Label
STEELE’S MOTOR LODGE
1950s
Donated by Pinecrest Schools, 1988
Originally located at 13949 Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, the Steele’s Motor Lodge signage is one of the most popular signs in the Museum of Neon Art’s collection. It was fabricated in the 1950s for a 1934 motel built by cowboy movie star Bob Steele. No expense was spared in the sign’s construction, which shows a rare four-part animation of a female diver executing a pike and somersault under the shade of a neon palm tree. The base of this 20-foot sign is an arrow of flickering incandescent bulbs supporting a grand total of 16 neon-lit words, front and back.
The verbose, animated spectacle of Steele’s motel neon can be found at Universal CityWalk along with many other historic signs on loan from the collection of the Museum of Neon Art.