In a city that prides itself on living in the past through rows of historic downtown buildings and shops, the aging neon chicken sign on Petaluma’s main thoroughfare seems to perfectly fit the aesthetic.
The yellow neon chick perched above the words “restaurant” and “the hatchery” on the rust-colored sign is something of an unofficial landmark on Petaluma boulevard — a vestige of the days when the city called itself the “egg capitol of the world.” But just like the city’s egg industry, the sign’s glory days were long ago.
“Gradually the neon has disintegrated,” said Mamie Strong, who inherited the sign along with the historic Poehlmann Hatchery-turned business complex from her late husband. “There’s only one small piece of his back right now that lights up.”…