We want to preserve these iconic neon treasures that are disappearing as San Francisco experiences another economic gold rush. We hope this book will serve as a catalyst to create awareness. Our first edition will be limited to 1000 copies. It will be a 7" x 8.5" hardcover book with 160 pages of 250+ color images of neon signs. It is professionally designed with an array of night photography, twi
light shots of illuminated signs, and daylight shots of signs with vintage design and typography, but need repair or no longer have neon tubes. As long as the metal housing or "tin can" still exists, these signs can be restored with neon tubes. This project is more than just a photography book, we hope it will be a catalyst for San Franciscans to preserve their neon landscape and the small businesses that these signs represent. The book includes:
• San Francisco/photography essay by local award-winning travel writer Tom Downs
• Neon preservation essay by Eric Lynxwiler, neon sign expert and board member emeritus of the Museum of Neon Art (MONA)
• Endnotes section with local stories, oral history, and rich details on 45 neon signs by the photographers and essayists.
• Index by neighborhood with street addresses of each photograph to give readers a sense of which neighborhoods still have clusters of neon, and which neighborhoods have lost all but one or two surviving signs
• Neon condition that indicates which signs are illuminated nightly, which signs do not light up and need restoration, and which signs are lost icons
