Story

Neon night

colour phtoograph, a building at night lit up by neon signs.

How advertising signs lit up the city

by
Adrian Murphy (opens in new window) (Europeana Foundation)

Neon lighting's distinctive glow has been brightening cities across Europe and the world all through the 20th century. Neon signs and lighting animate city centres, evoking both a modern, urban world, both futuristic and nostalgic.

black and white photograph, neon advertising in Piccadilly Circus in London at night.

Neon signs first lit up the skies in Paris in the 1910s, less than two decades on from neon's discovery. British chemists Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers had first identified the gas neon in 1898, naming it for the Greek word neos, meaning new.

colour photograph, five brightly coloured neon tubes.

Neon - dubbed 'liquid fire' - gives a distinct reddish-orange glow when used in tubes and lamps, which was soon put to use in industrial settings, particularly in advertising signage and lighting.

black and white photograph, two men up a ladder installing a sign.

Neon is a rare gas, but French engineer and inventor Georges Claude's company L'Air Liquide produced a lot of neon as a by-product of their activities. In the 1910s, Claude demonstrated the use of neon in tubes to create eye-catching advertising signs.

The neon sign as we know it was born, and was instantly successful.

black and white photograph, a man wearing a suit leaning against railings, he hold some papers.

Through the roaring twenties and 1930s, the intense vibrancy of neon suggested progress and modernity, giving cities colourful urban landmarks.

black and white photograph, view of a city street at night in rain dotted with neon advertising signs.
black and white photograph, a building at night with neon signs.
black and white abstract photograph with a several blurred and overlapping neon signs.

Skilled workers known as glass benders, neon benders or tube benders can shape neon tubes into curving artistic form, such as letters or pictures.

As the signage and advertising developed, although tube lights with other colours are often called 'neon', different gases were used to create fluorescent lighting.

Neon lighting and advertising made our cities brighter, more commercial. Symbols and signs adorn buildings and walls, inspiring artists to capture their distinctive character.

colour abstract photograph with a several blurred and overlapping neon signs.
colour artwork, a skyscraper at night with a neon sign on top.
colour artwork, a building adorned with neon signs.

Neon particularly seems to evoke the night-time and leisure economy - their use as signage or advertising for hotels, bars, nightclubs, beauty salons and more became commonplace.

colour photograph, outside of a theatre bright with neon signs.
black and white photograph, a neon sign above a shop entrance.
colour photograph, a yellow neon sign on the side of a building.
black and white photograph, neon signs on a building.

Through the 1960s and 1990s, neon signs became associated with run down areas of inner cities. Their popularity waned somewhat, with today's LED signage adopted more.

colour photograph, view of Stockholm at night in winter, light up with lighting.

Neon signs today can be considered landmarks in our urban landscapes, cherished and preserved as part of the industrial and social heritage of cities across Europe.

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