Chris' & Pitt's Bar-B-Q

Object/Artifact

-

Museum of Neon Art

Name/Title

Chris' & Pitt's Bar-B-Q

Entry/Object ID

2004.13.1

Description

From restaurant #8 at Victory & Fulton. Text: "CHRIS' & PITT'S" / "BAR-B-Q"

Category

Signs

Made/Created

Date made

circa 1950 - 1959

Dimensions

Dimension Description

C&P: 30" x 16' x 9" BBQ: 40" x 20' x 20"

Dimension Notes

BBQ on stand with wheels. Transformers: BAR is 6k/5k/7.5k B-Q is 2/7.5k

Materials

Material Notes

BBQ: Bulbs and neon.

Exhibition

#SIGNGEEKS

Interpretative Labels

Label

Chris’ & Pitt's Bar-B-Q 1950s Gift of Village Fulton Partners With thanks to the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Modern Committee and Adriene Biondo Restored with support from the National Endowment for the Arts This neon fascia sign and its neon and flicker-bulb “BAR-B-Q” partner were saved from restaurant #8, formerly located in the San Fernando Valley at Victory Boulevard and Fulton Avenue. After World War II, American roadways were becoming visually cluttered with competing businesses all vying for the eye of the motorist. Its pink, neon tubes were paired with scintillating light bulbs not just for contrast, but as part of the sign community’s efforts to outdo one another with technical bravado or visual appeal. The overabundance of large-scale signage across the nation would eventually come to an end with the adoption of sign ordinances designed against bold (yet beautiful) or garish (yet stunning) neon sign displays. Chris’ & Pitt’s pole sign from this San Fernando Valley location was also saved and resides at the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.