Remaking an Original

My signshop operated across the street from Harvey’s Broiler, one of America’s most well-recognized, 1950s-era diners. Of course, I knew the rich history of Harvey’s, including its change to Johnie’s Broiler in 1966 when its second owner, Christos “Johnie” Smyrniotis, a close personal friend, bought it. I sometimes visited him when the restaurant was open and occasionally made repairs to the signs. I never imagined I would be selected to restore signage for this bona-fide landmark known by millions of people.

As an electric-sign contractor, I’m a designer first. I began my career in Las Vegas, where I designed spectacular casino signs and learned the trade at large, electric-sign companies. Ultimately, I moved to Los Angeles and launched my own company, Simington Electrical Advertising.

I opened my shop in Downey, CA, and have called it home for 28 years. I’m proud to have grown a successful sign company. However, I found it ironic and unfortunate to simultaneously witness an aging marquee deteriorating before me. I watched this sign morph countless times until the restaurant closed down permanently in 2001.

From time to time, I serviced the sign and would make it operational long enough for a film-production crew to shoot it for movies. It was like reviving an old friend just long enough to see what he used to be; when the camera crews departed, the sign faded to black as well. The sign, a testament to 1950s-era Googie architecture, returned to its dilapidated state – waiting for another chance at glory.

Back to life
The following year, talk buzzed throughout Downey that the restaurant would be resurrected; however, this wasn’t the case. New tenants turned the property into a used-car lot. They made significant alterations – without permits – to the structure and damaged the property’s integrity. Finally, the city closed down the operation.
A protective fence that surrounded the property left an eerie reminder – almost a ghost of a restaurant that now, truly, faced its end. For years, this restaurant sat forlornly with no repairs. Several hundred passersby adorned the fence with ribbons, notes and photos of a place they remembered long ago.

As I worked in my shop one afternoon in October 2008, a representative of the Bob’s Big Boy restaurant chain visited and asked if I could recreate the original Johnie’s Broiler signs. At first, I thought they were just another restaurant chain inquiring about feasibility until I met with the new owner onsite. We walked the site with a Los Angeles Preservation Society official and reviewed the damage.

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The owner immediately selected my company to restore the entire project’s signage to its original condition while adding the Bob’s Big Boy identity.
Within two weeks, we’d signed an agreement and I began drawing. Using all of my design skill, I personally hand-rendered the signs on vellum to give the “original” project feel. We then transferred them with CAD software and produced construction drawings.

A rebuilt marquee
The marquee extended more than 45 ft. above ground at a cantilevered angle. We hired experienced lath and plaster workers to recreate the original plaster effect. We also erected a working scaffold that surrounded the structure and shielded it with a green screen to stave off dust or debris.

My staff worked for weeks to remove all of the damaged plaster. Most of the sign’s metal had rusted so badly, or it had been so riddled by dozens of holes from additional PK housings, we couldn’t use it.

We decided to replace all lath to follow today’s building codes while preserving the sign’s image. I’ve restored dozens of signs in my career; this one proved the most formidable adversary.

While inside the marquee, we discovered a 5-ft. x 14-ft. x 30-in. section of honeycomb that had accumulated for several years. Thousands of bees immediately attacked our crew, and we raced to get everyone off the jobsite until an exterminator could eliminate the bees. Two of my men suffered several painful bee stings, but they weren’t seriously injured.

In the sign business, pigeons and rodents always present a problem. But, inside this 57-ft.-long marquee, we found more than 400 lbs. of accumulated bird droppings, bird and rat carcasses, and lice. Again, we called the exterminator to assist us in removing the debris.

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Fighting “cancered” metal
Once we’d removed all “unforeseen” items from the signs, we carefully catalogued and removed each sign from the main structure. Since 1958, these signs hadn’t been removed or maintained, and our installation crew grew weary each time a sign literally crumbled. We finally removed all signs and returned them to our facility where the work would begin.

