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The Baltimore Museum of Industry and Maryland Historical Society

Each display several old Baltimore neon sign ghosts. Each of the restored signs are a tribute to the creativity and hot competition of the sign shops that served Baltimore. Not shown on this site, the collections cover the earliest incandescent displays to the neon spectaculars of the 1950's, supported by many original photographs.

Hi-Hat Lounge missed the wreckers ball by a few weeks. This 1954 Belsinger-built sign swung over Wolfe and E. Chase St. in East Baltimore until 2006. The entire neighborhood has been demolished to make way for a Biotech Park. I restored this rusted old hulk back to its original appearence upon removal. Most of the neon units were intact and still light!  Built by Belsinger Signworks.

This monolith at Rt. 40 west and Ingleside Ave., in Catonsville, was in service from 1956 until a remodeling in in the late 1990's.  Originally front and reverse lit channel neon, these well-crafted letters were built by Belsinger. Once a beacon on Baltimore National Pike, the non-lit replacement sign is hardly visible among all the other lighted signs. This display was located across the street from Ingelside Cleaners and Westview Lounge. (Page 1 on this site).

Mass-produced by the thousands in the 1950's, A well-traveled urban explorer may still spot one of these occasionally. One of the first signs in my collection, I scored this as a free take down, with gooseneck lights and pole structure. This one came from an old store in Glen Burnie, MD, in 1989. Bryer's and Baltimore's Hendler's Ice Cream sported simular pressed-tin signs, as did Sealtest and Abbott's Ice Cream.

This is a 'combination' sign. Built in 1957, it was a backlit display but was still adorned with a neon outline. Lou's remained for over 40 years a fixture on Balto. Annap. Blvd. in Ferndale. Now operating as the popular Willy's restaurant. Fabricator unknown.

For years I re-lettered this late 1930's swinger at Maryland Ave. at Biddle, in Mt. Vernon. I finally replaced it in 1997 with a new old-looking neon swinger, which serves the merchant well today. Used in the Barry Levinson film 'Liberty Heights". Fabricator unknown.

This 18' tall by 5' long, radiused sign, I was told, belonged to the Moose Lodge in Essex, MD. Fabricator unknown.