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A pedestrian walks under the neon sign at the Uptown Theatre in Napa. Signs For Workplace
The neon signs on display at Bounty Hunter in downtown Napa.
The former Fagiani's neon sign, as seen in 2013. Napa developer Steve Hasty has the sign today.
Pedestrians walk past the neon signs on display at Bounty Hunter in downtown Napa.
The classic neon sign in front of El Bonita Motel along Highway 29 in St. Helena.
A pedestrian walks under the neon sign at Val’s Liquor in Napa.
The neon sign at the Uptown Theatre is seen lit up in Napa.
The neon signs on display at Napa Smog on Main St. in Napa.
The classic neon sign in front of El Bonita Motel along Highway 29 in St. Helena.
The neon sign at Val’s Liquor is seen in Napa.
When it comes to getting attention, nothing beats a classic neon sign.
Glowing with striking brightness, neon signs have been used for advertising in Napa Valley for decades.
Yet with the advent of new kinds of lighting technology and signage, today traditional "exposed" neon signs in Napa are fewer and far between.
Here’s a selection of local neon signs that stand out — some that still light up the night.
When you think Napa neon, the Uptown Theatre sign stands above all else. Literally.
Six 3-foot-tall letters (U P T O W N) descend vertically along the second story of the venue. This downtown landmark dates back to the opening of the theater in 1937, said theater manager Erica Simpson.
“It’s an honor” to be the caretaker of such a sign, said Simpson.
She explained that various artists and electricians have worked on the Uptown sign, located at 1350 Third St., over the years.
This past week Jeff Soares of Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO) tended to the Uptown sign. His task on Tuesday included replacing two transformers, Soares explained: “One for the letter W and one for the letter N."
Soares said that neon is no longer the first choice for signs. Today most people are replacing older neon with LED lights. Notably, LED lights are less expensive than neon, Soares explained. For example, a neon transformer can run about $300 while a comparable LED power supply can cost about $60, he said.
Yet nothing looks quite like neon. “Neon has that bling look; that beautiful glassy look. They are not able to achieve that look with LED," Soares said.
In 2001, Jim Bertuzzi of Bell Signs in Napa completely refurbished about 1,000 feet of neon on the Uptown sign.
“There’s a tunnel inside, like a chimney, going all the way to the top,” providing access to all the connections, wiring and transformers that are in the tower, explained Bertuzzi during an interview this past week.
"I made all the neon tubing from scratch,” said Bertuzzi. “It looks really good when it’s lit up,” he said. “I’m proud of it.”
Well-made neon has an almost unlimited lifetime, explained the neon artist. “But if it’s not made well, it deteriorates a lot quicker.”
Bertuzzi said about 40% of his business at Bell Signs includes neon. “I do it right here,” at his shop at 2325 First St., said Bertuzzi.
Over the years, he’s made thousands of neon signs. Bertuzzi declined to provide a range of costs but said that the price depends on the size, number of letters and font. “The more intricate the font, the more expensive the letter.”
Sometimes people come to Bertuzzi with an image that is difficult to translate into neon.
“Usually the idea they had in their head is very involved so I have to talk them down from that. You can’t do everything in neon because neon is just lines. There’s a lot of design involved in making it look as close as you can to that picture by making it with neon tubing.”
In addition to the Uptown, Bertuzzi also once retrofitted the iconic Budweiser sign seen on Interstate 80 in Fairfield.
“Those letters are about 12 to 15 feet tall,” he said, and there are nine of them. “That took me about a month,” and most of the work was done in his Napa shop.
Bertuzzi also made custom signs for Napa's Bounty Hunter, inside the Oxbow Public Market and Compline.
Individuals or homeowners have hired Bertuzzi to make signs for their homes.
Val’s Liquors (1531 3rd St., Napa)
Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin' BBQ (975 First St., Napa)
Moose Lodge sign (3275 Browns Valley Road, Napa)
“Furniture” sign (1326 Main St., Napa)
Oxbow Public Market (610 First St., Napa)
Bell Products (722 Soscol Ave., Napa)
The Depot (766 Soscol Ave., Napa)
Napa Smog (1509 Napa St., Napa)
El Bonita Motel (195 Main St., St. Helena)
Keller Brothers Meats (1320 Main St., St. Helena)
*Napa Register neon sign (formerly at First and Coombs streets)
*Red Hen Cantina (formerly of Solano Avenue)
*Tony-Josephine Fountain Diner (formerly downtown Napa)
*Owl Drug store (formerly downtown Napa)
*Napa Camera Shop (formerly downtown Napa)
*Dodge Plymouth sign (formerly 810 Randolph St.) h
*Albert’s (formerly downtown Napa)
*Do you know where this sign is today? If so, email Jennifer Huffman at jhuffman@napanews.com.
What’s the most unusual neon sign he’s made for a residence?
“We can’t put that in the article,” said Bertuzzi with a laugh. “Just use your imagination a bit.”
