Vic Cassano’s Pizza King Metal & Neon Sign

Sign originally identified the Pizza King store near the corner of West Galbraith and Daly Road in Finneytown, Cincinnati. Pizza King is headquartered in Dayton, OH; the Finneytown location was one of two in Cincinnati, the other being part of the Fairfield area. Pizza King was known for its little square slices of pizza. Sign was removed by United-Maier Signs gratis; neon was removed prior to takedown to prevent breaking.

Good: All neon was removed before sign was taken down, so save for a few broken units, all of the neon was intact. The sign faces are porcelain enamel, but since there were areas where the porcelain was chipped, the sign was somewhat rusted. At some point, the sign was painted flat white.

Since the sign was to be installed inside the museum and against a wall, only one side of the sign was restored. Although the original neon was removed and saved, there was significant mercury-staining and/or thin powder on the coated tubes, so a number of tubes were re-made. The museum attempted to strip the flat white paint that had been applied to cover rust stains, mainly on the body of the figure, but three successive heavy coats of stripper did little to remove the paint, and it was decided to clean the faces and leave “as is.” The original pole was cut and a plate welded to anchor bolt the sign to the concrete floor of the museum.

12-17-2016: 7 repairs and remakes of neon tubes and restoration of electrical funcitonality @ a cost of $2,530.00

5-19-2017: Transformer replaced at a cost of $22.00 for labor

9-9-2017: Transformer replaced at cost of $22.00 for labor

1-27-2023: Transformer replaced at a cost of $56.00

8-31-2018: “Donisi” neon replaced at a cost of $290.00

5-10-2019: Leg and waist neon replaced at a cost of $220.00

3-6-2020: remake right legt/ left foot (his left foot) at a cost of $125.00