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King Street alight with neon memories
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign. So sang the Five Man Electrical Band back in 1970, and so it was on King Street decades ago, when business after business blinked with bold ribbons of neon.
“It was completely lit up,” said Eddie Bello, director of architecture and preservation for the city of Charleston, which now regulates signage in the city on a case-by-case basis.
“Signage is a difficult issue for a lot of reasons, because every business wants a bigger sign than what is typically allowed,” Bello said. “King Street is especially difficult, because you want to walk down the street and see the buildings, not the signs. But if you look back at old photographs, King Street was exuberant with signs and light.”
Few neon signs are left in the city today, but the ones that remain are considered almost as historic as the buildings from which they hang. While neon signs typically are not approved in the city, iconic signs from the past are becoming candidates for preservation.
The Chase Furniture building at 414 King St. recently came under new ownership and Bello said he would be surprised if the Board of Architectural Review would allow any alterations to its sign. The signs at Berlin’s clothing store, Tellis Pharmacy, Basil restaurant and Morris Sokol furniture would also likely be protected if anyone dared suggest their removal.
When Henry Eang decided to open Basil restaurant at 460 King St. in 2002, he had new lettering reconfigured into the building’s classic neon sign, which was originally made for Robinson’s bicycle shop and is topped with a bicycle. Eang said the re-do cost about $5,000.
“It wasn’t cheap,” he said, “The neon had to be replaced completely on the letters and on the bicycle, but I’m very happy with it now. Charleston has a wonderful history and I think that’s part of the history and I think we should hang onto it.”
Alice Tellis Critikos, whose family owns Tellis Pharmacy at 125 King St., said the pharmacy’s 1952 neon sign is so prized that a family member takes it down every time a hurricane is on the way.
“That’s the only thing we protect when we leave town,” Critikos said. “My daddy said he wanted a big sign, and I don’t think there’s a bigger one.”
A few doors down at 114 King St., the neon sign at Berlin’s clothing store is often photographed, said owner Henry Berlin.
“It must be at least 60 years old,” Berlin said. “It’s been knocked down twice. Two hurricanes took it down. I had it redone and we put it back up. It’s a tough old sign.”
Among Charleston’s most beloved vintage signs is a newcomer or two, including the Coast restaurant sign off John Street and the neon pig beckoning diners to Jim N’ Nick’s BBQ at 288 King St.
Bello said the city approved the neon pig after a few alterations to the first proposed design.
“The BAR tries to keep them simple, not too large or overpowering, because we have to consider the cumulative effect of the signs,” Bello said. “On the other hand, if someone wants to do a special sign that becomes more of an architectural element, the board is more open to it.”
Daren Wolfe, operating partner of Coast restaurant, said his business needed a sign that would draw the eye to the tucked-in site of the restaurant, down a narrow alleyway off John Street.
“I think that is what really helped our case,” Wolfe said. “If you look at old photographs from the 1930s and ’40s on King Street, particularly in this neighborhood, there were a lot of elongated neon signs, and they’re very cost effective, too. Neon doesn’t cost very much to run.”
Once they go dark, however, neon signs can be expensive to restore. Joe Sokol, owner of Morris Sokol furniture, said he got an estimate of $20,000 to restore light to the store’s sign at King and Reid streets.
“It deserves preservation, but as far as lighting, I don’t see that at the moment,” Sokol said. “From time to time, we check the cables on it to make sure it’s in good shape and can withstand wind. So far, it’s stood the test of time.”
Bello said the Morris Sokol sign is one of his favorites.
“A lot of people might not feel (the same way about) that sign, but I love it,” Bello said. “It would never be approved today in a million years.”
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@setcommedia.com.
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