The colorful neon signs along Highway 290 east of Fredericksburg pull in passersby who just can’t resist slowing for Sue Fairman’s glowing array. Photo by Phil Houseal

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Mobile Neon is open daily year round from 9 to 9 except Tuesdays. Susan Fairman can be reached at 361-218-7658 or mobileneon@ymail.com.

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Neon Addiction

by Phil Houseal
May 12, 2010

You just can’t ignore them - the colorful neon signs glistening at the corner of Grapetown Road and US 290 east of Fredericksburg. The vibrant display looks like a tavern turned inside out. More than 100 designs glow with snappy, happy, and sometimes saucy messages.

Like a moth to flame, I finally had to stop one night just to see who was doing this, why, and how much was the palm tree and flamingo.

Susan Fairman welcomed me to Mobile Neon - Sue’s Place. She has been plugged in for two years, selling neon sculptures, wall art, clocks, bar signs and beer signs, flags, pennants, and banners. You’ll find frogs, flamingos, parrots, and palm trees, affinity signs for Texas universities, and even some lights that are a little bit naughty.

Fairman, who worked most of her career in the newspaper business around Victoria, now “lives on neon alone.”

“I started out as a customer,” she explained, “then I got the ‘neon addiction.’”

A friend of Fairman’s designed the display units, which are utility trailers on which the sides lift up to show a wall of neon signs. They are parked near the highway, and at night make an irresistible display. The setting up is handy - what used to take an hour and a half  now takes about six minutes.

When she first opened her shop, she heard from a lot of naysayers.

“Everybody in this business told me it wouldn’t work,” she said of selling neon by the road. But sapphire dolphin by lime green iguana, she is proving them wrong. “It’s not going to make me rich, but I make a living.”

Fairman’s customers are mostly tourists or people toodling through town. Some local residents are regulars, and make it a point to bring out guests at night just to gaze upon the glittery array.

Her main buyers range in age from 40s to 60s, but include all ages, on up to 90. Tastes vary. College kids like the beer signs. One 4-year-old talked his mom into buying “Live Nudes.”

Some mothers use the neon in their toddlers rooms or kitchens as nightlights. Men like to hang them up in garages and patios. The number one seller actually is “Man Cave.”

I myself have purchased two pieces - a Route 66 white neon clock for a silent auction that I may end up keeping for my bathroom, and a flamingo with palm tree that I have set on a timer to light up the window at the office every evening.

There is just something about neon that is addictive.

“Most people are tickled to death to see this - they say they have never come across anything like it before.”

The signs are real neon, and plug into any outlet. Prices start from $45 to $69 for clocks, ranging on up to several hundred for the larger bar signs. Fairman fully guarantees all her products.

That is, when she lets them go.