Mystery Solved: Why Do Some Neon Signs Have Big Rods?

If you love neon signs as much as we do, you may have noticed some have rods protruding from them.

Come to find out, before there were cherry-pickers and other wonders of modern technology, those rungs were used by repairmen to climb up and replace bulbs and the like.

Vintage Vegas. The sign for the Hacienda Hotel, imploded in 1997.
The sign for the Hacienda Hotel, imploded in 1997.

More useless Vegas facts: The Hacienda was originally called the Lady Luck. Downtown, there’s a hotel formerly called Lady Luck, which will soon re-open as Downtown Grand. The Hacienda site is now occupied by Mandalay Bay. Yes, there will be a quiz.

Now you know!