BOOT & SADDLE BAR
This landmark sign has been a fixture on South Broad Street in Philadelphia since the early 1960’s. As one of the few remaining large projecting signs on Broad Street the Boot & Saddle Bar sign hung neglected, faded and in need of repair. In 2013, the establishment re-opened as a music venue. The Boot & Saddle Bar quickly became popular with the locals. As part of an agreement with the local business and neighborhood association, the restoration of the sign was required in order to obtain a liquor license.
Once removed from its original steel supports, we brought the two-story-high sign to our facility in Holmes, PA. where we removed the decade’s worth of bird’s nests, bee hives, pigeon droppings, and rusty old transformers. Once cleaned, the reconstruction began.
We made patterns of the original galvanized channel letters and face plates. We recovered paint chips and used them to determine the Pinky Beige background color. We traced neon units—some broken, some intact—and positioned them on the outline of the boot shape. With the help of old photos, the original layout came together.
Using current technology, Production Manager Mark McClung and our skilled sign technicians created new face panels, channel letters, and neon patterns. We formed the new letters using a computerized channel bending machine, polished and repaired the stainless steel outer cabinet, cut the face plates by hand, and bent the new neon tubes in our glass shop.
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In coordination with Philadelphia Sign Co. of Palmyra, NJ, the steel beams used to support the sign were engineered and replaced. Philadelphia Sign Co. also assisted in the re-installation in January 2016. Urban Neon and its employees take pride in the work we did to bring this iconic piece of the Philadelphia commercial landscape back to life.
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SIGN BREAKDOWN
The stainless steel boot was restored with the following: a new Pinky Beige background; hot pink, deep yellow and turquoise letters with 52 exposed neon units for letters and graphics; 104 new glass housings; 12 transformers; 200 feet of new wire; and a new steel support structure.
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Click here to read the Philadelphia Inquirer article about the restoration of the Boot & Saddle sign