Roto Sphere - Route 66 - New Mexico
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Roto Sphere - Route 66 - New Mexico
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
This Roto-Sphere sign is located on Route 66 in Moriarty, New Mexico. It was installed above the El Comedor de Anayas Restaurant sometime in the 1960s, but after being out in the elements for 40+ years, it was almost paint-free and deteriorating badly. In 2002, it was chosen as one of the nine vintage Route 66 signs to be restored because of its rarity. El Comedor closed in 2013, but the building now houses an antique shop.
Star-like and sputnik-style signs were all the rage in the 1960s. There were many different styles with different arm lengths and numbers of arms. Most did not have neon and were simply eye-catching sign-toppers.
The Roto-Sphere signs were the most elaborate sputnik-style signs because they were lit and moved. Roto-Spheres had sixteen, eight-foot-long multi-colored aluminum spikes outlined in neon mounted on a ball that could spin in three directions. Mass-produced by Warren Milks from 1960-1971, he created 234 Roto-Sphere signs. Unfortunately, only twenty Roto-Spheres are known to remain today, and just ten are still on public display!
Copyright 2022 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
January 4th, 2022
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