Design

A Heightened Homage to Route 66

Three classic neon signs are reproduced in Tulsa, OK.

Published

4 years ago

December 21, 2020

Grant Freking Signs of the Times December 2020 Issue

THREE REPRODUCED NEON signs recently debuted along Route 66 in Tulsa, OK. The three 20-ft.-tall signs are stationed on Avery Plaza Southwest, named after Cyrus Avery, known as the “father of Route 66.” The three signs are the Will Rogers Motor Court (originally built in the ’40s), the Tulsa Auto Court (initially constructed sometime in the ’50s) and the Oil Capital Motel (1956).

Terry Waska, David Hoffer and Jonathan Buck from HofferWaska Creative (Tulsa, OK) recreated the designs using old postcards and a few color images found online. Amax Sign Co. (Tulsa, OK) fabricated and installed the signs. “We weren’t quite sure about the original colors, so we tried to use colors accurate for the time period based on the limited color information we had,” Waska said. “For the neon, we met with the Amax team to make sure we only used the neon colors in use at the time.”

PHOTO GALLERY ( 6 IMAGES )

Three reproduced neon signs recently debuted along Route 66 in Tulsa, OK.

The Tulsa Auto Court sign was constructed sometime in the ’50s, while the Oil Capital Motel sign was built in 1956. The Will Rogers Motor Court was originally built in the ‘40s.

HofferWaska Creative (Tulsa, OK) recreated the designs using old postcards and a few color images found online. Amax Sign Co. (Tulsa, OK) fabricated and installed the signs.

Grant Freking

Grant Freking is Signs of the Times' Managing Editor. Contact him at grant.freking@smartworkmedia.com.

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