How do sign makers get other colors?

Using argon, mercury and coated tubes

Neon Museum Quiz: Las Vegas Boneyard Signs and Glass Tubes

This Neon Museum quiz wanders the outdoor Boneyard of retired Las Vegas signs. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on its 1996 founding, the Boneyard opening in 2012, the La Concha Motel lobby designed by Paul Revere Williams, signs from the Stardust and Moulin Rouge, why neon glows red, how other colors are made and restored signs on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Start Neon Museum Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

City
Which city is the Neon Museum in?
Founded
When was the Neon Museum founded?
Yard
What is the museum's outdoor sign field called?
Open
When did the Boneyard open to the public?
Lobby
Which building serves as the visitor center?
Architect
Who designed the La Concha lobby?
Color
What color does pure neon gas glow?
Blue
How do sign makers get other colors?
Signs
Which famous casino's sign is in the collection?
Street
Where have restored signs been placed for viewing?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which city is the Neon Museum in?
Answer: Las Vegas
It is north of the Strip.
Q2: When was the Neon Museum founded?
Answer: 1996
It began to save old signs.
Q3: What is the museum's outdoor sign field called?
Answer: The Boneyard
Visitors take guided tours.
Q4: When did the Boneyard open to the public?
Answer: 2012
Tours sell out at night.
Q5: Which building serves as the visitor center?
Answer: The old La Concha Motel lobby
Its shell-like roof was moved there.
Q6: Who designed the La Concha lobby?
Answer: Paul Revere Williams
He was a pioneering Black architect.
Q7: What color does pure neon gas glow?
Answer: Red-orange
Other colors use other gases or coatings.
Q8: How do sign makers get other colors?
Answer: Using argon, mercury and coated tubes
Phosphor coatings change the light.
Q9: Which famous casino's sign is in the collection?
Answer: Stardust
Many signs came from closed resorts.
Q10: Where have restored signs been placed for viewing?
Answer: Along Las Vegas Boulevard
They form an outdoor gallery.

Glowing Glass and the Signs of Old Vegas

The Neon Museum in Las Vegas was founded in 1996 to save the city's vintage signs from the scrap heap. Its outdoor Boneyard, opened to the public in 2012, holds hundreds of retired signs from casinos, motels and shops, including pieces from the Stardust and the Moulin Rouge.

The visitor center is the restored lobby of the La Concha Motel, a shell-shaped building designed by Paul Revere Williams, a pioneering Black architect, and moved to the site. Guided tours, especially after dark, explain the history behind each sign and the designers who made them.

Pure neon gas glows red-orange when electricity passes through it. Sign makers create other colors with argon, mercury and tubes coated with phosphors. Several restored signs now stand along Las Vegas Boulevard as an outdoor gallery, keeping the glow of old Vegas alive.

What This Quiz Teaches

Design fans will enjoy these questions.

When the museum began
What the Boneyard holds
Which building it uses
How neon works
Where restored signs stand

Did You Know?

Many signs were built by the Young Electric Sign Company.
Bending neon tubes is a skilled craft.
Some signs in the Boneyard no longer light up.
A light show projects animations onto old signs.
Weddings and photo shoots are held among the signs.