Neon Light, Possibly on for a Record 70 Years, Found Behind Wall at Clifton's Cafeteria

By Dennis Romero Fri., May 18 2012 at 4:46 PM

Joe the toe stubber

Workers doing renovation at Clifton's Cafeteria downtown discovered a neon light behind a wall that was on and lit up, it was reported today.

A neon history expert told the Weekly that it was quite possible that it could be the oldest continuously lit neon light in the world if it has been on for 70 years, as was claimed in blogdowntown today.

According to the site, Clifton's owner Andrew Meieran says ...

... that behind one wall they found a neon light -- it was on, and had been quietly glowing behind the wall for about 70 years. He's dubbed it the "Eternal Neon," adding that the light has no switch and must be hard-wired into a panel deep in the brick.

Neon experts told Meieran it must be the "oldest existing, continuing operating neon in the world."

We reached out to Museum of Neon Art director Kim Koga today. She said it's quite possible:

It's totally possible. It wasn't a flourescent tube that's for sure. To last that long it would have to be neon.

She said the light would most likely be red or blue, given its age, but that it could also be white, yellow or green if the glass was tinted or if the gas was treated with uranium.

"I'm so curious," she said. "I would love to see the thing. I hope they don't shut it off."

We have a call in to Meieran's publicist.

[Added at 5:47 p.m.]: A rep for Meieran confirmed that the light is still on! Whew.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

Andrew Meieran, Clifton's Cafeteria, downtown, history, light, neon

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Just hear this on Patt Morrison on KPCC... how cool, I hope they don't cover it up!

Forsakendonkey

This claim seems highly unlikely. It implies that power to the building has been continuous, and unfaltering, for 70 years.There have certainly been power outages and, hardwired or not, this light would be extinguished along with anything else electrical during those times.A more reasonable explanation is that, at some point during these recent renovations, they cut power to the floor in order to rewire and/or install new fixtures. If they installed a new box or replaced fuses, as part of these renovations, they could have activated the light themselves just recently.I suppose the reasonable and logical explanations, that are far more likely, aren't nearly as romantic as the one presented in the article.

Forsakendonkey

Did you seriously delete my post?

I'll be sure to tell Reddit Los Angeles that this blog simply removes posts that expose their lack of critical thinking.

keithplocek

Hi. I see two comments from you. Was there a third?

Forsakendonkey

Yes there was... it was deleted approximately 15 minutes before the one you responded to. I then reposted it after noting this one didn't immediately disappear.

keithplocek

I'm looking at the dashboard and I don't see any deletions. I'm not saying it didn't disappear. But I think it might've been a glitch. Glad to see the next time around it stuck.

Nathan Kincaid

This claim seems highly unlikely. It implies that power to the building has been continuous, and unfaltering, for 70 years.

There have certainly been power outages and, hardwired or not, this light would be extinguished along with anything else electrical during those times.

A more reasonable explanation is that, at some point during these recent renovations, they cut power to the floor in order to rewire and/or install new fixtures. If they installed a new box or replaced fuses, as part of these renovations, they could have activated the light themselves just recently.

I suppose the reasonable and logical explanations, that are far more likely, aren't nearly as romantic as the one presented in the article.

To go to the trouble of finding a neon light expert when the plainly obvious wasn't even explored boggles my mind.

10 seconds and a google search:

Definitely went out here:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/...

and possibly went out here:http://latimesblogs.latimes.co...

Angela Garcia as NeonMosfet

It doesn't matter. It's like Harlan Ellison's short story, Neon, from his book Deathbird Stories. They put a neon tube where his heart once was, that lit up with every beat. Do you think Ellison knows of this?

Angela Garcia as NeonMosfet