Hangin' out at JB's Corner Bar

JB's is the local watering hole. When the sun goes down, the joint lights up. In addition to the double-sided illuminated sign on the corner of the building, there are neon signs in the establishment's windows, a light over the entrance, and a soft glow from behind the door. It's based on the kind of bars that populate the area around Trenton, New Jersey; the windows are frequently filled in with stucco-covered wood, and odd little openings are left for signs, usually above eye-level, as if the patrons prefer not to be seen...

The illuminated sign contains six axial-lead microbulbs soldered to a pair of intertwining brass rods that pass through holes in the building wall to form the support brackets, as shown at left. This assembly is sandwiched between two sheets of frosted acetate to diffuse the light. The graphic was created on a computer using an old drawing program and photocopied onto overhead projection material. Everything fits into a frame made of Plastruct channel stock that's painted black and well-rusted.

The light over the entrance is a microbulb inside a short length of brass tubing. The tubing was cut by rolling it under a sharp knife, which produced an angled edge with a slight fillet, resulting a perfect fixture shape. It was glued into a hole drilled in the overhang with CA and left unpainted. The bulb was painted white to simulate a milky glass enclosure before being inserted into the tubing from above.

Life within the bar is suggested by the silhouette of a person inside. A microbulb aimed at the door casts the shadow of a Preiser figure on the door window, which is ripple glass simulated with textured acetate. This effect proved quite difficult to photograph; the long exposure caused the shadow to blur and lighten. It looks better in person. It has inspired an idea for a new animated effect: mounting several figures on a pair of discs that slowly rotate at different speeds to cast moving shadows across the window. Someday I may have the time to give this a try!

The neon signs were made by Quality Products of Castro Valley, California (now defunct, I believe). They are lit using red colored microbulbs instead of the supplied white lights because the dye they applied to the etched pattern did not result in a satisfyingly strong color. By the way, the BEER sign looks like it's on its way out—it flickers randomly the way dying neon signs do. This effect is created by powering the lamp through a deliberately unreliable wiper rubbing on the shaft of the motor that turns the fan in the window upstairs.

Image specs: These images were captured with a Canon 20D digital SLR and a 50mm prime lens. The close-ups were made using various extension tubes.

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