Sign Of The Times

Erik Sine · November 14, 2005

Sign of the times

Neon nights returning to Medford as stores choose to retrofit their look with a retro style

By MEG LANDERS

Mail Tribune

Jackson Creek Pizza’s neon sign lights up Medford’s Main Street. It’s one of several neon signs now adorning the historic area, with more planned.

Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell

After 40 years of minimal use, a brilliant attention-getter is making a comeback in downtown Medford.

Neon signs are lighting up in the historic district as part of the Medford Urban Renewal Agency’s façade improvement program.

The new Jackson Creek Pizza restaurant at 317 E. Main St. just hoisted its new sign into place Wednesday, and an Acme Building sign is being crafted to hang on the corner of Sixth Street and Evergreen Way.

"We’re replicating the original sign that was on that building," said Acme Hardware building owner Laz Ayala. Signs Etc. Inc. is making the Acme Building sign based on a 1947 photograph at a cost of about $8,000 or $9,000, he said.

The Trinity Carpet and Flooring neon sign went up at 38 N. Central Ave. earlier this year, and the Gervais Day Spa & Salon sign at 111 N. Central Ave. went up last year.

All four signs were funded in part through the MURA façade improvement program. The program provides matching grants of up to $37,500 to property owners.

In addition to signs, eligible work includes storefronts, windows, doors, cornices, gutters, downspouts, graphics, exterior lighting, canopies, awnings, painting, masonry restoration and minor landscaping. Dozens of downtown property owners have been taking advantage of the program.

George Kramer, historic preservationist and consultant on Medford’s façade improvement program, said like many vibrant downtowns, Medford sported a lot of neon in the ’40s and ’50s.

"It was modern, it was cool, it was bright and it’s what downtowns looked like," he said.

It’s a clever union of art and advertising, he said.

"The point of the sign is to be noticed," said Kramer, who wrote his master’s thesis on preserving commercial signage at the University of Oregon School of Architecture.

He said in the ’60s, neon fell out of favor and the craft was nearly lost in one generation. But it has cycled back into popularity again.

Kent Nottingham of Signs Etc. designed and is painting the Acme Building sign. He said the bright glow adds excitement to downtown.

"It’s such a great way to highlight anything," he said. He said the original Acme Hardware sign was about 16 feet tall, but the one he’s working on will be about 8½ feet tall.

Kramer said he’s glad Medford’s seeing a resurgence of a sign form that peaked more than half a century ago.

He said other neon signs are in the planning stages for downtown, but he didn’t want to give away the surprise.

"I applaud the city for encouraging neon," said Kramer.

Coated glass tubes, gas and electricity

Since Georges Claude in France discovered that passing electric current through inert gases made them light, and introduced neon at the 1920 Paris Expo, neon has been lighting many boulevards worldwide.

Neon signs were introduced in the U.S. in 1923, hit their heyday in the 1940s and ’50s, and declined in popularity in the ’60s because of expense. It’s making a comeback in the 21st century, however.

Making neon signs is a unique craft, explains Tom Dale, general manager of Signs Etc. Inc. of Medford.

A hollow glass tube, which may be coated on the inside for different colors, is heated and bent to form the lettering or shape for the sign.

Once formed, the tube is connected to a vacuum pump to remove air and particles, then is bombarded with heat — up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit — for purification. The tube is then filled with neon gas (red) or argon gas (blue), and sealed off.

The glass tubes are illuminated by a transformer or a power supply, and there can be 15,000 volts running through the tube.

The words "Jackson Creek" of the Jackson Creek Pizza sign have 25 feet of neon per side. Transformers inside the sign step up the juice so the neon glows. The Jackson Creek Pizza sign has eight transformers.

The neon is often mounted inside sheet metal "pans," like bundt pans, which also have to be fabricated, painted and mounted on the sign.

Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail mlanders@mailtribune.com.