Skip to main content

Great Neon in Stroud

Snapped this on a recent Sunday ride to Stroud, Oklahoma.

Skyliner Motel in Stroud, OklahomaThe Skyliner Motel is still operating here on the Old Road. The neon sign is fully functional, beckoning travelers driving both Route 66 and the Interstate. It's located at the junction of Route 66 and OK-99, near the point we Okies call Midway.

The distinctive chevron shape was a popular element on Postwar signs. But unlike many of its swoopier contemporaries this sign has a uniquely vertical design. The stacked elements are neat and tidy with emphasis placed on the most important text: MOTEL.

But look a little closer and you'll be rewarded with another jewel of mid-century signage. At the bottom of the structure is a tag from the builder, Tuny Monday. It's a great little sign on its own:

Jackie was fascinated by the signmaker's little sign and did some research. Turns out Tuny Monday is a neon sign maker and apparently is still in business in Oklahoma City. But he was also a competitive body builder!

The August 1962 issue of Iron Man magazine reports he won the Junior Mr. America title with "
a very unusual physique in that he weighs but 150 at about 5'5" height and has a most amazing definition." Maybe his physique was the product of climbing up and down neon signs?

If you'd like to see Tuny Monday's handiwork for yourself just head for the midpoint between Tulsa and Oklahoma City on Route 66. Or, if traveling on I-44, take the Stroud exit. The Skyliner is barely a quarter mile off the turnpike at the corner of 8th Avenue and Main Street. While you're in town, drop by the Rock Cafe and enjoy some of Oklahoma's best road food!


Comments

The Recent Past

Oklahoma State Capitol Bank

On the Trail of Julius Shulman: Stop 2 "This is a bank," the sign outside the futuristic building read. According to legend a prankster added a strategic question mark and echoed the sentiment of many passers-by: "This is a bank?" That was back in 1964 when it opened. Today the Arvest on Lincoln Boulevard looks a bit less Jetsonian, mostly due to replacement of structural glass below the "saucers," but it's still an unusual bank. Designed by Robert Roloff of the architectural firm Bailey, Bozalis, Dickinson & Roloff, the State Capitol Bank caused quite a stir in Oklahoma City when it opened. Heck, it's still pretty shocking today! Originally the flying saucers appeared to hover above the building (as seen in this vintage postcard). All the glass that made that effect possible also made heating and cooling an expensive proposition. Security concerns also mandated replacement of those windows with solid materials and small square portholes

Visit to the Prairie Chicken House

This unique house on the edge of Norman, Oklahoma is known to most as the prairie chicken house. Designed by Herb Greene in 1960, he preferred to call it simply the Prairie House .  Thanks to the  Prairie House Preservation Society  (PHPS) it is now possible for the public to experience one of Oklahoma's most unusual architectural treasures. 

The Bruce Goff House in Vinita

We were recently surprised to learn about a Goff-designed home just an hour away from Tulsa in Vinita, Oklahoma. Vinita is probably best known to OK Mod readers as the home of the Glass House on I-44, also known as (shudder) the World's Largest Largest McDonalds . Anywho, turned out the Goff house was on the market, and the owner was more than happy to let us have a look around. We took a short drive up the turnpike one Sunday afternoon to meet the realtor, snap some pictures, ask some questions and enjoy another one of Bruce Goff's unique creations. The home is known as the Adams House and was built in 1961. The 3,700 square foot home is arranged in a circular floor plan with a large sunken "conversation pit" at the center. Rising up from this pit is a large metal fireplace, its chimney surrounded by skylights, which dominates the entire house. Rooms surround the perimeter with folding accordion doors acting as walls. To maintain some semblance of privacy an inner