Neon Signs 100 Years Old

By Author: Jamie Hanson
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Neon (Greek for "new one") was discovered in 1898 by the famous Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay. Neon was discovered when Ramsay chilled a sample of the atmosphere until it became a liquid, then warmed the liquid and captured the gases as they boiled off. The three gases that boiled off were krypton, xenon, and neon.

But it was in December of 1910, that French engineer Georges Claude first made a lamp from an electrified tube of neon gas. On January 19, 1915, Claude began selling his tubes to U.S. companies; the Packard car dealership in Los Angeles was one to see the potential and one of the first to buy it. Within 15 years the idea had spread around the world and today neon signs are a part of our culture. So next year, 2010, will mark the 100th anniversary of the first neon sign being shown at The Paris Exhibition.

Since the early days of Neon things have moved on considerably. With the introduction of argon gas as well as neon and a variety of glass coatings a wide variety of colours can now be achieved. So design possibilities go on and on and are indeed endless and only really limited by the scope of ...
... our imagination.

Two quite different kinds of neon lights are in common use. Glow-discharge lamps are typically tiny, and often designed to operate at 120 volts; they are widely used as power-on indicators and in circuit-testing equipment. Neon signs and other arc-discharge devices operate instead at high voltages, often 3-15 kilovolts (3,000-15,000 volts); they can be made into (often bent) tubes a few meters long.

Neon is now all over the planet and during the 50's and 60's could be seen all over world famous landmark sites like Times Square in New Your City, Piccadilly Circus in Londons West End and most images of the sprawling metropolis of Tokyo in Japan are supplemented by greats sways of neon lighting and advertising signs.

Neon has even made it big in the cinema and made its mark. Many of the iconic scenes from Ridley Scott art-house science-fiction classic Blade Runner are of dark rain filled streets whose gloom is broken only by the abundance of futuristic neon signs

Reliability has to be a consideration when investing in a new sign. Today we are able to give reassurance that your sign will be looking good for years to come. With modern materials being used in the manufacture of electrodes, transformers and cabling combined with regular maintenance, breakdowns are few and far between. So that sign continues to get your message and your business noticed.

Neon signs are now commonplace and they are truly affordable. They can really make your business stand out from the crowd and in todays marketplace your business really does need to be seen.

So if you want to get noticed - get neon and do not let the thought of discussing cold cathode lighting (to use the correct name) put you off getting your business noticed.

Here at Hants and Dorset Signs. We will always be happy to give you best advice on neon signs. And for that matter all your signage needs.