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Neon signs are classic light illuminations of the 20th century, the glowing lights themselves are synonymous with American advertising, consumerism, and the Las Vegas nightlife. Neon signs are gasdischarged tubes that house rarefied neon gases. Applying electricity to these tubes filled with neon, creates the classic orange-red illuminated light. Although neon lights are classic, LED lights have quickly replaced the need for neon lights. The reason for this being LED lights are much more efficient and are less expensive to maintain. Although, neon signs are no longer the most efficient way to make an illuminated sign, they are an established technology that is reliable and their popular usage in the 20th century make them intertwined with American advertising, entertainment, and typography.
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QU I L Despite Georges Claude being the inventor and entrepreneur of neon signs, Claude owes much of his success to past scientists. Theories behind the technology can be dated all the way back to 1675. Although not understood at the time, French astronomer and scientist Jean Picard made the first recorded observation of barometric light. “Barometric light is a glow of light that appears inside the vacuum above the mercury in a barometer tube when the tube is shaken.” (Britannica) This occurrence of light was a major stepping stone in the invention of tube lighting. At the time it was further investigated and centuries later its findings were vital when the principles of electricity were discovered. Another advancement in tube lighting was conducted by Heinrich Geissler. Geissler was a German glassblower and physicist who invented the geissler tube. The Geissler tube was an early gas discharge tube that emitted electrical glow discharges. When electrical generators were invented a few decades later, inventors like George Claude began to conduct experiments with the tubes, electric power, and an assortment of gases. When placed under low pressure and electrical voltage was applied to the geissler tube, glowing gas would emit from it.
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In 1910, French engineer, Georges Claude introduced the public to the world’s first display of the neon lamp at the Paris Expo. Claude presented the public with two, massive 38-foot-long glowing tubes. Two years after the expo, Claude sold the first ever commercial neon sign to a Paris barber shop. Once the first glowing sign reading, “Cinzano” was erected, business for Claude began to boom. According to Randy Alfred, “Claude patented the neon lighting tube on Jan. 19th, 1915 – U.S. Patent 1,125,476” (Alfred Randy) and in 1923, his French company Claude Neon, transported their signs to the U.S. with the sale of two signs reading, “Packard” to the Packard car dealership in Los Angeles. The buyer, Earle C. Anthony made a massive payment of $24,000, according to Randy Alfred, after inflation “that’s about $318,000 in today’s money.” (Alfred Randy) Packard signs, although quite dim but visible in daylight, caught American’s attention and neon signs were quickly nicknamed, “liquid fire.” By the 1920’s, small franchises of Claude Neon Lights, Inc. rose up all over the U.S. and neon signs began to be sold around the globe.
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AFTER ELECTRICAL GENERATORS AND GEISSLER TUBES, THE LAST ELEMENT NECESSARY FOR NEON LIGHTING IS NEON GAS. THE GAS WAS DISCOVERED BY WILLIAM RAMSEY AND M. W. TRAVERS IN 1898 IN LONDON. NEON IS A RARE GASEOUS CHEMICAL ELEMENT PRESENT IN THE ATMOSPHERE IN SMALL QUANTITIES. ACCORDING TO MARY BELLIS, 'IT IS OBTAINED BY LIQUEFACTION OF AIR AND SEPARATED FORM THE OTHER GASES BY FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION' 'BELLIS, MARY'.
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. K J. 8 years before the 1910 Paris expo, Georges Claude was the first person to create a lamp by applying an electrical discharge to a sealed tube of neon gas. So how does the technology work? Neon is an inert gas which gives it a distinct color and brightness. Since neon is an inert gas, it will never form stable molecules from chemically bonding with other atoms. As a result, it is pretty easy for an electric charge to pass through neon. According to The Human Touch of Chemistry: “Once neon is pumped into a sealed tube, the electrical current stimulates atoms present in the neon molecules. Electrons are then released into the gas. The ions and electrons spread throughout the neon carrying charge from one end of the tube to another thereby lighting the entire tube.� (The Human Touch of Chemistry)
The color of the neon lamp is determined by the source of the inert gas. Neon emits an orange, red glow, Argon emits violet, and Xenon emits a light blue. While there aren’t enough inert gases for every color of the rainbow, there are several ways to change the colors displayed. An easy method for this is by painting fluorescent powders to the inside walls of the glass tubing. Another method is by altering the mixture of elements in the tube. Next to color, another of the most important attributes to neon signs, is the form. In 1910, George Claude had two large tubes to display his neon lamp technology. Now those tubes would be formed to create messages. The technique for bending glass is called, glass blowing. With the design in mind, Glassbenders mark the glass tubes wherever they need to be bent. Using a ribbon
burner, the manufactures holds the tube above propane flames that are about 1200 ° F. Around a minute, the heated glass becomes pliable and the manufactures gently bends it. Once satisfied with the form of the tube the manufactures would blow into an open end to solidify the form. After the form is made, they cut off excess glass and attach glass casings that contain the electrodes necessary for the sign to glow bright. Finally, so the bleed of the light doesn’t make the sign illegible, the back of the tube is painted black.
