August 29, 2024 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, executive director of the Neon Museum, Aaron Berger, shares some of the history of Las Vegas and the iconic signage associated with it.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
And we continue with our American stories, and we've told
stories from many of the museums across this great country.
Today we have Aaron Berger, executive director of the Neon
Museum in Las Vegas, the capital of Neon, to share
the history of Las Vegas and the iconic signage associated
with it.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
A unique aspect of signage is that in many cases,
the building itself doesn't own the sign, even if it's
attached to the building, it's actually leased by the sign maker,
and so the sign maker actually owns that piece of property,
and so you can raise a building, but the sign
often goes back to the original sign maker, and they
(01:03):
have what's called a boneyard, which is a place for
them to pull parts, pull neon tubing, pull.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Lights, pull mechanics.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And so these concerned citizens in ninety six started meeting
with various sign makers and saying, you know, we'd like
to make sure that these parts of history don't necessarily
get used to create new signage, but we actually save
the original pieces themselves. It's fascinating to me to be
able to tell the story of history using such an
(01:31):
unusual medium, right, So we're using outdoor signage to tell
you the story of Las Vegas history. It took until
twenty twelve for us to actually open our facility. In
our current space, which is on Las Vegas Boulevard. We're
a little under three acres of property.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
We have four physical components to the Neon Museum.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
The first that it's hard to say it's my favorite,
but I'd say it's probably my favorite, is actually the
physical building, the lobby that you enter.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
It's called La Conca, which means the shell.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
It was designed by an architect named Paul Revere Williams.
Paul Revere Williams was the first black architect to be accepted.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Into the AIA. He designed this piece of architecture.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
It looks like a seashell, but it was designed to
try and attract people off the roadway, to be this
sort of unusual enough looking building that someone would actually
pull off the road and say, I want to see this.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
So that's our lobby. We get a chance to tell
a little bit about Paul Revere Williams his contributions.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
This is mid century, a time where some people would
maybe not feel comfortable sitting next to a black man,
even though he's your architect, and even though he's an
architect who's building the homes of Lucille Ball and Frank Sinatra.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So he really learned how.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
To draw out designs upside down so that people could
sit on the other side of the desk from him
and still understand his designs. So I think that's a
unique part of history and an important part of kind
of setting the stage of when you come to the
Neon Museum.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
That's the first step. Second step is the Neon Boneyard.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
So the Boneyard again refers to the concept of what
sign makers have, which is again a space that they
go into to poll parts and use for the recreation
of new signage. We have curated our Bonyard so that
it is a very thoughtful and logical tour through everything
(03:27):
from small businesses to casinos, the strip, motels and really
gives you sort of a walk through Las Vegas history.
One of the things that was really striking to me
as a visitor is as you tour the boneyard, you're
given an insight into the black experience by being shown
(03:48):
the Moulon Rouge sign. The Mulan Rouge was a casino that,
while it lived for a short period of time, was
the first integrated hotel in Las Vegas. So if you
had someone like Aretha Franklin or Sammy Davis Junior who
would perform on the strip, they would do these great shows.
They would of course pack the house, but they weren't
allowed to stay in those hotels. So the Mulan Rouge
(04:09):
became a place for both black and white visitors to stay.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
It was often a two point thirty in the morning show.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
So after Aretha Franklin had done two shows again on
the Strip, she would do a third show at the
Mulan Rouge for the people staying there.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
So we have that amazing sign.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
We have the story of women, We have the story
of the Indigenous people from.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Las Vegas and the Las Vegas area.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
We have the story of LATINX community, the LGBT community.
All of these stories are conveyed as you walk through
and learn a little bit about the signe that you're seeing.
The third is the Brilliant Show. A few years ago
we contracted with an artist whose name is Craig Winslow.
