Some of my most popular posts feature night photos of neon light. And with good reason, there’s nothing more striking than a colorful neon sign lit up in all its glory. This is one of the more famous and enduring neon signs in Los Angeles: the 32-foot clown outside of Circus Liquor at 5600 Vineland Ave, North Hollywood. It was installed in the 1960s, and made famous by its appearance in 1995’s “Clueless.” This photo was taken in 2010 by Mark Peacock (markpeacockphotography.com) and is featured in a new book about the history of neon, called “Neon – A Light History” by Dydia Delyser and Paul Greenstein. It has been published as a not-for-profit project to benefit MONA, the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, California. It’s a marvelous history of the development and impact of an invention that we sometimes take for granted but which has made our lives that much brighter. You can buy it on the Museum’s website.

The cover of the book features a rendering of the glorious neon sign out front of the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Blvd.

The Circus Liquor clown by day, May 2019: