A History of Neon Lighting
Once regarded simply as advertising, neon lighting is now considered to be both promotion and art. Neon emerged as the lighting medium of choice during the 1930s through the 1950s, as manufacturing companies produced signage for businesses of all sizes. With the introduction of plastics, glass declined in popularity due to the expense of hand bending the glass and filling it with gas and also to the increased chance of damage for outdoor signs exposed to the elements. Today, neon lighting is featured in store windows, used to advertise bars and restaurants, and is still in use as exterior advertising. Plastic signage can now be manufactured to look like neon.
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Origins
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Neon, from the Greek word meaning "new," is a term used to describe lighting made from sealed glass tubes filled with various gases (including neon) that appear to glow when excited by electric current. German scientist Heinrich Geissler built and demonstrated sealed gas tubes with electric connections at each end during the mid-1800s. British scientists Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers isolated and identified the elements from liquefied air, naming an element "neon." Not until 1910 did George Claude, a French engineer, inventor and chemist, construct a glass tube lamp that was manufactured using an economically feasible process.
Early Neon
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The new company Claude Neon was certain that lamps could be sold commercially for advertising. Claude marketed his product in the United States and sold one of the first signs to the Packard car dealership in Los Angeles, California, in 1923. Sales were extremely slow since many rural towns were not yet electrified.
Boom Times
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The 1930s through the 1950s were the height of neon design and installation. Elaborately blown glass was filled with neon, moving neon lighting from simple advertising to eye-catching displays. Neighborhood bars featured neon signs advertising the types of beer offered, courtesy of the beer companies. Motels, drive-ins, movie theaters, department stores and convenience stores touted neon displays, many with moving components that allowed the sign to light different sections and give the appearance of movement. Artkraft Strauss, the result of a merger of sign makers Benjamin Strauss and the Artkraft Company, was a major player in supplying signage to large cities. Its products included many of the historic signs that were displayed in Times Square from the 1930s until the major renovation in the 1990s, including the original New Year's midnight ball display.
Decline
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The advent of polymer production, increases in the price of electricity, migration away from the central cities to the suburbs and the decline in the numbers of glass benders all contributed to a decline in the use of neon signage. Broken glass tubes and the loss of gas gave neon an image associated with abandoned downtowns and empty storefronts as the city centers fell on hard times. By the 1980s, this image began to improve with the redevelopment of Miami and the restoration of vintage signs as part of this process. Times Square restoration also brought neon back into vogue.
Rediscovery and Art Status
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Neon attained art status when the Museum of Neon Art opened in Los Angeles, California in the 1980s. Las Vegas, Nevada, home to large-scale neon signs today, hosts another neon museum that rescues signs that are discarded during casino and hotel remodeling and are destined for the city dumps. The Nevada museum's displays include restored signs and a vast exterior storage area where vintage signs are stacked for future renovation and display. An indication of neon's status was seen at an auction in 2006, where archival signs from Artcraft Strauss sold for over $100,000 each.
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