Palomino Motel, Tucumcari, New Mexico, December 1989

Images(2)

Palomino Motel, Tucumcari, New Mexico, December 1989

Artist Steve Fitch (American, born 1949)

DateNegative 1989, print 2021

MediumPigment print

DimensionsImage: 12 × 12 in. (30.5 × 30.5 cm)
Support: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)

ClassificationsPhotograph

Credit LineGift of Steve Fitch, 2021

Object number2021.10.14

DescriptionMotel sign rising behind cinderblock wall painted green. Shed or barn at left and partial view of a building, possibly the motel, at right, alongside roadway with cars. Sign features a brown horse bracing to stop with its mouth open and neon bars representing it exhaling or snorting, surrounded by a white cloud shape and the word “WHOA!” in red. Beneath are two horizontal panels, the first one dark or black with the word “Palomino” traced in neon tubes and the second is red with the word “MOTEL” traced in neon. Bare branches of a large tree are visible behind the sign.
eMuseum Notes

Emuseum Notes

Located on historic Route 66, the town of Tucumcari was once a transportation hub where rail and road travel converged and travelers were commonplace. This sign is from that heyday, showing a feisty pony bracing for a stop – its tail in the air, hooves planted, and four puffs of air coming out of its nostril – to spend the night at the Palomino Motel. Like many Route 66 motel signs, this one draws on familiar images of western Americana and employs a cartoonish humor to attract customers. Though many classic neon signs have deteriorated or been destroyed, this one was rescued after it was replaced by a plastic sign.

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