Signs of the Times - December 2012 - 14

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
By Darek Johnson

Darek Johnson is ST’s Senior Technology Editor/Analyst. Email him at darek.johnson@stmediagroup.com

Albuquerque’s KiMo Theatre Sign
Pueblo-Deco signage and architecture – an American design phenomenon

Most American-made Mexican food was invented north of the
border and isn’t genuinely Mexican – chimichangas, for example. Possibly the worst attempt is Taco Bell’s mock recipes that approximate the luxuriant Tex-Mex cookery from the Texas/ Mexico region. True spicy-food connoisseurs acknowledge, also, that authentic Tex-Mex is different

from California’s Mexican cuisine (Left Coasters prefer more fresh vegetables and less meat), which is different from my favorite – New Mexico dishes spiced with red, native chilies, the sweet ones grown in nearby mountain gardens. American Mexican food is always best when served at the tables of Mexican-owned restaurants; it’s

Photo by Melissa Lee

The 24 x 5 x 12-in. blade sign and logo feature clear-red neon borders and single-tube, Clear Gold II exposed neon atop the 4-in.-deep channel letters, which are painted gold/ yellow (PMS 143c). The burgundy (PMS 188c) aluminum sign box features a black outline with a ½-in.-wide, gold-yellow stripe. On the fascia side, note the three, double, 3-in. square-tube supports (six total). 14 SIGNS OF THE TIMES / DECEMBER 2012 / www.signweb.com

somehow even better if browneyed niños are working on homework – tareas – in a back booth. The presence of children indicates that busy mothers and grandmothers are overseeing the kitchen. In Albuquerque, you’ll find such particulars in Garcia’s Kitchen on Central Ave. I was on my way there, in July, when I spotted the KiMo Theatre blade sign. The KiMo Theatre, located on Central Ave., aka historic Route 66, is a primary downtown landmark. Designed by architect Carl Boller and built in 1927, the theatre’s Pueblo-Deco design blends artdeco, pueblo-adobe and SpanishMoorish architecture. Possibly, the KiMo may be the best standing example of Pueblo-Deco architecture, although the La Fonda Hotel’s (Santa Fe) sophisticated interior offers keen competition. “KiMo” comes from a Tewa Indian word. It means the best of its kind – a king, for example. It also translates to “mountain lion,” which, in the feral Southwest, certainly associates with kingliness. Albuquerque residents believe the name fits the theatre and their city. The Pueblo-Deco trend started with Gallup, NM’s El Navajo Hotel that presently serves as Gallup’s Amtrak station. That hotel’s architectural concept started with hotelier Fred Harvey. He conceived the El Navajo at the end of WWI as, he said, the “last great railway hotel”. To complete his concept, he hired California School of Design graduate/ architect Mary Jane Colter and she, in turn, initiated the Pueblo-Deco archetype. Eleven of Colter’s buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places. She designed the Grand Canyon National Park’s recognized Bright Angel, Hermit’s Rest, Hopi House, Lookout Studio and Watch-

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Signs of the Times - December 2012

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