Handling deteriorated metal proved problematic. If we replaced too much metal, the new sign would run afoul of Preservation Society guidelines. Because the Broiler was a registered historical site, we observed these requirements. However, if you didn’t replace it, such degraded metal, sitting 45 ft. above the sidewalk, would endanger the public.

We addressed it by carefully sandblasting areas that could handle the pressure. We pressure washed the most sensitive areas to remove all exposed rusting. We followed up with Aiken™ Purple Power cleaner, power-rinsed it and let it dry. We coated the inside with Ensign’s 395A primer and paint, and coated the exterior with Matthew’s low-VOC enamel. Given the signs’ condition, we thought this provided the best approach to seal and coat them.

Old vs. new neon
We catalogued the old neon components for reference. The Preservation Society dictated our new neon follow 1958 fabrication methods, but we also conformed to current UL electrical and municipal sign codes.

PK housings have been around even longer than my sign career, but I was pleasantly surprised that UL-listed housings didn’t conflict with Society guidelines. We used #300 glass housings inside all raceways, standard PK housings on the main channel letters and Haig-type, glass housings on secondary letters. Insulated GTO replaced old, unprotected wiring. We found remnants of many shorts and small fires that had occurred due to faulty wiring and bird and rat contamination.

To reduce or prevent future destruction, we sealed all entry-points to the main marquee with a sheet-metal filler and applied Tex-Cote® textured coating or, for smaller holes, waterproof, silicone sealant.

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To illuminate the “Broiler” letters, we specified bright-red, 4,500K Voltarc tubing, which ran on 30mA Allanson magnetic transformers. The “Coffee Shop” and “Drive Thru” comprise Voltarc’s 3,500K, powder-blue, luminous tubing on 30mA transformers. Although emergency-disconnect switches weren’t required in 1958, we installed them on all signs to ensure safe operation.

With years of destruction from animals and weather, the Broiler sign’s wiring was a complete mess. We stripped the entire structure of all wiring and installed new wiring with a UL-listed, secondary panel box at the marquee’s base. Most wiring was installed inside flexible conduit, and some areas with inherent water
and drainage problems received Liquatite™ heavy-duty conduit.

The main “Broiler” sign operates on a 120V/30A circuit, and the 14-ft. disc and ambient lighting behind the secondary copy also operates with 120V on multiple, 30A circuits. The 3-D Big Boy, which the owner acquired, runs on a 220V/40A circuit pre-wired into the secondary panel. The external lighting entails four, 200W floodlamps on a separate circuit with a timer control. The entire system works 75% more efficiently than standard, 1958-vintage components, and the conduit and new wiring will protect it for several years of safe operation.

Pointing the way
Pole signs were not new in this era. However, with Googie architecture, they turned the building itself into actual signage rather than only its channel letters. So, the pole sign became an extension of the building and mimicked every facet without detracting from it. The existing sign featured an arrow with chaser lamps.

After having removed the sign from the pole support, we found a nest of large rats living inside the main cabinet. I wish I had video recording of our restoration crew jumping and running as the rats emerged. We removed 100 lbs. or so of bird droppings, as well as various items rats had accumulated — a tennis shoe, pacifier, plastic bottles and a Hot Wheels™ car, to name a few.

Strangely enough, this wiring wasn’t in bad condition. However, we cleaned it thoroughly and replaced a few components. We installed a new FMS chaser unit and changed all lamps to Sylvania™ 15W energy-savers. We lit the sign up in our shop; the throwback triggered an immediate 1950s nostalgia trip.

We retrofitted new mounting brackets into the existing cabinet structure and remounted it on the existing pole. Passing motorists frequently honked their horns each time we installed a new sign component. The arrow sign proved one of the most vital components in resurrecting the restaurant’s Googie architectural theme.

The “Fat Boy”
In 1966, Smyrniotis installed the flat, illuminated cabinet – dubbed the “Fat Boy” – as part of the main marquee. Mounted to a rotator, this 13-ft.-tall cabinet comprised 20- and 22-gauge sheetmetal and structural-steel, angle frame. It had become an icon of the original restaurant, and Bob’s Big Boy approved it as part of the Broiler’s preservation.

