1958 Buster Brown Neon Sign
Pocatello, Bannock County
- Grants: 2019 – Repair and installation of the sign
Location: N42 degrees 51.7277’ W112 degrees 27.0025’
The iconic Buster Brown Shoes sign originally hung on the side of Hudson’s Shoe Store on the corner of Center and Main Streets from 1958 to 1975. Buster Brown was a beloved comic strip character first introduced in 1902 and became the mascot for the Brown Shoe Company in 1904. Hudson’s Shoes was a downtown Pocatello fixture for decades and was especially treasured for its children’s department, replete with merry-go-round and hobby horses, as well their Christmas shoe giveaway for the underprivileged. The sign was recently rediscovered in the basement of the Pioneer Block Building and donated to Relight the Night, Old Town Pocatello’s continuing initiative to repair and preserve neon signs throughout the historic downtown area. The sign sits atop a 16’ pole less than 100 feet from its original placement and is one of more than a dozen signs Relight the Night has brought back to life since 2013.
