Post #491471 by quickiki on Mon, Nov 2, 2009 11:14 AM

I know, Bigbro, I was pretty upset myself when I heard what they had done to their archives. They should have at least offered it to the city of Stockton, especially considering the historical significance, but Ad Art in the last years of existence was acquired by a large corporation that also held various other sign companies around the country. Their big push into the LED market was ultimately their undoing after a couple of very large projects ended disastrously. The corporation hired an outside firm to liquidate their properties, who obviously had no interest in preserving history, but to get every last buck out of the building as part of their bankruptcy agreement. If they felt that it had no monetary value, they simply threw it out. They were ruthless knuckleheads, but welcome to the world of big business.

On a brighter note, Betty Willis got her moment of fame when they saved her beloved Las Vegas sign and gained national notice as the designer. She even got to see her sign transformed into a popular Vegas miniature novelty item. I hope she's making some money off of it. Lord knows she deserves some recognition for her talent.