One of the many great icons of Americana in the 1950's and 60's was Holiday Inn and its neon filled "Great Sign" that welcomed many a weary traveler after long hours of highway driving. Although the "Great Sign" was phased out in 1982 it still holds a special place in my heart as one of the better neon signs of the travel era. A few signs that still exist around the country based their look on the classic sign. Here are a few examples of paper ephemera that featured the sign and some signs that borrowed its look from Holiday Inn.
Robert Mars’ artwork chronicles an evolving fascination with the Golden Age of American popular culture and celebrates the icons of the 1950’s and 60’s
by taking inspiration from this culture long past. Through the application of a rich color palette and tongue-in-cheek attitude, Mars’ paintings evoke a
vintage quality of design and pay homage to the idealized age of growth and hopefulness that was prevalent in the USA at the end of the Depression.
A time before the internet and mobile technology, where information was not instantly available to millions and there was no such thing as instant internet
celebrities, and instead people lived with the myth of the unique, untouchable and unforgettable personalities of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, James
Dean, Audrey Hepburn and Elvis Presley.
Mars’ work is exhibited with the likes of Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, and Robert Rauschenberg,
and has been shown worldwide including galleries in Munich, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, Australia, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, Paris, Aspen, and Bulgaria.
I love how they all have arrows. In case anyone wasn't sure where the motel was.
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