In 2019 Michael C. Holcomb, one of the owners of Napa’s Food City shopping center, was looking at Google Earth images of the Old Sonoma Road property. To his shock, he spotted a jumble of letters left on top of the building. "Food City," the two sets of letters spelled. The lost neon letters were then collected and reinstalled.
Holcomb said resurrecting the Food City neon signs was a no-brainer.
“We love the aesthetic it brings,” to the longtime commercial shopping strip. “We’d love to do more of that if we can,” especially in an art deco style.
Holcomb thinks it might have cost about $20,000 to refurbish and renovate the old Food City letters. “We felt like we had to,” he said. “It kind of brought back the soul of the center.”
Now that ZuZu restaurant has expanded into the old Asia Café restaurant at 825 Main St., owner Mick Salyer has become the caretaker of the vintage Asia Café ‘Chop Suey’ sign seen on the side of the building.
The sign used to shine but today it needs repairs, said the restaurateur. For one thing, the word “chop,” was blinking on and off.
The sign isn’t currently turned on, Salyer said. “We have to refurbish it.”
But the Asia Café sign isn’t going anywhere. “We decided it’s a really iconic sign that's been there probably since at least the 1960s, so we decided for nostalgic reasons to leave it up.”
For decades the red and white Fagiani’s neon sign (with neon martini glass) greeted patrons at the bar at 813 Main St. After a new restaurant took over the space, and then another, the sign went home with Napa developer Steve Hasty.
To him, the sign comes from a key period in Napa history – “A heyday for mom and pop businesses,” especially downtown, he said.
Back then, “What people put out front represented their business, and they spent some money on it and wanted it to look nice.”
As for the Fagiani’s sign, Hasty has plans. He’s currently creating an outdoor patio area at his Napa home. After refurbishing the neon sign, “I’m going to light it up every time I have a party.”
Headed east on Lincoln Avenue into downtown Calistoga, the road all but leads directly to a vintage neon sign at Dr. Wilkinson's Backyard Resort & Mineral Springs.
The vintage sign features neon letters that spell out the resort name. Under that is a neon line that looks like it could be missing the tip of an arrow — as if pointing the way to the resort's entrance.
Jose A. Ortega is currently the general manager at the resort, which first opened in the 1950s.
The original Dr. Wilkinson’s neon sign glows daily, said Ortega. “It’s on a timer,” he explained.
Guests will often take photos of the sign, which is located at 1507 Lincoln Ave., the GM said.
“There’s definitely a lot of history,” to the sign, especially because there are few, if any, new neon signs being installed in Calistoga. “So what’s here is going to stay.”
Michael Barrett is co-owner of Papa Lou's Wine & Spirits at 1430 Lincoln Ave. in Calistoga. His is primarily a fine wine shop, but it comes with a vintage neon sign outside.
“SMOKE SHOP,” reads the first line. “LIQUOR STORE,” reads the second.
“It’s been there at least 60 years; long-time locals remember it being here when they were a kid,” Barrett said. He thinks the sign is about 3 feet tall, 7 feet long and about 12-inches wide.
His sign isn’t currently shining at 100%, said Barrett. “It’s got a few letters that are not working.”
Repairs, including required city permits, can be cost-prohibitive. “We 100% want to fix it (but) it’s a pain in the rear-end and expensive.”
Barrett said he heard it could cost as much as $4,000 to edit and fix the sign – per side.
“I don’t want to go LED,” he said. Yet, “As much as I love neon, it’s not inexpensive.”
Barrett said he is also afraid that if he does have the sign removed to be repaired, he might have trouble getting permission or approvals to reinstall it.
Yet he’s committed to the sign.
“You see an old neon sign, and it’s got character. It’s nostalgic. And sexy. And has a story.” His neon sign “is a part of downtown Calistoga and its history. It’s been here so long and it’s lasted through so many businesses and owners. It’s part of downtown. It’s not going anywhere.”
You can reach reporter Jennifer Huffman at 707-256-2218 or jhuffman@napanews.com
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Vintage (and new) Napa Valley neon lights up the night. Take a look at some classic neon signs here.
OPINION: Despite calls and petitions, I have been unable to get the Uptown Theater from moderating the use of its neon sign.
A pedestrian walks under the neon sign at the Uptown Theatre in Napa.
The neon signs on display at Bounty Hunter in downtown Napa.
The former Fagiani's neon sign, as seen in 2013. Napa developer Steve Hasty has the sign today.
Pedestrians walk past the neon signs on display at Bounty Hunter in downtown Napa.
The classic neon sign in front of El Bonita Motel along Highway 29 in St. Helena.
A pedestrian walks under the neon sign at Val’s Liquor in Napa.
The neon sign at the Uptown Theatre is seen lit up in Napa.
The neon signs on display at Napa Smog on Main St. in Napa.
The classic neon sign in front of El Bonita Motel along Highway 29 in St. Helena.
The neon sign at Val’s Liquor is seen in Napa.
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