It was an icon of the Gold Coast in Australia, synonymous with the glitzy allure of a surfing paradise. The hotel it represented was located on the corner of Fern Street and the Gold Coast Highway in Queensland, but most folks just looked for the Pink Poodle neon sign. The hotel built in 1967 doesn’t exist anymore, but the sign was preserved and relocated a short distance away where it now sits atop a bar and restaurant called (wait for it) The Pink Poodle. “The Mixed Breed Bar and Grill” just doesn’t pack the same punch, does it?
In 2005, the National Trust of Queensland nominated the sign to be one of Queensland’s Heritage Icons, and ten years later, it appeared on a postage stamp issued by the Australian Post as part of its Signs of the Times series. Australia Post philatelic manager, Michael Zsolt, says the sign was chosen as a nod to the Gold Coast’s tourism history.