Neon lures authors to retrace steps across Nevada
By Susan Skorupa, Reno Gazette-Journal
Three times in nearly 35 years, Sheila Swan and Peter Laufer have traversed Nevada in search of neon.
In their first quest in 1978, they photographed neon signs from downtown Las Vegas to the mom ‘n’ pop motels and bars scattered across the Nevada landscape, their interest piqued by the two small neon signs in their living room in Silver City.
They found scores of examples, such as the signs for the Cal Neva Lodge and Harvey’s Resort Hotel at Lake Tahoe, and the Frontier and Comstock motels in Carson City, whose signs sported not just lettering but figures animated by the lighting synchronization of gas-filled glass tubes.
Then, in the early 1990s, the couple set out again, looking for the same signs they’d seen in the 1970s and any others to add to their collection.
They found the French Bar in Gardnerville and the neon boots of the Burns Brothers Truck Stop in Mill City, among others. Their first “Neon Nevada” book came out in 1994.
A few years ago, rummaging in their garage, Swan and Laufer found the photo transparencies of their first journey and decided to hit the road again to look for new signs and rediscover old ones that still existed.
The result is a new “Neon Nevada” (Globe Pequot Press, $16.95 hardcover), which contains neon photos from 1978 into the 21st century, commentary and plenty of neon history.
