THE DALLES, Ore. — Inside a huge and historic Elks Temple in The Dalles, Oregon, David Benko has established the National Neon Sign Museum, using his own collection of artifacts to tell the story.
"Who's not drawn to light?" he asked. "I mean bugs are drawn to light. We're all drawn to light."
For more than 30 years, as the owner of Rocket City Neon Company in Camas, Washington, this Kirkland-raised artist has brought signs to light.
"The Crystal Ballroom is probably one of my favorite signs," he said. "I did multiple pieces for the McMenamin brothers."
Benko has also collected hundreds of signs over the years.
"I wouldn't use the word 'hoarder,'" he joked.
Together it's a compilation that tells the story of that most luminescent of advertising gimmicks, the neon sign.
"Advertising in general is what excites me," he said.
The first gallery actually features no neon at all.
"It's the era of the light bulb and how the lightbulb changed the face of commercialism," Benko said.
Here you'll see one word signs made for a walking public.
Lunch. Drugs. Shoes. Rooms.
At the start of the last century French engineer Georges Claude found commercial uses for neon, which is red, and argon, which is blue, in electrified tubes.
"But now inside of stained glass tubing we discover the first step forward that they had to make neon signs of all colors," Benko said.
A step forward that would eventually lead to space age signage.
"Now suddenly we're post World War 2," said Benko in a third gallery. "We're driving 40 to 70 miles an hour, or faster. If you could could catch somebody with a big red Pegaus from half a mile away, you didn't need words anymore. So symbols became much more important than words."
This massive museum has one more surprise upstairs, a re-created 50s era town in the ballroom.
"I wanted to show the practical uses of neon signs in their element," Benko said. "So you'll find signs for a dress shop, a barber shop, a drugstore and things like that."
You don't have to be here long before you get it. You understand why a guy like David Benko has devoted his life to chasing the light.
"The better the graphics, the better the sign," he said.
KING 5's Evening celebrates the Northwest. Contact us: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email.