The Desert Moon Motel sign sits at 1701 Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet.
Site name: Desert Moon Motel (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Site address: 1701 Fremont St
Sign owner: Jerzy and Celina Kosla
Sign details: The building was constructed in 1942 (Assessor). According to one commentator, the Desert Moon motel opened on the site in 1952 (Roadside Architecture.com). The cars on a vintage postcard of the motel appear to date from the late 1940's or early 1950's (Ebay). The same vintage postcard (Ebay) shows the motel as a member of United Motor Courts, an early motel referral chain founded in 1933 which published a travel guide until the early 1950's (Wikipedia). Based in Santa Barbara, California, United Motor Courts was made up of "a friendly group of independent owners of motor lodges..." (Historic Highways). The Quality Inn motel franchise was a spinoff of United Motor Courts (Wikipedia). The motel has been renovated by its current owner, Polish immigrant George (Jerzy) Kosla (Glionna, 2017).
Sign condition: The sign is Condition 4, good. The paint appears slightly faded but there is no flaking or peeling. The cabinets, reader boards, and fiberglass moon are all in good condition. The neon is intact.
Sign form: Pole sign
Sign-specific description: The sign pole and metal cabinets are painted pink. The design and lettering are the same on both sides of the sign. The trapezoid-shaped lower cabinet extends horizontally toward the street. It contains a rectangular white plastic lightbox which states "FREE ADULT MOVIES" in red sans serif letters and "FLAT SCREEN TV'S in smaller black san serif letters. To the left of the letters is the black silhouette of a female figure. On the metal below the plastic screen are clear sans serif neon letters which spell out, "NO VACANCY" in red when illuminated. The upper metal cabinet hangs from the street side of the pole. White painted san serif letters, covered by clear sans serif neon letters which glow red when illuminated, run vertically down the cabinet to spell out, "XXX MOVIES". Five metal cabinets attached to the street side of the sign run vertically to spell out, "M-O- T-E- L" in white painted sans serif letters covered by yellow sans serif neon letters. On top of the pole is a white p
Sign - type of display: Neon, Lightbox
Sign - media: Steel, Plastic, Fiberglass
Sign - non-neon treatments: Lightbox
Sign environment: East Fremont Street, surrounded by other motels.
Sign - date of installation: c. 1950s
Sign - date of redesign/move: The now pink or faded red sign cabinets were painted blue in a 2003 photograph
Sign - thematic influences: Desert, Space Age, Western
Sign - artistic significance: The current sign appears to have taken the Western/Lunar theme from the previous sign and transformed it into a 1950's/1960's Space Age/Lunar theme
Survey - research locations: Assessor's website
Survey - research notes: Ebay. Las Vegas NV Desert Moon Motel roadside Nevada vintage linen postcard ca 1940s. Retrieved from https://picclick.com/LAS-VEGAS- NV-Desert- Moon-Motel- Roadside-Nevada- 141923576051.html Glionna, J. M. (2017 April 23). Motel, once a haven, now a crime-ridden jungle in downtown Las Vegas. Las Vegas Review Journal. Retrieved https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las- vegas/downtown/motel-once- a-haven- now-a- crime-ridden- jungle-in- downtown-las- vegas/ Historic Highways. (2007 July 14). Archive for the "Motel Associations" category: Looking for a motel in 1933. Retrieved from https://historichighways.wordpress.com/category/motel-associations/ Roadside Architecture. com (n.d.). Las Vegas Signs: Desert Moon Motel. Retrieved from http://www.roadarch.com/signs/nvvegas.html RoadsidPeek.com. (n.d.). Downtown motels Las Vegas: Desert Moon Motel. Retrieved from http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/southwest/nevada/vegas/lvmotel/lvdownmotel/index5.htm Wikipedia. (n.d.). Motel: 2.6 R
Survey - other remarks: A postcard circa early 1950's features a different sign with a saguaro cactus and quarter moon (Ebay). The current sign appears to have taken the Western/Lunar theme from the previous sign and transformed it into a Space Age/Lunar theme, which may indicate that the sign dates from the date from the late 1950's or 1960's.
Surveyor: Mitchell Cohen
Survey - date completed: 2017-08-22
Sign keywords: Neon; Steel; Plastic; Fiberglass; Pole sign; Light box; Sculptural

The Hialeah Motel sign sits at 1924 Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet.
Site address: 1924 Fremont St
Sign owner: La Jolla Development Group, LLC
Sign details: The current building was constructed in 1951 (Assessor). One source states that Tinkler's Motel may have been open on the site in the 1940's (VintageVegas.com, n.d.). A vintage postcard circa late 1940's-early 1950's advertises "Tinkler's Motel Hialeah", although the sign shown in the photograph states" Tinkler's Motel" (CardCow.com, n.d.). A vintage postcard circa 1950's-early 1960's shows the current name,"Hialeah Motel" (Las Vegas motels then and now, n.d.).
