For almost a hundred years, neon signs have been part of city architecture for millions of people. When we think of New York theatres, or the casinos of Las Vegas, or Piccadilly Circus in London, or the busy shopping streets of Hong Kong, we think of bright, glowing neon lights. For decades, these signs symbolised capitalism and consumerism. In recent years, however, the lights have started to dim.
Accidental Discovery
Neon lighting was discovered accidentally in 1902 by the French engineer Georges Claude when, in an experiment, he sent the gas neon through8 electrified glass tubes. The revolutionary new lighting quickly replaced the traditional sign bulbs, first in France and then all over Europe. Claude took neon lightning to the US twenty years later. Here its use exploded, helped by the rapidly-growing popularity of the motor car. Americans opened businesses beside the new roads and used bright neon signs to attract passing drivers.
America’s Neon Exhibition
America in the 1930s became a giant neon light exhibition. Times Square was its epicenter. Neon signs were everywhere, from ordinary shops to chains of car dealers. They quickly formed part of the American identity. Hollywood fell in love with their cinematic quality and used them in films such as American Graffiti, Blade Runner, Saturday Night Fever and Psycho. In the 1950s and 1960s, however, some American businesses started to move to cheaper alternatives. But the signs remained popular with bars, hotels and restaurants.
Rivalry with LEDs
The popularity of neon began to fall seriously from the 1980s. The lights were expensive to maintain and had a new rival in LED bulbs. People considered them ugly. New York had tens of thousands of signs in the 1970s. Now there are only a few hundred. The same is happening all over the world. Hong Kong, with its iconic neon-lit streets, is turning to LEDs, and thousands of neon signs are disappearing.
Neon’s Global Culture
However, neon lights have a special place in our collective memory. There are now museums dedicated to neon lights in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Hong Kong. Some cities are even building sign parks to conserve them. There are also website photo collections and even hashtags, such as #signhunters. And now you can even buy your own made-to-measure sign online, starting at $200 and $7 a letter!
