Young Electric Sign Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO) is a privately owned manufacturer of electric signs based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The company has studios across the western US, including Boise, Idaho, and Las Vegas, and Sparks, Nevada.
It is the oldest and largest producer of electric signs in Las Vegas, Nevada. Along with competitors Ad-Art, Inc., FederalSign, Heath and Co. and Sign Systems Inc., YESCO has designed and produced many of the neon, incandescent, fluorescent, and digital signs which have helped define Fremont Street and the Las Vegas Strip.
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[edit] History
The company was created by Thomas Young on March 20, 1920.
In 1933, YESCO opened a branch office in the Apache Hotel in Las Vegas. The company erected the first neon sign in Las Vegas for the Boulder Club.[1]
[edit] Film History
YESCO's Las Vegas Boneyard has been used in numerous movies, television shows and music videos.
[edit] Boneyards
YESCO maintains boneyards at all of its branches.
[edit] Neon Boneyard - Las Vegas
More formally known as the Young Electric Sign Company's Neon Sign Graveyard,[2] YESCO maintains a storage yard of retired signs in Las Vegas in a fenced lot behind its headquarters that is not open to the public. The company has been instrumental in supporting the Neon Museum, which is dedicated to preserving the neon signs and associated artifacts of Las Vegas. The Neon Museum has now moved many of the signs from YESCO's lot to a new storage facility at the future home of the Neon Museum in Downtown Las Vegas, where they are awaiting restoration.
Some of the retired signs in the boneyard include the sign for the Silver Slipper casino and Aladdin's lamp from the first version of Aladdin Casino.
[edit] Designers
Some of YESCO's most prominent signage designers have included:
- Charles Barnard - designer of Vegas Vickie
- Rudy Christomo - designer of the Rio's column
- Dan Edwards - designer of Lucky the Clown of Circus Circus
- Jack Larsen Sr - designer of the Silver Slipper
- Kermit Wayne - designer of the Stardust
- Pat Denner - designer of the Vegas Vic and Wendover Vic
