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Lost & Found: One Winking Elf
September 2016
By Dan Soderberg
 Courtesy Dan Soderberg |
It is historic landmark number 239 on the City of San Diego Register of Historical Sites. But one day it simply vanished! Poof! Gone! How does a historic landmark suddenly disappear?
Historic neon signage is a particularly vulnerable type of cultural resource. What if a new storefront tenant or building owner, not realizing they possessed a landmarked historic neon sign, saw nothing more than an old, weathered non-functioning piece of junk? Especially if it hangs over a business that doesn't exist there anymore? It might just end up in the dumpster.
That appeared to be the scenario to regular passersby of the former site of Chito's Shoe Repair on University Avenue in North Park. The winking, hammering neon elf they were accustomed to seeing was simply gone one day.
The Wink's Shoe Repair neon sign, formerly at 2911 University Avenue, "is a unique, historical, animated neon sign, particularly beloved by the people of North Park for … decades. There is none other like it in the city," reads the City's historic designation report.
Wink's sign is "a rare example of the technology and craftsmanship of neon sign making in the 1940s and 1950s," the report continues. "The sign is unique because the animation and neon tube bending techniques employed at the time of its construction are virtually lost arts today. The sign was a one-of-a-kind creation and embodies the creativity and skill which would classify this form of sign making as a work of art."
The sign was created for Wink's Shoe Repair, which opened downtown in 1949. The business moved to North Park, along with the neon sign, in 1960. On the sign we see an elf hammering on a shoe with his arm and hammer moving through 3 positions. When he strikes the shoe, a neon spark flies into the elf's eye-causing him to "wink."
In 1962, the neon continued shining when the store became Dituri's Shoe Repair, then later Shoe Palace, and finally Chito's Shoe Repair. Chito's relocated nearby recently but the historic resource was required to remain in place.
Disappearance of such an inspired landmark would not go unnoticed. City departments of planning and code enforcement were called into action. Jodie Brown of the City's Historical Resources staff was persistent in tracking down the missing neon and having it returned to its rightful place.
Also involved in that concerted effort to return the vintage sign were the North Park Business Improvement District and the North Park Historical Society. Kudos to everyone-the sign was reinstalled with lit neon featuring the elf brightly working on a shoe for the first time in a very long time. While all the neon has been re-lit, you have to be very patient to see the animated feature of the sign. What was once a lively motion of the hammer striking the shoe now takes several minutes. And the eye doesn't wink at us anymore.
But as SOHO member George Franck of North Park reminds us, "We're just lucky it's back and mostly lit." The City and BID staff worked hard to put the "Wink's" back in North Park.
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