Long before lasers and LED (light emitting diodes) or compact fluorescent or fibre optic, we had neon. Neon signs have been around for a long time.
This technology is at least 100 years old with stories about its introduction ranging from about 1890 to 1910, with the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago generally agreed as an important debut.
Basically, it’s a glass tube with an inert gas inside that is bombarded with 22,000 to 24,000 volts of electricity until the gas literally glows. For comparison, that standard electrical receptacle in your loft wall offers about 115 volts.
Careful, darling.
By the 1950’s neon was everywhere. That’s the era of these signs on the Fuller Pharmacy at 143rd and Third, a clue that pharmaceuticals have been sold in that location for more than half a century.
Neon is no more energy efficient than regular incandescent lighting but the range of color and arresting glow visible even in daylight quickly made neon the go-to of the postwar commercial signage industry.
A story about the restoration of a similar sign from that same era can be found here:
Take a look next time you pass Fuller Drug.
The 1950’s won’t be around forever.
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