The Museum of Neon Art has acquired a big piece of history from America’s first theme park. The neon spectacular is a double-sided capital K for Knott’s Berry Farm that features serifs and a sweeping curve. It is 20-feet tall with a base measuring 10 feet by 12 feet, and was animated to fill with yellow neon row-by-row. The illuminated K logo was erected during America’s bicentennial in 1976 and sat high atop the Sky Tower and the park’s Sky Jump parachute thrill ride. The beacon was a landmark in Orange County and was aimed specifically toward drivers approaching Knott’s on the eastbound 91 Freeway. The sign was inaugurated with the debut of the Roaring ’20s Airfield. 

After the removal of the nearby Movieland Wax Museum neon spectacular (portions of which were saved by the Museum of Neon Art), Knott’s neon K is the last of the Orange County neon spectaculars. In honor of the Farm’s 100th anniversary, the iconic neon K was replaced with a replica, K-shaped LED screen, which displayed animated color and imagery. A video of the animated LED can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV1mpdZmnDA. This sign acquisition was arranged between Knott’s Berry Farm and MONA by Museum Board President Eric Lynxwiler, who has been an advocate for neon preservation, Los Angeles history and Knott’s Berry Farm history for over three decades.

Lynxwiler said, “My earliest memories of neon signs can be traced to the shops and attractions of Knott’s Roaring ’20s themed landscape. I only recognized in my adulthood that my interest in neon and the history of Knott’s Berry Farm combined in that one glowing era of my youth when a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm not only meant great food and roller coasters, but also magnificent neon signs. I can name almost every neon sign in the colorful Roaring ’20s, but today we only have this one enormous survivor, the neon K from atop the Sky Tower. I’m overjoyed that the Museum of Neon Art can be a caretaker for this icon of Buena Park and Southern California’s beloved theme park.”

Knott’s Berry Farm historian and author Chris Merritt added, “As a longtime fan and historian of Knott’s Berry Farm, I couldn’t be more delighted that Eric Lynxwiler and the entire team at MONA were able to preserve the iconic, original neon K that once stood atop the 200-foot tall Sky Tower.”

According to Merritt, it was designed by park art director Rick Campbell and Marion Knott as part of the Roaring ’20s Airfield expansion in 1976, and was situated to provide Orange County denizens views from both the 5 and 91 freeways.

“While the current K replicates the look of the original using LED technology, saving the 1976–2020 neon sign from the scrapyard is a wonderful achievement, and will allow future generations to have a close-up encounter with an important piece of Orange County history,” Merritt said.

“This is a historic acquisition for the Museum in terms of size as well as historical significance,” said MONA Executive Director Corrie Siegel. “The K joins our collection of mid-century Anaheim motel signs that once beckoned to Disneyland visitors. By entering this giant into our collection, we are preserving an iconic symbol of America’s first theme park and Southern California’s influential theme park industry.”