HoJo's, Buster Brown, Automats and more: Highlights of the Neon Museum of Philadelphia

The museum closes on Sunday. Get there if you can, and if you can't, here's a look at this vanishing gem.

One of the highlights of my year on the road was my visit back in October to the Neon Museum of Philadelphia.

The work of founder Len Davidson and his team, the museum has a collection of astonishing depth and breadth, mostly displayed in a vast, dazzling room inside NextFab, an incubator for makers and artists, in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Back in October, the museum announced its second year would be its last, and that it would close Sunday, Dec. 11. That’s THIS Sunday.

Timing and location can be everything, and opening during the pandemic coupled with its location, which is out of the way for many visitors and even locals, were key factors that conspired to lead to the closure.

The museum predated its physical space, and dates by one measure to the 1970s, when Davidson, then a professor of sociology in Florida, became entranced with neon and soon found himself collecting signs and apprenticing under a master of the form to learn how they are done, a decades-long journey that culminated in the opening of the physical museum.

“The Neon Museum of Philadelphia is a cultural and educational organization dedicated to preserving neon signage, Philadelphia history and art, and the 20th century American roadside.  We’re an American art and history museum disguised as a neon museum,” according to the museum’s website.

After it closes, the goal is to keep the collection together, and find a new home for it, and hopefully that will happen, because this is such a special experience.

I hope you have a chance to visit, though, unless you are within driving distance, I didn’t exactly give you much time!

Below is a virtual tour for your enjoyment!

1.) Howard Johnson’s Lamplighter Room