(04:52):
We have a gallery that is there's no electricity going
to the signage at all. These signs are largely to
a point where they are beyond conservation there's nothing we
can really do to bring them back to life. So
Craig has developed, through a process called projection mapping, two
large towers that pinpoint light onto these, for lack of
(05:14):
a better word, dead signs, and he brings them back
to life. And when I say pinpoint, it really is
looking at each individual light bulb and seeing that light
bulb begin to flicker and come back to life. He
does it to sort of an iconic Las Vegas soundtrack,
so you'll hear everything from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga
to of course Elvis and bringing it back all of
these incredible signs in a great twenty five minute experience.
(05:39):
And then the fourth aspect is what's outside the museum walls.
So we have awhere a dozen pieces of our collection
that adorn different parts of downtown Las Vegas.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So through South Las Vegas Boulevard.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
You'll see signage that's out there, the Silver Slipper, you'll
see motel signs, you'll see wonderful pieces that are just
really fanastic, and they're all part of our collection. But
it's in partnership with the city that you can take
advantage and kind of revel in those pieces as well,
so neon signs, really, I think their heyday was in
(06:13):
the fifties. We have examples dating back to as early
as the thirties in our collection.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
But you know, the.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Basis of neon is to use electricity to draw someone's attention.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
I think the.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Reason Las Vegas is such an epicenter for neon is
that all of our whether it's the gaming industry, the casinos,
the attractions that we have, the restaurants, we're all vuying.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
For someone's attention.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And so these combination of neon lights added to flashing
light bulbs, added to you know, these these glimmering kind
of stars and shines, these this is what sort of
attracts the person to come in off the street and
check out this location versus the location next door. So
the signage is critical in a town like Las Vegas.
(06:59):
I mean, it's what's going to bring someone in. You know,
in the thirties we were dealing with prohibition at that point.
The oldest sign we have in our collection is one
from the Green Shack, and it is a restaurant. We
know that it's from the thirties, but we know it's
also from after prohibition because they're promoting cocktails.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
You know, Las Vegas sort.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Of bloomed from people coming from the West coast to
Las Vegas or from Los Angeles coming through town, and
so the city sort of developed as a result of
that of trying to get people off the road and
have a chance to come and spend the night, to
take advantage of.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
All the things that are offered.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
But it was also a place as the Hoover Dam
was being built. It was also a place where people
would come to see the Hoover Dam, to see this
architectural marvel. There were of course need for the workers
who were working at the dam to have places to
go and enjoy after an incredibly long day work.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
So the Green Shack is a great example of that.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
We have over eight hundred and fifty signs in our
permanent collection on display. We have about two hundred and
fifty signs that are out in the actual boneyard or
in the north gallery, and then at night we illuminate
about two dozen signs. The reason that we illuminate just
that twenty four or so is because a if we
were to illuminate everything, you would get a really great sunburn.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
B you would sort of get.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Lost and you wouldn't be able to really appreciate any
one sign in particular.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
So newest acquisition that's just come in.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
We've just accepted the Planet Hollywood sign. So this is
an incredibly iconic globe that is twenty five feet across,
weighs somewhere in the range of about thirteen thousand pounds,
and it opened in ninety.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Four outside Caesar's Palace on the Strip.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
And when the opening took place, there were ten thousand
people in stadium seats outside to watch the stars arrive.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
For the opening of this restaurant. So including and it
wasn't just stars, I mean George and Barbara Bush came
to the opening of this of the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
The signs are again they're a catalyst, right, They're what
starts the conversation. What excites me is when people tell
me about staying at the Mulin Rouge or their experience,
you know, if they were one of the ten thousand
standing outside waiting to see the next celebrity at Planet Hollywood.
So those types of things, those stories we love to
collect as well. So we do programs certainly that are
(09:20):
educational by nature. We want people to come in and
learn a lot more and take a deeper dive into
some of our stories. But we do weddings, we do
album covers, photoshoots for everything from TV shows to the
cover of magazines. So it is there is no place
truly on Earth like the Neon Museum. It's a great
(09:40):
way to just, I don't know, immerse yourself in Las
Vegas's heyday.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
The story of the Neon Museum. Here on our American stories.
