Label
The MONA Diver
Original sign, 1950
Virginia Court Motel, Meridian, Mississippi
Recreated sign, 2014 by Federal-Heath Sign Company
Timeline:
1948 – Virginia Court Motel built in Meridian, Mississippi, along the Dixie Overland Highway (Route 80). Owner Ike J. Davis names the motel after his daughter Virginia.
1950 – Swimming pool installed at the Virginia Court Motel. Neon sign with illuminated diver built and installed by local sign builder John D. Ziller, Sr.
2000 Virginia Court Motel demolished to make way for Walmart. Diver is purchased by Mike Gambone and transported to Lynchburg, Virginia.
2008 – Diver shipped and loaned to the Museum of Neon Art.
2014 – Replica of the diver created by Federal-Heath Sign Company and installed atop the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, California.
2017 – A mini-diver is created by Nights of Neon, Universal Neon, and Richard Ankrom.
Origins of the Diving Lady:
Most often she wears a one piece bathing suit and a matching cap. Her preferred position is a forward dive, straight, but periodically she opts for a swan dive or a pike. In the 1950s and 1960s, countless diving ladies appeared on U.S. motel signs to advertise the presence of swimming pools.
It is generally agreed the first neon motel divers were based on the Jantzen “Red Diving Girl” corporate logo, below. The iconic image features a diving lady in a red bathing suit with matching cap. Created by artists Florenz and Frank Clark, the “Red Diving Girl” was first introduced in Jantzen advertisements in the 1920s.
In a brilliant marketing maneuver, the Jantzen company produced 10,000 water-transfer decals in 1922 featuring their diving girl logo. Originally intended for store window displays, the decals soon appeared on car windshields across the United States and the Jantzen diver was on her way to becoming “The Most Widely Traveled Lady in America.” Within five years, an estimated five million Jantzen diving ladies could be found on American cars. Her universal appeal was inarguable and it is not surprising that her likable likeness was lifted to promote motel swimming pools by the 1950s.