The Flickering Art of New York Neon

Check out the New York Neon blog.

I always appreciate these well-written and well-documented blogs that are dedicated to capturing the dying arts of New York City...

Here's a post about one of Hell's Kitchen's most stunning historial neon signs. (Smith's Bar and Restaurant at 44th/8th)

Thomas E. Rinaldi has also written a soon-to-be-published New York Neon book...

I already pre-ordered mine on Amazon... Sight unseen. Judging from the quality of the blog, I trust that the book will be of equivalent quality...  

Paperback Forthcoming November 2012 ISBN 978-0-393-73341-9 8 × 8 in / 192 pages Territory Rights: Worldwide

From the press release: Treating New York City as an open-air museum, Thomas E. Rinaldi captures the brilliant glow of surviving early- and mid-twentieth-century neon signs, those iconic elements of the cityscape now in danger of disappearing. This visual tour features two hundred signs, identified by location, with information on their manufacture, date of creation, and the businesses that commissioned them. In a generously illustrated introduction, drawing on documents including rare period trade publications, Rinaldi recounts the development of signage and the technological evolution of neon and examines its role in the streets of New York, in America’s cultural identity, and in our collective consciousness. New Yorkers and visitors to the city, neon-sign enthusiasts, and those interested in signs and historic advertising generally, as well as design professionals, serious historians, and casual students of the city, will want this colorful book, which comes at a critical moment when the disappearance of the original signs has inspired a growing interest in neon.