Jarrell Company, 2651 Fondren, Dallas, Texas.

I vividly remember seeing this sign lit-up when I was kid. It's neon tubing is in pretty bad shape now. I would imagine that repair costs have deterred the company from keeping it operational. This sign must be 100 feet off the ground. The "spike ball" on the top is called a Roto-Sphere. If you look at the large version of the left image above you can see that the sign has deteriorated pretty badly over the years. Panels have fallen off and wire is hanging out of it. One interesting thing that I didn't notice until I took these photos is that there is an extension ladder mounted onto what appears to be a tilt-up frame on top of the main section of the sign. The ladder must be for servicing the neon tubes on the Roto-Sphere. There are a few of Roto-Spheres still in use today but obviously the one on the Jarrell sign hasn't operated in a long time. To see an info-packed page on Roto-Spheres check out this link. http://www.agilitynut.com/sca/roto.html
The Jarrell Company is an appliance company that has been at this location since 1964.
Click images to see larger.



The Jarrell Company also has a small sign on their building. The small sign has a somewhat older look than the wacky space-age look of the large sign. The right above photo of the Roto-Sphere shows how much it has deteriorated over the years. It actually has a neon transformer hanging out of what must be a missing service access panel.