The Cocktail Glass Collection: The Ha-Ra Club, San Francisco

Another neon cocktail glass sign to add to my growing collection. (This is No. 21. For more, use the "The Cocktail Glass Collection" tab to the right.) This is the Ha-Ra Club, at 875 Geary St., in San Francisco. This one looks generic, just popped on top of the Ha-Ra sign.

[Update: In November 2017, I happened to drive by the place at night. Below is a shot of the sign lit.]

For more, click the "Cocktail Glass Collection" label at right at the top of the page.
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The Cocktail Glass Collection: The Washoe House

At the corner of Stony Point Rd. and Roblar Rd., to the west of Cotati, CA, sits The Washoe House, a run-down roadhouse dating back to 1859. Still a bar and restaurant, Washoe House has been an inn, a restaurant, a bar, and, according to Wikipedia, a butcher's shop as well as a post office and a community hall. It was a stage coach stop on routes between Petaluma and Santa Rosa. Ulysses S. Grant is said to have given a speech here once, but the Wikipedia article points out that no supporting evidence for the claim exists. I drove by the place at night tonight for the first time in many years, which afforded an opportunity to photograph the neon cocktail sign lit up--the latest addition to my growing collection of neon cocktail glass signs in front of bars. For more examples, use the "Cocktail Glass Collection" tab to the right.

The Cocktail Glass Collection: Pine Lodge Club, Pollock Pines, CA

A new addition to my growing collection of neon cocktail glass signs in front of bars. This one is up in the Sierras, in a little town called Pollock Pines. This one has an unusual flourish in the shape of the stem. The glass itself is unusually shallow. The arrow is a nice touch. It looks like a custom design. For more, use the "Cocktail Glass Collection" tab to the right.

The Cocktail Glass Collection: La Casa Bar and Restaurant, Sonoma, California

Walking around the plaza in the town of Sonoma last week I spied a neon sign with a cocktail glass in front of La Casa Bar and Restaurant (121 East Spain St.). It was daylight, but the sign was lit. This one has a very simple, stylized glass with no stirring stick, but a circle of citrus fruit appears to adorn the edge of the glass.

To see more in this series of photographs, click on the "cocktail glass collection" label at right.

The Cocktail Glass Collection: Murio's Trophy Room, San Francisco

On business in San Francisco recently I found myself with a little time to kill in the Haight. I came across Murio's Trophy Room, at 1811 Haight St. I snapped a photo of the bar's neon sign to add to my growing collection of photos of neon cocktail glasses in front of bars.

To see more in this series of photographs, click on the "cocktail glass collection" label at right.

The Cocktail Glass Collection: Negri's in Occidental, California

Negri's is a hotel in the small town of Occidental, California, in Western Sonoma County. The hotel has a bar with an old school neon sign out front. This example has a skewered cherry, I believe--the neon looks red, anyway. I suppose it's a Manhattan that sits atop the lettering.

To see more in this series of photographs, click on the "cocktail glass collection" label at right.

The Cocktail Glass Collection: The 500 Club, San Francisco

I found myself walking along Valencia St. in San Francisco yesterday, winding my way back to my car  after an appointment--a lot of interesting shops there. I walked a few blocks on 17th St. on my way back toward Dolores Park. At the corner of 17th and Guerrero, I spied The 500 Club, apparently a well-known dive bar, judging from Internet comments I found. I photographed the sign out front to add to my Cocktail Glass Collection--a collection of photos of the martini glass signs in front of bars I began last year (not very seriously--I just enjoy seeing good examples of variations on a theme). This one actually has two martini glasses incorporated into the sign--a large one in neon and other lights perched on top and a smaller all-neon glass at the bottom. Both have skewered cherries.

Click here to see it lit up at night--the top half anyway.

To see others in this series of photographs, click on the "cocktail glass collection" label. 

The Cocktail Glass Collection: Willi Bird's Restaurant, Santa Rosa (August 16, 2013)

Here's another addition to my small but growing collection of cocktail glass signs on bars that I see (this is number three). The glass pictured here is on the roof of Willi Bird's Restaurant, 1150 Santa Rosa Ave, in Santa Rosa, California. This is an example of a ready-made, mass produced design that appears on many bars. The custom signs are, of course, more interesting.

To see others in this series of photographs, click on the "cocktail glass collection" label. 

The Cocktail Glass Collection: The Distillery, Sacramento (July 26, 2013)

I visited Sacramento yesterday. Besides taking a walk around Old Sacramento (which is not devoid of interest, but mostly shops with tourist trash in them) and visiting Sutter's Fort, taking a peek at the Capital Building rotunda, and visiting the Crocker Museum of Art again, I photographed this martini glass bar sign, which belongs to a place called The Distillery (near 21st and L Streets). For some reason, I love these old-school martini glass advertising signs on bars.

To see others in this series of photographs, click on the "cocktail glass collection" label. 

[Update: This was only the second example in my collection of cocktail glass bar signs, which has ended up focusing on neon signs. I've decided to leave it here because it lights up, even if it's done with incandescent bulbs rather than neon tubes.]