Down the street from the Valdivieso billboard in Chile’s capital city of Santiago is the Monarch neon billboard which has advertised Monarch’s socks and pantyhose for over 60 years!
This billboard comes from the makers of the Valdivieso sign: Luminosos Parragué. It was also erected at the same time as its sister sign in 1955. However, according to one article, the Monarch billboard has apparently had a few modifications over the decades and now has some modern lettering incorporated into the original 1950s lettering as well as a modern logo placed behind the 1950s design. There were also suggestions to incorporate LED technology into the sign in recent years which have been resisted by the Monarch company.
In 2010, the Monarch billboard was made a national monument by the Chilean government along with the Valdivieso billboard.
With any luck, the neon legs of the Monarch Billboard will continue to be a part of the city nightscape for many more years to come!
Sign Location:
Links:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_advertising_sign (The Monarch billboard at Wikipedia.)
- http://diario.latercera.com/2010/08/01/01/contenido/santiago/32-34163-9-monumentos-de-neon-que-se-salvaron-del-derrumbe.shtml (Article from La Tercera about the Monarch billboard, a history of the sign, and an interview with its current owner. Spanish language only.)
(Image copyright: Caro lopez. Used via Wikimedia Commons per CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)