The graffiti-laden cabinet sign and its rotator hadn’t functioned in years. In our shop, we found the wiring completely destroyed, and the lamp bases were beyond saving. Using a special solvent I’d created just for this job, we painstakingly removed the graffiti from the large acrylic faces without damaging the original airbrushing from 1966.

A vandal’s stone had damaged a large section of one of the faces. We methodically gathered all the pieces and meticulously reassembled them with a custom-formulated, acrylic adhesive to their original condition. The owner and I decided the sign wouldn’t be illuminated again due to the exorbitant cost the process of rewiring would incur. Instead, we mounted the sign in a safe area on a low-profile monument encircled by flood lamps – an appropriate way to honor the Fat Boy’s legacy.

Replaying the disc
Finally, we fabricated a new, disc-shaped, 14-ft.-diameter Bob’s Big Boy sign, which we installed on the top of the main marquee. We fabricated the disc from recycled aluminum and bolstered it with an internal, aluminum framework. We used recycled material instead of conventional jet-coat or galvanized sheetmetal with steel framing to reduce its weight and be environmentally conscious by using less material.

In Burbank, CA’s Toluca Lake district, a Bob’s Big Boy location features a large sign disc that displays the franchise insignia in exposed neon. Although that location differs from the Downey site, we used this element with our project to uphold the traditional Bob’s image. For this sign, we fabricated with the neon with 15mm, 6,500K, exposed-neon tubing that operates on a 30mA Allanson transformer with double-back electrodes capped with Tecnolux polymeric electrode enclosures.

As with the Burbank location, large sheetmetal panels often cause an uneven surface, or “oil canning,” and may require several access panels on the front of the metal signface. With modern fabrication technology, we can eliminate all oil canning and create a seamless, metal face.

However, in this case, we tried to preserve a look indicative of that era’s fabrication techniques. Authenticity, although desired, carries an aesthetic price. We made access panels on the side, but allowed some oil canning to create a vintage look. We accomplished this by using slightly oversized aluminum panels and pinching them at the seam points.

Permits in record time
Downey’s city manager, redevelopment director and planning-department staff were among officials involved in the project. Although they knew my shop and experience, they reviewed the project very carefully to ensure a resounding success. Considering my longtime professional and personal connection to Downey, they knew I would execute the project with more care than any other company could offer.

Because most such projects are based on valuation, the city’s building and safety department worked tirelessly to ensure optimal attachment methods that met design-integrity and budgetary requirements. Mark Sellheim, a planning department official, kept a watchful eye to ensure building specs wouldn’t cause final-design deviations. We teamed up on all design elements to ensure continuity, balance and constant, planner/contractor communication.

We completed the entire permit process within seven days from initial plan approval – a record. Downey’s building and safety division and planning department deserve credit for regarding the project as an important Downey landmark and giving it priority.

Bob’s Big Boy buys in
Reviews and approvals from Bob’s Big Boy officials were paramount. Their consent required several conversations, as well as multiple drawings and revisions. Although their standards were tough, they understood my commitment – especially for restoration and period projects – and gave me their full confidence in this endeavor.

Adhering to the Bob’s overall image was a key component of their vision. Although several elements weren’t reflective of the Bob’s Big Boy image, Googie architecture and flamboyant signs with dominant images satisfied the company’s goal of collaborative expression. I believe signage will play a large role in creating a Bob’s Big Boy landmark location.

When an electric-sign company embarks on a restoration project of this magnitude, its owner knows immediately the deal will bring little or no profit. But, for me, this wasn’t
a deal; it was an opportunity to preserve a project that began in 1957 with Harvey Ortner, the Broiler’s original restaurateur. We proudly returned the Broiler site to its original glory, and Bob’s Big Boy invested in both history and its future.