Before typography of the signage was explored, in the 1920’s neon signs were lighting up the U.S. from coast to coast. With their large scale and vibrant colors, they became the main outdoor fixture for advertising. The expansive use of neon lighting symbolized technological progress, especially in a time where there were still parts of the U.S. that still didn’t have access to an electrical grid. Through the 20’s and 30’s the signs became more prominent in cities like New York
Over the years, the use of neon signage in Las Vegas began to look like the buildings themselves were made out of neon tubes. During this time, the city of Las Vegas was growing. The city’s economy was very dependent on entertainment and tourism, hence the continued use of neon lights. The nightlife scene that is most notable on the Strip, where the most traffic occurs. Christoph Ribbat, describes the neon signs as: “…themselves serving as three-dimensional sculptures, becoming architecture or at night becoming free of any relation to actual constructions. On the strip, signs and frontages stopped shining out close beside their near flashing rivals. Instead they stood alone, projecting their glow up into the desert sky.” (Ribbat 80).
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The biggest design dilemma for creating a neon sign is that every sign has a start and stop position. When creating the type, it can be quite a compromise, especially when it comes to a smaller scale sign. Generally, the most cost efficient way to make one word only using one tube. Consequently, this is why there is a large association with cursive type and neon signs. Despite this, when making a large scale, display type, most designers tend to stray away from scripts. According to typography. com, the glassbenders at M+ Neonsigns use, “different kinds of intricate doubling are used as letters get larger” (typography.com) as well as to add variation.
and L.A. By the 40’s the use of neon signs began to decline. Neon signs were tailored for small motels and consumers were beginning to prefer, massproduced plastic logos of motel chains that were spreading around the U.S. However, in Las Vegas, small scale signage was being replaced by large scale neon installations. The large installations for the hotels, casinos, and restaurants were a light out of the desert. One the more famous large scale installations was “Vegas Vic” for the Pioneer club Casino. The 15-foot cowboy was a departure from the use of type in neon signs.
Unfortunately for Las Vegas, the use of Neon lights quickly declined in the 60’s and 70’s with fluorescent sign cabinets with translucent plastic faces becoming a much lower maintenance alternative to neon signs. Currently, LED signs commercially, are better economically, are more environmentally friendly, and are much brighter. Furthermore, LED signs are reusable, LED displays can be updated as often as you like. This shift of new technology has left Las Vegas with an over abundance of old neon signage. So much so the Neon Museum created a tourist attraction of old neon signage called The Neon Boneyard. For $15 you can walk through a two-acre lot filled with out Las Vegas signage. Although a creative way to display the history of neon signage, other groups in several different cities are trying to revive vintage neon signs. Many of the famous ones along Route 66 are being restored with private funding. In the 2000’s Neon signs have become a trend in art galleries as well as apartment décor yet the signage is strongly associated with alcohol, gambling, and sex trade. A reason for this could be because of how widely used they were in Las Vegas. In the 50’s Las Vegas was a city known for it’s sinful entertainment and the “rapid social decline of its citizens.” (Ribbat 80). Since then, Neon signs have continued to be used as a way to enthusiastically advertise cigarettes and alcohol. Although, there is nothing inherently wrong with neon lights, they are just stereotypically used to advertise the vices.
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Personally, I enjoy the negative stereotypes associated with neon signs. The illuminated, bright colors give them a breathy, child-like appearance that greatly contrasts what is usually being advertised. I also have enjoyed their resurgence in art galleries and apartment dĂŠcor, I think its interesting to see them being purposed differently. Furthermore, with LED replacing neon lights, it is refreshing to see other lights being used besides LED, especially in unfamiliar spaces. I also think there are a lot of opportunities to explore the form of the tubes to create letters in new interesting ways. In addition, I would be really interested in seeing neon lights being used to create something non representational. One could argue neon signs are already sculpture and I like to see that explored more.
Despite their negative stereotypes, neon signs are an important part of advertising history. Ever since Georges Claude’s first showing in 1910, neon signs have been used to attract and mesmerize the viewer. With the continuation of restoring neon signs, America can continue to have an appreciation for a technology that once illuminated imagination and the cityscape.
Work Cited: Alfred, Randy. «Dec. 11, 1910: Neon Lights the City of Light.» Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2016. Bellis, Mary. «The History of Neon Signs - Georges Claude & Liquid Fire.» About.com Inventors. About.com, 3 Feb. 2016. Web. 03 Mar. 2016. Denner, Pat. Vegas Vic. Digital image. BoldSolitude, Jan. 2008. Web. 5 Mar. 2016. «What Makes a Neon Light Glow.» Everyday Chemistry. The Human Touch of Chemistry, Web. 03 Mar. 2016. Frake, Dabney. «Decor Trend: Neon Typography.» 6 June 2013. Web. 07 Mar. 2016. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. «Jean Picard.» Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, Web. 06 Mar. 2016. «The Making of Neon Signs.» Typography.com. Hoefler & Co., 23 Mar. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2016. Ribbat, Christoph. «4. Las Vegas: City of Lights.» Flickering Light: A History of Neon. July, 2013. 79-81. Print.
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