Kona Lanes Gets Death Row Reprieve - Beyond Tiki

L lynxwiler Member downtown L.A. Joined: Jun 22, 2003 Posts: 20	L lynxwiler Posted posted on Fri, Feb 4, 2005 12:38 PM Aloha Tiki Central! I just returned to LA from beautiful Cincinatti, Ohio and I am pleased to report that the Kona Lanes neon pole sign will be relit and put on display at the American Sign Museum. As many of you know this beloved piece of Tiki and bowling history made the cross country trip to the ASM as well as many other LA-native signs. The Kona Lanes now takes its place beside a restored and spinning Earl Scheib globe from Compton, the San Fernando Valley's Chris' n Pitt's BarBQ pole sign, a Foster's Freeze neon from East Los Angeles, and the 14' wide restored Satellite Shoppingland sputnik from Anaheim. The Kona Lanes signage looks great, but I do have some bad news. Due to rust, age and incredible amounts of guano and bird detritus, the lower portion of the pole sign did not survive. While the "Kona Lanes" is intact, the "Bowl" crumpled and collapsed. If anybody out there is near Cincinnati, pay a visit to the ASM, Kona Lanes and the several other LA-area signs that crossed the country to receive a lot of restoration and respect. FYI: Tod Swomstedt at the ASM is putting out a request for more information. They are currently preparing text and images for their displays and would like to know what histories and pictures people may be willing to share with them. Do you have scans of postcards, matchbooks or vintage pics of Kona Lanes that Tod may use in a display? Contact them now -- they open in April. [email protected] http://signmuseum.org/

Aloha Tiki Central!
I just returned to LA from beautiful Cincinatti, Ohio and I am pleased to report that the Kona Lanes neon pole sign will be relit and put on display at the American Sign Museum.

As many of you know this beloved piece of Tiki and bowling history made the cross country trip to the ASM as well as many other LA-native signs. The Kona Lanes now takes its place beside a restored and spinning Earl Scheib globe from Compton, the San Fernando Valley's Chris' n Pitt's BarBQ pole sign, a Foster's Freeze neon from East Los Angeles, and the 14' wide restored Satellite Shoppingland sputnik from Anaheim.

The Kona Lanes signage looks great, but I do have some bad news. Due to rust, age and incredible amounts of guano and bird detritus, the lower portion of the pole sign did not survive. While the "Kona Lanes" is intact, the "Bowl" crumpled and collapsed.

If anybody out there is near Cincinnati, pay a visit to the ASM, Kona Lanes and the several other LA-area signs that crossed the country to receive a lot of restoration and respect.

FYI: Tod Swomstedt at the ASM is putting out a request for more information. They are currently preparing text and images for their displays and would like to know what histories and pictures people may be willing to share with them. Do you have scans of postcards, matchbooks or vintage pics of Kona Lanes that Tod may use in a display? Contact them now -- they open in April.

[email protected]
http://signmuseum.org/

Post #139411 by lynxwiler on Fri, Feb 4, 2005 12:38 PM