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Len Davidson

Vintage Neon Hardcover – January 1, 2007

by Len Davidson (Author)

4.5 21 ratings

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During the middle of the 20th century, neon signs turned North America's roadside into a luminous wonderland. The most compelling signs were figural: imaginative, cartoon drawings in light. These unforgettable depictions of exploding bowling pins, crashing cars, baton twirling majorettes, and lassoing cowboys were the fodder for legend and lore. Neon designer Len Davidson has captured the magic with over 350 photos of superb vintage signs. He has drawn on renowned photographers, museums, and private collections, as well as his own Neon Museum of Philadelphia pieces to compile the definitive photo archive. Davidson has also expressed the legend in words. The pages echo with the voices of sign makers and shopkeepers, photographers and preservationists. Architects and sign artisans will find this collection invaluable. It is also an essential volume for anyone who has been captured by the spell of the highway and neon's siren song.

Print length

190 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Schiffer Pub Ltd
Publication date

January 1, 2007
Dimensions

9 x 0.75 x 12 inches
ISBN-10

0764308572
ISBN-13

978-0764308574
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Debra Jane Seltzer
28
Paperback
15 offers from $13.85
John Barnes
39
Hardcover
19 offers from $4.97

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Len Davidson began collecting and restoring vintage neon signs in the mid-1970s, which led him to establish Davidson Neon Design, a custom sign business. In 1985, he founded the Neon Museum of Philadelphia to showcase his vast collection. Currently, Davidson lives with his wife, Judy, and son, Cory, in a house full of historic signs.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Schiffer Pub Ltd; Illustrated edition (January 1, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 190 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0764308572
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0764308574
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 0.75 x 12 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,762,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #749 in Optics for Physics
- #6,810 in Electrical & Electronics (Books)

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4.5 21 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

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Buffy

Wonderful Book!

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2011

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This book succeeds on both the visuals and written text. The main appeal for most is going to be the pictures and this is filled with photo after photo of beautiful vintage neon signs. Every type of subject matter from across the country is here and they are nicely reproduced on glossy pages. Added to that are the great captions that go with each photo. You learn a little bit about the sign and the business that used the sign. This is an art from an era long gone and we're lucky to have this reference. My only complaint is that the binding is not the best for a hardcover book, but still four stars for the incredible content.

3 people found this helpful

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Sphinx2033

Wonderful reference book

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2010

Verified Purchase

Surprisingly, the only book on the subject that I have been able to locate that details historic neon signs. The author does a wonderful job documenting these disappearing treasures. All other books Amazon offers regarding neon tends to focus on contemporary examples. I hope another volume is in the works showcasing additional neon signs that were not covered in the original book.

3 people found this helpful

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CE

Great collection of pictures of NEON signs .... beautiful book!

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2013

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I purchased this book for my son, who is starting out a new hobby, photographing vintage signs, (neon, especially)

and old motels, route 66, etc. He fell in love with this book, immediately, and it now sits on their coffee table, where it is readily

available to him, for reference, and on display for guests to see. One of the best (and most appreciated) gifts I've given to him.

One person found this helpful

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david's pic

Vintage Neon - A fine retropective in glowing glass

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2011

Verified Purchase

Terrific book. A quality piece that makes a fine coffee table book. There a several pieces in it that I know first hand. This purchase was a follow up to a vacation in Las Vegas and a trip to the Neon Sign Musieum.

Looking forward to sending copies as holiday gifts as it really is a fine book

One person found this helpful

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Dave Reynolds

Neon history

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

Great historical neon signage. If you ever made neon this is a must.

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

The photo quality isn't great and it's a lot of photos that you have seen before. I don't think it was worth the price.

