Part of the vintage neon series. This one has been muggled a few times, so this is a redo. Nano. Use stealth. BYOP.
If you are you a neon enthusiast, you will love my vintage neon sign blog! Click HERE.
The store, founded in 1947 by Frank and Armida Pesqueira on Tucson’s westside, was a Barrio Hollywood institution. The family house was located about twenty feet behind the store and soon all six children, along with a slew of family relatives and neighborhood friends, began helping out.
Both sons, Frank Jr. and Art Pesqueira, remember spending hot and itchy summers peeling corn with their sisters and friends. The two brothers eventually took over the family business in 1975 and expanded. The horse stables, off to the side of the store, were traded for a parking lot.
For more than 60 years, the Pesqueira family created a store that became a community-gathering place, specializing in authentic Tucson barrio Mexican food. A place where friends and neighbors could run into each other and catch-up while they waited for their corn to be ground into masa for holiday tamales or their fresh corn tortillas to be made.
The Grande Tortilla Factory closed its doors in March 2009 but its legacy will always be remembered with a tiled mural, which sits beneath the I-10 underpass at St. Mary’s Road. (See waypoint) In the photo, Frank Sr., who passed away at the age of 99 on November 9, 2009, is standing between his two sons Frank Jr. and Art in front of the family store.
Reference: Arizona Public Media,story by Mathew Felix, June 30, 2010, https://www.azpm.org/s/4286-grande-tortilla-factory/