Sign condition: Condition is 3, fair. The cabinets are intact with no major rust damage. On the east side of the sign, the paint is flaking moderately on the upper arrow cabinet. On the west side, the paint is flaking severely on the upper arrow cabinet as well as the lower cabinet. Most of the incandescent light bulbs around the upper cabinet remain. All of the neon tubes are gone from both the lower and upper cabinets.
Sign form: Pole sign
Sign-specific description: The lower cabinet is shaped like three rectangles stacked upward in increasing size. The pole runs through the cabinet, which is cantilevered toward the street. The upper cabinet is shaped like an arrow pointed at the motel. The pole and lower cabinet are painted forest green. On the lower cabinet, hand painted sans serif letters state, "Hialeah 1924 VACANCY". The exterior of the upper arrow-shaped cabinet is painted black. The interior is white. The cabinet is channeled and holes for neon tubing are evident, but no neon remains. Yellow incandescent light bulbs outline the exterior of the cabinet. At the center of the pole on the hotel side is a horizontal pole from which a small sign may have hung previously.
Sign - type of display: Incandescent light bulbs, but the sign also had neon tubing at one time.
Sign - media: Steel
Sign - non-neon treatments: Incandescent light bulbs
Sign environment: This is located on East Fremont and has many other motels surrounding it though many of the neighboring motels are shut down.
Sign - date of installation: Possibly 1940's, likely circa 1950's-1960's
Sign - date of redesign/move: A vintage postcard circa late 1940's-early 1950's (CardCow.com, n.d.) shows a small sign which has either been replaced or modified over time. The sign consists of three cabinets mounted symmetrically on a pole. The lower cabinet is painted white and states, "AIR CONDITIONED" or "AIR CONDITIONER". The large central cabinet is black and states, "MOTEL". The smaller upper cabinet is painted black and advertises, "Tinkler's". A vintage postcard circa 1950's-early 1960's (Las Vegas motels then and now, n.d.). shows the current pole and cantilevered lower cabinet without the upper arrow-shaped cabinet. On the lower hotel side of the sign hangs a small yellow sign. Some or all of the lettering is traced with neon letters. By the late 1980's, the motel arrow had been added (VintageLasVegas.com, 2017). "MOTEL" is spelled out in red neon inside the channel of the arrow. The lower cabinet is painted green. "T.V." is spelled in black sans serif letters outlined in white. "Hialeah" is painted in white sans serif letters traced by clear neon letters. Below Hialeah is illegible clear neon, possibly "AIR CONDITIONING" or "AIR CONDITIONER". At the bottom of the lower cabinet "HAMBURGERS", "HOT DOGS" and "VACANCY" are spelled out in white san serif letters. A photograph taken sometime between the 1980's and 2008 (Jacobson, n.d.) shows the lettering on the lower cabinet simplified to the current design, except "T.V." is still painted to the left of "HIALEAH". Three yellow skeleton neon waves underline "T.V." and two more indistinguishable neon tubes of the same type sit over the "T". Some neon around "HIALEAH"in the lower cabinet and all of the neon around "MOTEL"in the upper arrow-shaped cabinet remain. By 2008, the sign had reached its current design (Las Vegas motels then and now, n.d.).
Sign - thematic influences: Horseracing (the motel name references Hialeah Park Racetrack in Hialeah, Florida; vintage postcard shows grass and racetrack type fencing [Las Vegas motels then and now, n.d.])
Sign - artistic significance: This location maintains the Horse Racing theme with their name. They also showcase 1940's (possibly), 1950's-1960's eras themes with emergence and prominence of the motor courts during those eras.
Survey - research locations: CardCow.com. (n.d.). Tinler's [sic] Motel Hialeah. Retrieved from https://www.cardcow.com/281785/tinlers-motel-hialeah-las-vegas-nevada/ Clark County Assessor, parcel no. 139-35-803-004. Retrieved from http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/assessor/Pages/PropertyRecords.aspx?H=redrock&P=assrrealprop/pcl.aspx Jacobson, J. (n.d.). Hialeah Motel [private image, copyright applies]. Retrieved from http://www.pbase.com/easystreet/image/103828763 Las Vegas motels then and now. (n.d.). 15: Hialeah Motel. Retrieved from http://stefanidrivesvegas.com/2.html VintageLasVegas.com. (n.d.). Downtown Las Vegas hotels & casinos 1931-2000. Retrieved from http://vintagelasvegas.com/downtown VintageLasVegas.com. (2017 February 2). Hialeah Motel. Retrieved from http://vintagelasvegas.com/tagged/Hialeah-Motel
Surveyor: Mitchell Cohen
Survey - date completed: 2017-08-23
Sign keywords: Neon; Incandescent; Steel; Pole sign; Directional