Pieces of the Original Olneyville New York System Sign Are Now Up for Auction
Following the recreation of the iconic Rhode Island eatery's neon sign, locals now have the opportunity to bid on panels from the original.
Let the bidding wars begin! Panels from the original 1954 Olneyville New York System sign are now up for grabs. Co-owner Greg Stevens just listed four panels up for auction on eBay. Once the four panels (two say Eat, and two say New York System) have been claimed after the auction runs for seven days, the the historic hot wieners eatery will then donate 100 percent of the proceeds to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. Stevens will also list a separate neon Olneyville New York System sign on eBay later today.
“One panel is already at $1,425 and we’re only twelve hours in,” says Olneyville New York System co-owner, Greg Stevens. “It’s insane. A lot of people are really into this stuff and they collect signs.”
Stevens chose to auction off the sign panels for a good cause because they were just sitting in his garage. He was trying to decide on a good home for them. We previously discussed Providence City Hall or the airport, but neither location panned out. He wanted to find a way to share the sign with Rhode Island. “It’s a piece of Rhode Island history. It’s something millions of people have seen over the sixty-five years the sign had been up there,” he says. “And it was just sitting in my garage, looking at me, and I was looking at it. I could have put them in my office, but I thought, let someone else enjoy them, and the sale of the signs can benefit a great cause such as the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.”
Giving back to the food bank is the System’s way of sharing the sign with the community. The food bank supplies 143 food pantries across the state with food. “I chose the Rhode Island Community Food Bank as the beneficiary because what better way to help the whole community during these tough economic times?” Stevens says. “I know what it’s like at the grocery store… The cost of groceries has doubled.”
The eBay pages cover the signs’ dimensions as well as pickup and delivery options so locals can plan accordingly before placing their bids. If you’re interested in taking a piece of Rhode Island history home, be sure to watch the Olneyville New York System Facebook for updates as the auction progresses. Stevens still has two panels remaining and he’s deciding what to do with them. He says he doesn’t have space for one to be displayed inside the restaurant.
The reason the original sign is up for auction in the first place is because the sign deteriorated beyond repair. In July of 2021, Stevens learned the original, sixty-seven-year-old neon sign from 1954 had disintegrated so much that it could not be restored. Removing the neon would not save the iconic marker.
But bad news turned into good when they enlisted Providence Painted Signs to recreate it. “I always say how I think the secret to our success is keeping everything the same,” says owner Greg Stevens. “I was scared that its replacement wouldn’t be the same.”
Stevens consulted with Shawn Gilheeney from Providence Painted Signs about what it would take to replicate the sign. Gilheeney tapped a group of local craftspeople to help, including neon techs Elizabeth Potenza and Geometric Folk. Neon fabrication was commissioned to Nebula Neon in Brooklyn, New York. Welding company Old Bristol Line Fabrication Company facilitated the work on the frame, and the Wurks wood, metal and print shop completed the aluminum fabrication. Steel Giraffe crane moved the original ten-foot, 600-pound behemoth and installed the new one.
As the new sign was hoisted up to its rightful place in 2022, Gilheeney felt a sense of relief. “It was something I had been obsessing over to make sure it came out right,” he says. “It’s our mission to preserve sign painting as an art form and keep the tradition alive.”
The switch flipped and the sign lit up again. Customers might not even notice anything has changed. “That first night the neon came back on, I was spellbound by how much it looked like the original,” Stevens says.
Now proceeds from the original sign will help feed the hungry. Place your bid here.
18 Plainfield St., Providence, 401-621-9500, olneyvillenewyorksystem.com
