Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
A city written in light.
An introduction to Las Vegas through its signs, from the Strip to Las Vegas Boulevard North, where the Neon Museum stands.
On this page
Read the city through its signs
Signs have long been part of how Las Vegas presents itself. Many of the city’s signs were made by the Young Electric Sign Company, and when buildings changed or closed, some of their signs found a home at the museum.
A city guide can give context without turning a neighbourhood into a backdrop. Notice how lettering, colour and scale were used to catch the eye from the road.
Glass, bulbs and painted steel
Look closely at the signs in the Boneyard: neon tubes bent into script, rows of bulbs, painted metal and fibreglass shapes, many weathered by years outdoors.
Begin with a detail and ask how it was made, repaired and maintained. A photograph alone cannot tell you who bent the glass or painted the steel, or the conditions in which they worked.
A Neon Museum chapter
The Boneyard keeps signs from businesses that have changed or closed, from the Stardust to the Moulin Rouge, so the city’s past can be seen side by side.
Look at the meeting of the two: a working collection that is cared for and restored, and an open-air museum that visitors walk through.
Make room for context
Pair this city reading with the museum’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places, commissions their restoration or represents their makers.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
