Three Southern California classic mid century neon landmarks are now gone.
The Farm House and Buttery Restaurant sign in Buena Park. Built in 1958 it was sixty feet tall and lit with two thousand feet of elaborate animated neon. As a child this was a landmark I looked for on trips to L.A. It was a time marker I used rather than ask my Dad “are we there yet?” Even through adulthood I would look for it. I admired its beauty. Then one day it was gone. Demolished 1995-96. That area now is just another indistinguishable stretch of freeway.
Above Image from Wes Clark’s “Avocado Memories.”
Another landmark I used as a time marker The Walnut Grove Restaurant in San Juan Capistrano. For me it was “almost half way there.” It was a classic mid century diner with a great neon sign. Demolished sometime after this picture was taken in 2002.
Now the latest tragic loss. The Kensignton Sign. My Dad had customers sprinkled through the older neighborhoods of San Diego when he had his tropical fish and brine shrimp business. I rode along when he made deliveries through his route. I can say I had impressions of this lit sign in my mind before I even knew how to walk or talk.
The Kensington sign is a classic icon of a bye-gone era. It speaks of the days of T-Birds and Corvettes. Elvis and James Dean. Ike and Sputnik. It is a product of an era and design philosophy “form follows function.” Elegance through simplicity. Color and luminance pointing to hope and optimism.
The community of Kensington is rich with design elements and architecture from many different periods. But the neon sign is their best mid century cultural art. It is original, historic and should be preserved.
But there is a problem. The sign was destructively taken apart and rendered unusable. One has to wonder how in the world this was allowed to happen? We were told “The Kensington Talmadge Community Association attended a DAS to receive direction regarding the appropriate handling of the neon sign. The sign is in the process of being rehabilitated and should be reinstalled in the near future.”
What part of the story are we missing here? Why weren’t the standards set by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior for the treatment of historic property followed?
Turning this landmark into salvage waste and offering an amusement park sign in its place is horrible. The proposed replacement features rock columns which are imitations of older ones in the neighborhood. But where do you ever see street lights stacked on top of those columns? Street lights towering there is completely out of any normal context or expectation. And it detracts from the sign itself. That’s not form following any function. It is cake decorating!
Then the graceful old floating sign hung by cables is to be replaced by a bulky truss bridge. Elegant simplicity giving way to overkill. If this proposal becomes reality it will be a cruel injustice to a magnificent historic landmark.
My voice is not of one from within Kensington. I live in Normal Heights. But I’ve heard the same sentiment here for doing exactly what is happening in Kensington. To haul our sign off to the dump and construct another ostentatious Vegas-style replacement. Believe me, many folks here are watching to see what happens over there. Then San Diego will have no original neighborhood neon signs. And that is inexcusable.
My love and appreciation for these landmarks is demonstrated in a film I made “Save The Kensington Sign.”