Le Lido de Paris logo and neon sign
The largest Kalligraphia ever made? Originally a cabaret and burlesque show from Paris, Le Lido was brought to the Stardust Las Vegas in the late 1950s. Around 1968 (and likely after 1966), the show got a new logo and neon sign in the distinctive cursive, with alternating letter colors.
The Stardust edition of Le Lido closed in 1991. The remains of the illuminated sign can be found in the Neon Museum’s Neon Boneyard.
I haven’t found a picture that shows this neon sign with yellow, orange, blue and green letters installed at its original location yet. Most pictures show a version with a violet L, underneath the big Stardust sign. (According to Vintage las Vegas, at “188 feet, the display designed by Paul Miller, built by Ad Art, held the title to world’s tallest electric sign for more than a decade.”) Sometime after 1973 and before 1979, a second, slightly larger “Lido” sign with a red or pink L was added on top of the first one. These were still in place in 1990.
Early 1970s postcard.
“Stardust presents Le Lido de Paris” program, 1969. “Presents” is in Lydian, the rest is lettering.
Ad from 1968.
The Stardust in 1969.
Postcard from 1981 (with text is set in Univers). “Siegfried & Roy” uses lettering based on Kalligraphia, too. See also this image for a giant Siegfried & Roy sign in Kalligraphia.
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The launch of Le Lido at the Stardust “started a series of imports of Parisian cabaret shows to Las Vegas: Folies Bergère to the Tropicana, Nouvelle Eve to Hotel El Rancho Vegas and Casino de Paris to the Dunes.” – Wikipedia.
In 1971, the Folies Bergère show, which ran from 1959 to 2009, used Kalligraphia for their logo, too. A sign from 1981 shows lettering that is – loosely – based on this typeface.
Steve Siwinski from the Neon Museum shares some great news:
You can read more about the relighting in two articles by the Las Vegas Review Journal: “Iconic Vegas sign to be revived at Neon Museum” and “A very Vegas proposal lights up Neon Museum event”.
The Neon Museum has shared a set of photos showing the reilluminated sign on Flickr.