Michael Brown of Arlington, Texas, is liquidating his huge collection of vintage neon signs, and three of them from Route 66 will be part of that auction next week in Arizona.
The sale of the Hooked on Vettes Collection will be on March 16-19 by Mecum Auctions of Glendale, Arizona. More than 180 items are part of the sale. The vast majority are vintage neon signs, along with a few old gas pumps.
Brown said in an email he was selling the signs because he was “turning a page or two to begin a new chapter.” He added: “Pleased to say no health issues or forced financial sale.”
Details on the auction are here.
The three Route 66-related signs are The Alamo Liquor sign from Carthage, Missouri, from the 1950s:
A Frontier Motel sign, also from Miami, that is a porcelain, double-sided motel from the 1950s:
Finally, a “Hotel” sign from southern Illinois. Brown has said it once hung on Route 66, but he has been unable to track down its exact location or business.
Back in 2012, Brown produced two proposed television ads for Chevrolet for the Super Bowl that were shot on Route 66, including at the U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes shoot of those ads, which ultimately didn’t make the final cut of the contest:
(Images of the three Route 66 neon signs up for auction via the Mecum Auctions website)