The first ad I found which had both the “Borich” and “Texlite” names together was this one from 1923 for the Cloud-George Co., a women’s clothing boutique (1705 Elm) run by the somewhat notorious Miss A. Going back a couple of years, with the separate companies sharing ad space in the 1927 city directory:Īnd a photo of the Texlite building circa 1930: One of Texlite’s many theater clients was the Palace Theatre for whom they designed and installed a new electric sign in January, 1929 (at which time, by the way, the theater’s name was “officially” changed - however briefly - to the Greater Palace the theater was renovated and enlarged, with a new emphasis on the Elm Street entrance rather than the entrance on Pacific). I wondered where Factory Street was - here it is on a 1952 map - it looks like it was absorbed into a growing Love Field. Below are a couple of details, showing playful hints of Pegasus. I assume this 1940 sign was made by Texlite. 1949)īelow, the previous factory, located at 2900 Factory Street, also near Love Field:
![pegasus gay bar dallas pegasus gay bar dallas](http://www.michaeljoseph.com/wp-content/gallery/dallas/Eagle.jpg)
Grayson Gill is the architect, and O’Rourke Construction Company are the general contractors.” ( Dallas magazine, Feb. The new, two-story plant, providing 114,000 square feet of factory and office space, will provide facilities for trebling Texlite’s output. is being completed at 3305 Manor Way at a total of $1,000,000. In 1949 Texlite built a huge new factory in an industrial area near Love Field, at 3305 Manor Way. “It’s Time For a Spring Sign Cleaning.” (Click to see a larger image.)Īnd another ad, this one with a wonderful photo, from 1954. First, a great ad from 1949, when Pegasus was a fresh 15-year-old. Here are a few random images from the Borich/Texlite history.
As successful as Texlite was (and it was incredibly successful), what more important achievement could it have had than to have been the maker of our iconic Pegasus? I don’t know when Texlite went out of business (or was acquired and merged into another company). Wineburgh, who was also a Texlite partner/owner).ĭuring World War II, Texlite, like many manufacturers, jumped into war-production work, making airplane and ship parts during the Korean War they made bomber fuselages. The last time the Borich company name appeared in the Dallas directory was 1930 (when it looks like it became United Advertising Corporation of Texas, owned by Harold H. Borich retired in the 1920s and moved to Los Angeles after the death of his wife. The Borich sign company focused on painted or printed signs while Texlite handled the electric signs. Louis (their first neon sign in Dallas was a sign for the Zinke shoe repair store (1809 Main) which depicted an animated hammer tapping on a shoe heel). The Borich company eventually branched out (and eventually became Texlite, a separate entitity) to become a pioneer in electric and neon signs: in 1926 Texlite built and sold the first neon sign west of the Mississippi, in St.
![pegasus gay bar dallas pegasus gay bar dallas](https://dallasvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Frank.Holland.color_.2Pekers.jpg)
He appears to have been the go-to sign-painter for decades and was a very successful businessman. A very early location of his shop is said to have been on the current site of the Magnolia Building (and Pegasus), on Sycamore Street (now Akard). His obituary noted that he was a graduate of the Royal Italian Naval School and that he served in the Italian Merchant Marine before he arrived in Dallas, where he established the Borich Sign Co. Texlite’s roots went back to 1879 when Italian immigrant Peter Samuel Borich (1849-1932) arrived in Dallas. Texlite made many, many, many, many, MANY enamel, electric, and neon signs, including, most famously, the rotating Flying Red Horse - Pegasus - which arrived in Dallas in 1934 to sit atop the city’s tallest building, the Magnolia Petroleum Building, serving as a beacon, a landmark, and as a sort of city mascot. If you’re a lover of all-things-Dallas, you should know that name.