The Las Vegas Sign – Las Vegas (Nevada USA)

WELCOME TO FABULOUS LAS VEGAS 29/11/2009 09h42

The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign is a Las Vegas Strip landmark funded in May 1959 and erected soon after by Western Neon. The sign was designed by Betty Willis at the request of Ted Rogich, a local salesman, who sold it to Clark County, Nevada.

Willis embarked on developing a sign that was unique in its shape, style and content. The sign is a 25-foot tall classic roadside pole design, mounted offset on two flat poles which are joined by a cross piece at the top. The poles extend above the top of the sign. The sign is a horizontally stretched diamond shape, with the top and bottom angles pointed while the side angles are rounded. It is double-backed, internally lit, with a border of flashing and chasing yellow incandescent bulbs outside around the perimeter. In a nod to Nevada’s nickname as "the Silver State," across the top of the sign are white neon circles, designed to represent silver dollars. The circles each contain a red painted letter, outlined in neon, which together form the word "Welcome." Crowning the sign, located between the two poles and just under the crosspiece is an eight-pointed, red-painted metal star outlined with yellow neon. The intersecting vertical and horizontal lines of the star extend over and wrap around the frame that is created by the two poles and the cross piece, which give the star a dynamic, explosive appearance. The cabinet is faced with translucent white plastic and covered with blue and red painted text. The south side of the sign reads "Welcome" inside the silver dollars, with "to Fabulous" in blue, in a 1950s-style cursive, underneath. The words "Las Vegas" are on the next line in red, all capitalized, and large, almost filling the width of the sign. Under "Las Vegas" is the word "Nevada" in blue, all capitalized, in a much smaller font. On the back or north side, the sign reads "Drive" on the top line and "Carefully" on the second in red capital letters, with "Come Back" in blue on the third line, in script, and "Soon" all capitalized in blue on the fourth line. The design is characteristic of the Googie architecture movement.

Over the years, the sign has been moved south several times on Las Vegas Boulevard as growth has continued, although there is no documentation to support that statement, either with Clark County or with the sign’s owner.

On October 4, 1999, the sign went dark for about a month when the company that had been paying the power bill was bought by another company who did not pay the bill. When the problem was discovered, payment of the past due amount, under $60, was made, and power was turned back on.

With the sign so far away from the city itself, in 2002, the Las Vegas City Council erected a Welcome to Fabulous Downtown Las Vegas sign on Las Vegas Boulevard just within the city limits of the City of Las Vegas proper.
[Source: Wikipedia]

Posted by Meteorry on 2010-01-05 12:22:25

Tagged: , America , USA , United States , United States of America , Nevada , NV , Welcome , Sign , Landmark , Las Vegas , Western Neon , Ted Rogich , Las Vegas Boulevard , The Strip , Neon , Meteorry