. near Eastern Avenue.

Betty Willis, the artist behind the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, designed the Blue Angel sign.

“It’s a sculpture. It hearkens back to a time when signs didn’t need letters to tell a story,” Kelly said. “It’s this sort of protective figure. I think it captures a lot of people’s imaginations, whether they’ve just come to Vegas or whether they’ve lived here all their lives.”
Christopher DeVargas

Lawless Center

One of hundreds of shopping centers around the city, the Lawless Center’s sign, adorned with red and blue lettering and a seven-pointed star, helps the plaza stand out from the crowd.

The sign was an early work of artist Brian “Buzz” Lemming, who created signs used throughout Las Vegas. Although Lemming wasn’t a fan of this particular work, Kelly said the sign, at 4100 E. Lake Mead Blvd., is representative of a bygone era.

“You don’t see many signs like it anymore,” she said. “I love how it’s this free-form combination of shapes and trends. There’s this biomorphic kind of 1950s shape alongside a star at the top.”
Christopher DeVargas

The Gateway Motel

One of the oldest neon motel signs still in operation along the Strip, the gateway-adorned sign that marks the motel lights up every night, Kelly said, and brings back memories of a time when signs weren’t so big.

“I love the scale of it,” she said. “You can imagine when it wasn’t swallowed up by the other larger signs and buildings around it.”
Davy's Locker

The self-proclaimed “best little dive bar in Las Vegas,” Davy’s Locker stands out from an otherwise nondescript shopping center at Maryland Parkway and Desert Inn Road thanks to its large, fish-shaped neon sign.

“Some of the most interesting signs in Las Vegas were for local businesses,” Kelly said. “It’s a big fish. Although it’s smaller in scale, it speaks to the humor and playfulness that went into a lot of the sign design that we don’t see much anymore.”
Christopher DeVargas

High Hat Regency Motel

Along the older part of the Strip, the High Hat Regency Motel’s sign combines flashing white and blue lights with its namesake top hat.

“It incorporates different kinds of fonts and iconography to convey an idea of the place,” Kelly said. “I love the refined arrow shape to the sign. You’ve got the top hat and the gloves.”
Steve Marcus

Circus Circus

While most signs along the Strip have moved away from the fun, whimsical designs of days past, the giant clown that adorns the sign at Circus Circus preserves some of the Strip’s history, Kelly said.

“I don’t love the big screen on it, but I love the clown. It’s so active and animated and playful,” she said. “It still has a bit of kitsch that speaks to old Vegas.”