McHahn's Neon Blade Sign
Object/Artifact
Vertical blade sign with open channel neon letters on painted aluminum.
Known as a “blade sign,” this sign’s shape is tall and skinny shape, and its text runs vertically. Vertical blade-style signs often projected at a 90-degree angle from a building’s facade and their versatile, street-level viewability was one of their many advertising strengths. Also, a projecting sign will often be double-faced, so that passersby may view from any side.
Blue-painted aluminum makes up the sign’s cabinet, and the wording is created with open-face channel letters. In this example of open-channel, the empty space within the three-dimensional block lettering is fitted with exposed neon tubing that illuminates the letters spelling the name of the business.
McHahn’s was a sportwear clothing store in downtown Cincinnati located at 7th and Race. After operating for more than 30 years, it closed around 2014 and the building was eventually redeveloped. This sign likely dates to the retailer’s earlier years in the mid-1970s.
2021.0004.0004
Permanent Collection
Metal — Neon-illuminated, Signs/Displays
Signs/Displays
1970-1979
Cincinnati
Ohio
Accent Signs & Graphics Blue Ash, Ohio
12 ft
2 ft
28 in
MetalneonPaint
Exhibit
Excellent
