A Biref History of Neon Sign

As you drive through LA, you’ll notice impressive neon signs such as the Angel City Brewery sign in the Los Angeles Art District. Dave’s Signs created it. The art of creating signs goes back over 100 years. Let’s look back at the history of neon lights and discover why they are still so important in business advertising. Make memories that shine with a custom neon sign.

1855 – Illuminated Glass Tubes

Many believe that Georges Claude introduced neon signage in the early 20th Century, but it actually began with illuminated tubes made from glass in the middle of the 19th century. Heinrich Geissler, German glass blower began to experiment using mercury-filled glass tubes. Geissler used electrodes to ignite an electric charge. The tubes began to glow. Although the tubes gave off a soft yellow glow it wasn’t stable enough to be lit continuously. These experiments led to some of today’s most striking neon signs in Los Angeles.

1894- Neon Found

British chemist Sir William Ramsay made an important discovery right before the start of the 20th century. Ramsey created a new class of elements by isolating 6 noble gases (neon included). Ramsay received the Chemistry Nobel Prize. Make memories that shine with a custom neon sign.

1902 First Neon Light

Georges Claude was a French chemist who experimented in the Geissler method of charging glass tubes with combustible substances. Within a decade, he was selling neon lamps in advertisements.

1920s-Neon USA

A Los Angeles Packard dealer purchased two large neon signs for 24000 dollars in 1923. By the time that the Interstate Highway system was introduced in the 1950s, neon signs were all over the place.