And we continue with our American stories, and we've told
stories from many of the museums across this great country.
Today we have Aaron Berger, executive director of the Neon
Museum in Las Vegas, the capital of Neon, to share
the history of Las Vegas and the iconic signage associated
with it.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
A unique aspect of signage is that in many cases,
the building itself doesn't own the sign, even if it's
attached to the building, it's actually leased by the sign maker,
and so the sign maker actually owns that piece of property,
and so you can raise a building, but the sign
often goes back to the original sign maker, and they
(01:03):
have what's called a boneyard, which is a place for
them to pull parts, pull neon tubing, pull.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Lights, pull mechanics.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And so these concerned citizens in ninety six started meeting
with various sign makers and saying, you know, we'd like
to make sure that these parts of history don't necessarily
get used to create new signage, but we actually save
the original pieces themselves. It's fascinating to me to be
able to tell the story of history using such an
(01:31):
unusual medium, right, So we're using outdoor signage to tell
you the story of Las Vegas history. It took until
twenty twelve for us to actually open our facility. In
our current space, which is on Las Vegas Boulevard. We're
a little under three acres of property.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
We have four physical components to the Neon Museum.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
The first that it's hard to say it's my favorite,
but I'd say it's probably my favorite, is actually the
physical building, the lobby that you enter.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
It's called La Conca, which means the shell.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
It was designed by an architect named Paul Revere Williams.
Paul Revere Williams was the first black architect to be accepted.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Into the AIA. He designed this piece of architecture.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
It looks like a seashell, but it was designed to
try and attract people off the roadway, to be this
sort of unusual enough looking building that someone would actually
pull off the road and say, I want to see this.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
So that's our lobby. We get a chance to tell
a little bit about Paul Revere Williams his contributions.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
This is mid century, a time where some people would
maybe not feel comfortable sitting next to a black man,
even though he's your architect, and even though he's an
architect who's building the homes of Lucille Ball and Frank Sinatra.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So he really learned how.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
To draw out designs upside down so that people could
sit on the other side of the desk from him
and still understand his designs. So I think that's a
unique part of history and an important part of kind
of setting the stage of when you come to the
Neon Museum.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
That's the first step. Second step is the Neon Boneyard.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
So the Boneyard again refers to the concept of what
sign makers have, which is again a space that they
go into to poll parts and use for the recreation
of new signage. We have curated our Bonyard so that
it is a very thoughtful and logical tour through everything
(03:27):
from small businesses to casinos, the strip, motels and really
gives you sort of a walk through Las Vegas history.
One of the things that was really striking to me
as a visitor is as you tour the boneyard, you're
given an insight into the black experience by being shown
(03:48):
the Moulon Rouge sign. The Mulan Rouge was a casino that,
while it lived for a short period of time, was
the first integrated hotel in Las Vegas. So if you
had someone like Aretha Franklin or Sammy Davis Junior who
would perform on the strip, they would do these great shows.
They would of course pack the house, but they weren't
allowed to stay in those hotels. So the Mulan Rouge
(04:09):
became a place for both black and white visitors to stay.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
It was often a two point thirty in the morning show.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
So after Aretha Franklin had done two shows again on
the Strip, she would do a third show at the
Mulan Rouge for the people staying there.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
So we have that amazing sign.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
We have the story of women, We have the story
of the Indigenous people from.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Las Vegas and the Las Vegas area.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
We have the story of LATINX community, the LGBT community.
All of these stories are conveyed as you walk through
and learn a little bit about the signe that you're seeing.
The third is the Brilliant Show. A few years ago
we contracted with an artist whose name is Craig Winslow.
