The story of the New England Neon Sign Company began in Springfield in 1929. Sherman Bowles, of the family that owned the Springfield newspapers, started and built the neon sign manufacturing business into one of New England’s largest. The business remained in Springfield until the mid-1940s.
Advantages of using neon lighting include up to 90% savings in electricity costs and improved visibility when advertising business names.
The story of the company operating in Holyoke started in 1946 with Angelo Fedil Vanotti. Mr. Vanotti was born on November 5, 1899, in Sondrio, Italy. In 1909, his parents arrived with their family in Holyoke, where they resided at 84 Union Street. Union Street ran northerly from Lyman Street to the now-named Pulaski Park. It was one street east (below) of High Street.
Angelo Vanotti was listed as a painter in the mid-1920s, and by the early 1930s, as a sign painter working in Springfield. At the time, he lived with his wife, Esther V. (Daly), at 433 Elm Street. The 1936 Holyoke City Directory indicates he was a neon sign manufacturer, so he had learned the craft of making neon signs.
In 1946, Angelo Vanotti opened his New England Neon Sign Company shop at 163 Lyman Street. He also owned the company’s second location at 377 Dwight Street in Springfield.
On November 11, 1955, Mr. Vanotti suffered a mild stroke while watching the plane crash operations at Jones Point. Shortly thereafter, he retired from the business.
The business transitioned to John L. Burkhart and Julian A. Consolini, who were employees of the neon sign company. Incorporation papers were filed, and the Secretary of State accepted its new name as New England Sign, Inc.
The business was moved to 49 High Street, where it continued operating. The company was forced to relocate in the early 1970s due to Urban Renewal discontinuing High Street north of Lyman Street.
The company found a new home at 88 Ely Street in the late 1960s, but was again forced to relocate in 1973 to make way for the new Beaudry-Boucher apartments. Mr. Burkhardt had retired from the company in 1972.
New England Sign Company moved to 223 Commercial Street, south of Jackson Street, but that, too, proved short-lived when, in 1979, the company’s property was part of the land taking for the new Interstate 391’s Commercial Street offramp.
The company was instrumental in producing many signs of all sizes to celebrate Holyoke’s centennial in 1973 and the nation’s bicentennial in 1976. Commercial work included signage at Holyoke Plaza, featuring Big Y and Cinema One & Two on Northampton Street. The company also worked on projects at the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside.
The corporation voluntarily dissolved on September 30, 1980.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Price & Lee, Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories
U.S. Federal Census data
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