Postcard of the 1961 Concept Rendering for Binions Horseshoe. Courtesy of the Neon Museum Anthony Bondi Collection
The 1961 redesign of Binion’s Horseshoe, seen in the rendering above, was a collaboration between the architects and the sign designers. YESCO designers Herman Boernge, Kermit Wayne, Ben Mitchem and Jack Larsen, Sr. created plans that were then selected and incorporated into the final design by architects Wayne McAllister and William Wagner, resulting in one of the largest displays of neon in the world.
According to YESCO figures from 1961, the overall signage at Binion’s featured more than eight miles of neon tubes and 30,000 bulbs.
The image above depicts a section of the "H" wall from Binion's 1961 re-design now on display inside the Main Boneyard of the Neon Museum.
Matchbooks Courtesy of the Neon Museum Sign Related Ephemera Collection
Matchbooks were a popular memento that many people collected from their visits to Las Vegas. These free promotional items were offered by casinos, hotels, restaurants and just about any other business that wanted an inexpensive way to get their advertising in your hands. Smoking in public places was much more common than today. The Neon Museum has hundreds of matchbooks from countless properties in our Archival Collection.