(04:52):
We have a gallery that is there's no electricity going
to the signage at all. These signs are largely to
a point where they are beyond conservation there's nothing we
can really do to bring them back to life. So
Craig has developed, through a process called projection mapping, two
large towers that pinpoint light onto these, for lack of
(05:14):
a better word, dead signs, and he brings them back
to life. And when I say pinpoint, it really is
looking at each individual light bulb and seeing that light
bulb begin to flicker and come back to life. He
does it to sort of an iconic Las Vegas soundtrack,
so you'll hear everything from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga
to of course Elvis and bringing it back all of
these incredible signs in a great twenty five minute experience.
(05:39):
And then the fourth aspect is what's outside the museum walls.
So we have awhere a dozen pieces of our collection
that adorn different parts of downtown Las Vegas.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So through South Las Vegas Boulevard.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
You'll see signage that's out there, the Silver Slipper, you'll
see motel signs, you'll see wonderful pieces that are just
really fanastic, and they're all part of our collection. But
it's in partnership with the city that you can take
advantage and kind of revel in those pieces as well,
so neon signs, really, I think their heyday was in
(06:13):
the fifties. We have examples dating back to as early
as the thirties in our collection.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
But you know, the.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Basis of neon is to use electricity to draw someone's attention.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
I think the.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Reason Las Vegas is such an epicenter for neon is
that all of our whether it's the gaming industry, the casinos,
the attractions that we have, the restaurants, we're all vuying.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
For someone's attention.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And so these combination of neon lights added to flashing
light bulbs, added to you know, these these glimmering kind
of stars and shines, these this is what sort of
attracts the person to come in off the street and
check out this location versus the location next door. So
the signage is critical in a town like Las Vegas.
(06:59):
I mean, it's what's going to bring someone in. You know,
in the thirties we were dealing with prohibition at that point.
The oldest sign we have in our collection is one
from the Green Shack, and it is a restaurant. We
know that it's from the thirties, but we know it's
also from after prohibition because they're promoting cocktails.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
You know, Las Vegas sort.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Of bloomed from people coming from the West coast to
Las Vegas or from Los Angeles coming through town, and
so the city sort of developed as a result of
that of trying to get people off the road and
have a chance to come and spend the night, to
take advantage of.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
All the things that are offered.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
But it was also a place as the Hoover Dam
was being built. It was also a place where people
would come to see the Hoover Dam, to see this
architectural marvel. There were of course need for the workers
who were working at the dam to have places to
go and enjoy after an incredibly long day work.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
So the Green Shack is a great example of that.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
We have over eight hundred and fifty signs in our
permanent collection on display. We have about two hundred and
fifty signs that are out in the actual boneyard or
in the north gallery, and then at night we illuminate
about two dozen signs. The reason that we illuminate just
that twenty four or so is because a if we
were to illuminate everything, you would get a really great sunburn.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
B you would sort of get.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Lost and you wouldn't be able to really appreciate any
one sign in particular.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
So newest acquisition that's just come in.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
We've just accepted the Planet Hollywood sign. So this is
an incredibly iconic globe that is twenty five feet across,
weighs somewhere in the range of about thirteen thousand pounds,
and it opened in ninety.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Four outside Caesar's Palace on the Strip.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
And when the opening took place, there were ten thousand
people in stadium seats outside to watch the stars arrive.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
For the opening of this restaurant. So including and it
wasn't just stars, I mean George and Barbara Bush came
to the opening of this of the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
The signs are again they're a catalyst, right, They're what
starts the conversation. What excites me is when people tell
me about staying at the Mulin Rouge or their experience,
you know, if they were one of the ten thousand
standing outside waiting to see the next celebrity at Planet Hollywood.
So those types of things, those stories we love to
collect as well. So we do programs certainly that are
(09:20):
educational by nature. We want people to come in and
learn a lot more and take a deeper dive into
some of our stories. But we do weddings, we do
album covers, photoshoots for everything from TV shows to the
cover of magazines. So it is there is no place
truly on Earth like the Neon Museum. It's a great
(09:40):
way to just, I don't know, immerse yourself in Las
Vegas's heyday.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
The story of the Neon Museum. Here on our American stories.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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