Neon Lady takes final dive

(See Note added 10/25/10 below)

Mesa Arizona's Main Street is an eclectic mix of various cultural metaphors. On one hand, the congested stop-and-go thoroughfare is a throwback to the kitschy mid-century icons of pre-interstate America. On the other hand, today's Main Street reeks of all of the obnoxious, annoying detritus of urban decay. A few fading icons of the Dina Shore Daze share space on this strip with loan shark shops, Mexican tiendas and sleezy used car dealers. What were once proud, modern motels have now become fading sepia halftones of their former selves.


This week's amazing storms brought a final end to one of Mesa's most enduring and loved Main Street signs--the famous Neon Diving Lady. Yep, she's gone. Flattened amid a spray of millions of tiny glass shards. At least she went out in spectacular fashion. Pity the poor sign who's final day is dangling on a crane cable while destined for the oblivion of some forlorn scrap heap.

We've always admired the Diving Lady. There are no signs left on Main Street that come as close to the neon grandeur and prim dignity she displayed. She was tireless in her performances, always hitting the blue neon pool with such perfection. She never complained. She never sought out coveted sports endorsement contracts. Even if she never won any awards, she will always reside in the Hall of Fame of Fabled Neon Signs.


Thankfully, a few people were caring and thoughtful enough to enshrine The Diving Lady forever on YouTube. The video shown above had only a mere 50 views when I found it this morning. One can only imagine how many views it will have over the many years to come as the lore of The Diving Lady becomes yet another urban legend.


The Arizona Republic carried the story of The Diving Lady's demise in the October 9th edition. We printed it to PDF and have stored it for posterity on our Google Docs site. You can click here to read it.

NOTE added 10/25/10--The Diving Lady Sign Saga continues! Efforts are underway to restore the sign.  Click here to read all about it.