Label
Midway Bricklayer
1952
Gift of Albertson’s, 2002
Restored with a gift from Dr. Karen Glasgow and Dr. Sharron Murphy
Originally part of a larger sign for Midway Building Materials, this animated bricklayer was donated to the Museum of Neon Art after 45 years of service as a neighborhood landmark. The design is rudimentary but makes the double-sided bricklayer sign all the more adorable.
“Midway founder Ric Pearson commissioned the sign in 1952 as an eye-grabber for his fledgling business, so named because it was midway between Ontario and Pomona– this being several years before Montclair’s founding. Perhaps it was too eye-grabbing: A drunken driver plowed into the sign in the early 1980s, wrecking it. The sign couldn’t be removed for repair because it didn’t conform to modern regulations on size and style. If it was gone for 24 hours, it was gone for good, Pearson’s son, Doug, said. In an ingenious solution, Ontario Neon was hired to build a replica off-site. The wrecked sign was hauled down and the new one put in place in a half-day, well within the 24 hour window.”
(From Inland Valley Daily Bulletin article by David Allen: http://www.insidesocal.com/davidallen/2012/04/26/remembering-midway-building-materials/ )