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lkanter@erols.com

A dream-come-true book for lovers of nostalgic neon

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 1999

Len Davidson has done neon and nostalgia lovers a great big favor by compiling Vintage Neon, an eye-popping collection of over 360 classic neon signs. The photos are introduced by Davidson's captions, which in themselves are capsule stories of the signs, their history, discovery, recovery and (usually) preservation. Along the way Davidson recognizes the talents of the mom-and-pop signshop artisans who created this distinctively American folk art form.
Reading the book captures something of the excitement of neon treasure-hunters (like myself and many of you reading this!) who never go to a new town without scouting the "blue highways" and old Main Streets for the few remaining intact signs from the 30's though the 50's, particularly those figurative, sculptural pieces with pigs, cocktail glasses, flying horses, wigwams, bowling pins, majorettes, rocket ships, earth movers, cockroaches, dragons, etc. Davidson and his many contributors have felt that treasure-hunters "high" that comes with any new discovery, and you will have it, too, as you turn the pages. This makes Vintage Neon so much more than another pretty coffee-table book of color photos.
Davidson is well suited to this job. He is the founder, president and chief preservationist of the Philadelphia Museum of Neon, which finds vintage neon of note, restores and preserves it and then, instead of locking it up in some fussy museum, installs it in public spaces in and around Philly for all to see. He has amassed a great collection which his book now brings to a wider public.
The book is made all the more interesting in the telling of Davidson's own journey from MIT Sociology Ph.D., to organizational management consultant, to Roadside America treasure-hunter and neon museum director. This is the sub-text running through the book. It may sound trite to say, but here it is: Davidson's pursuit of the great roadside treasures led him to find his true life's work, and indeed, his fully-realized self.
His background in sociology serves him well here in his appreciation of the culture and aspirations of the signmakers of the era, a number of whom he has interviewed for the book. He explains the business and economic pressures that led the signmakers of the day to create these expressive, colorful, and fanciful public sculptures. It makes you stop and think about what has gone wrong with today's homogenized, corporate chainstore business climate that makes signs so boring, so predictable.
The book is organized around the photos arranged in categories, like "Legendary Logos," "Good Eats", "Moving Pictures," "It Came from Beneath the Sea", etc., 13 chapters in all. Each has a brief introduction, with the bulk of the text in the photo captions, some penned by Davidson but most of them quoting the contributor who found, photographed, or preserved the sign. The book becomes a collaboration with many voices, like the minutes of a great big nostalgic neon-lovers' annual convention.
The photos range from the good to the really great. They ae all color shots, many full-pagers. There are only a few images you have seen before in the other neon books, as those tend to concentrate more on very contemporary stuff, or on the Times Square and Las Vegas spectaculars. Some photos are of signs that are now gone or in private collections that you are unlikely to ever see. Quite a few involve highly detailed porcelain enamel finishes, sculptural steel boxes, and sequential neon animation.
I had to find fault with Vintage Neon, it would be the one chapter featuring the mass-produced neon clocks of the era. While interesting to look at, these have been seen before in the Rudy Stern book, and besides, because they are mass-produced, they lack the common thread of folk art with the balance of the material. A small complaint in comparison with all that is truly great about this book.
All you neon lovers and students of the disappearing American roadside out there are just going to love this book.

12 people found this helpful

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Tim Mc Hugh

I Saved Page 92`s Christie`s sign

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2009

For those of you who have never talked, pleaded or cajoled your way into a 25ft. neon frying pan sign , let me say it feels great!! It was given to me by a senior Whataburger VP. I had read about it coming down in the paper (Fate of Christie`s sign in hands of strangers) so I left a near hysterical message at 5:17am on his voice message. As it came down the pole And I stood there crying on the sidewalk next to the eighteen wheeler it was being loaded on, Lil Liz, the waitress across the street ran over with an ice tea laughing and announcing there was a free bean burger waiting from customers who wanted to hear how I had been so lucky.
The other great thrill was finding a picture of it in this book quite by accident. My girl was shopping at a shoe store next to a bookstore.I walked over. I saw and picked up what was OBVIOUSLY THE DEFINITIVE REFERENCE BOOK on neon and said, "Wouldn`t it be sooo cool..." My heart raced one last time as I perused Chapter 6, "It Came From Beneath The Sea". If a fish flapping in a pan 3 stories up is gonna be there this is the chapter. And it was!!! I ran weeping to borrow money from my spouse and told her it was in a book and what a book!!! That`s my story. The author of this book tell a dozen other stories like this.It captures the thrill and anxiety of the chase perfectly. It educates, it entices and it informs. Buy it and think of me. Page 92 top. A Friend in San Antonio P. S. I`ll bet this is the only place you can find it!!

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Nerr

Very Pleased

Reviewed in Canada on January 6, 2012

Verified Purchase

This book was given as a gift and my brother was delighted with it. I thought that it would only be highlighting neon signs from the USA, but they covered ones in Vancouver, B.C. as well.

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Vintage Neon Hardcover – January 1, 2007

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