You’ll never see us: The Denver family business preserving neon
DENVER — An electrical hum greets you when you walk into Glen Weseloh’s shop. Instead of overhead fluorescent lights, neon signs hang from the ceilings, coloring the room in a summer-night, county-fair glow.
“Our shop just has that sexy atmosphere where people just say, ‘wow,’ as soon as [neon] lights up. It’s fun,” said Glen Weseloh, owner of Morry’s Neon.
At the neon shop, Weseloh, 70, and his crew of neon tube benders continue to preserve the historical relevance and art of neon signage.
Morry’s Neon — named after Weseloh’s late father, Morry Weseloh — was a father-and-son endeavor that opened in 1985. After serving in World War II, Morry learned how to bend neon with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. At age 65, after leaving the union, Morry teamed up with his son, Glen, to open the shop.
“My dad used to say that neon contributed to longevity,” Weseloh said.
Morry worked at the shop until six weeks before his death at 85. Weseloh said the work gave him and his dad a shared purpose.
“During this time, [neon] got into my blood,” Weseloh said.
Morry’s Neon clients range from bigger chains like Target and Safeway to local bars and restaurants.
Neon lights consist of a glass tube filled with neon gas. Through heat and air, master benders can manipulate the tube, creating the intricate designs and letters synonymous with the signage at dive bars and theater marquees. Neon benders use phosphorus coatings to change the lights’ colors, with more than 70 possible shades.
The 1920s through the 1960s is considered the golden age of neon in the United States. Neon signs populated thoroughfares in big cities as businesses tried to draw in customers.
“A local architect here in Vegas refers to it as ‘the attention arms race.’ Each sign is fighting to say ‘No, no, no, look at me,’” said Aaron Berger, executive director of The Neon Museum in Las Vegas.
On Colfax Avenue, many hotels and businesses still have neon signs up today, but it’s a far cry from the street’s heyday, Weseloh said. The hundreds of flashing neon signs that used to line the streets have been replaced by LED signs and billboards.
The team at Morry’s Neon maintains many remaining signs on Colfax. Last year, the team worked on the newly renovated sign at the reopened La Vista Motel located on Colfax.
In the ’60s, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson believed that outdoor advertising was out of control and championed the Highway Beautification Act, leading to the curtailment of neon signage.
Berger said many people also started to move on from neon because it looked dated. Businesses opted for newer lighting technology to look more modern, Berger said.
LED lighting is more energy efficient and cheaper to manufacture. But they lack a lot of the charm that neon provides, Weseloh said.
While most research points to LED being durable and easily repairable, both Berger and Weseloh argue that neon is a natural product and lasts longer than LED when built well.
“If you think about Las Vegas weather we have, 120 degree summers, below freezing winters, monsoons and windstorms and all these other fun things that too — but the tube remains intact. There is no reason why, [neon] couldn’t go on forever,” Berger said.
From the glass to the gas, Weseloh still has neon signs that his dad made decades ago, still going strong with proper maintenance. LED also emits light from one direction, while neon emits a 360 degree light.
To neon enthusiasts, bending the tubes is a heritage artform, as neon production remains largely unchanged since its inception.
“If neon pieces are lost, destroyed or not cared for, then you’re really losing history,” Berger said.
Dust rests on signs and tools in Weseloh’s shop, where he sketches designs and measures the lengths of glass tubes. To a first-time visitor, the shop can be overwhelming and cluttered.
To Weseloh, however, it’s his natural habitat.
“It's like giving birth to a sign. You got your blood, sweat and tears into it, and it just becomes part of your life,” Weseloh said.
Business hasn’t changed much since the 80s, and neon isn’t dying, Weseloh said. He still gets regular clients. He has worked on thousands of signs and still believes there are a hundred in Colorado that are in a position to be restored and “brought back to their original glory.”
“Neon will be here forever, you know, it’s not going to go away,” Weseloh said. “We definitely need that younger generation to step up and keep it going, take care of it and keep it in our world today.”
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