For all those who remember our last conference in Las Vegas (2003):
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/13/garden/13VEGA.html?8hpib
"While the 15-foot-tall Silver Slipper and other choice pieces of vintage
neon lie in "the boneyard" a sort of cemetery run by the city's Neon
Museum, opened in 1996 to save vanishing signs [and venue of an MCN tour]
Mrs. Willis's own piece of roadside Americana is assuming a life of its
own. She never copyrighted the design because she felt the town needed free
publicity, and in recent years the sign has lent its jaunty retro image to
snow globes, boxer shorts, potato chips, shot glasses, pork cracklings,
centennial chocolates, T-shirt giveaways by Southwest Airlines for
"fabulous Rapid Reward Visa cards" and limited-edition commemorative Nevada
license plates, surpassing fur dice in the iconographic pantheon."
"The placement of Mrs. Willis's sign on the fringes has perhaps protected
it from the boneyard. "It's a powerful combination of symbolism, kitsch and
mythology," said Hal Rothman, a history professor at the University of
Nevada Las Vegas and the author of "Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started
the 21st Century" (Routledge, 2002)." [and closing keynote speaker at MCN
2003]
Amalyah Keshet
Head of Image Resources & Copyright Management
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Tel +972-2-670-8874
Fax +972-2-670-8064
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