Label
Winning Wire
1920s
Donated by Aaron Russo, 1983
Little is known about the provenance of this sign. Prior to washing the hand-painted sign, its only text read “First with the Form” and “Win with Winning Wire.” However, after wetting the painted surface an old set of letters emerged beneath the new: “Racing Information.” The sign’s corrugated metal surface dates it to the 1920s and much of its paint seems to be original. Although no photos existed at the time to assist the Museum of Neon Art in the sign’s refurbishment, it was determined by the placement of the electrode housings that the horse was animated to run and the jockey’s right arm to whip. With a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the museum relit the sign with dim Krypton gas so the illumination will not overpower the subtleness of the “primitive” painting style. A similar sign was later discovered in an old photo of downtown Los Angeles, above Sam Smith’s News Stand at the corner of Fifth and Main Streets.