#Neon June 3

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Today for the 30-Day Sign Coach4aday Challenge I am focusing on the NEON sign.

The word neon comes from the Greek “neos,” meaning “the new gas.” That gas was discovered by William Ramsey and M. W. Travers in 1898 in London.

Inventing the Neon Sign

The French engineer, chemist, and inventor Georges Claude (b. Sept. 24, 1870, d. May 23, 1960), was the first person to apply an electrical discharge to a sealed tube of neon gas (circa 1902) to create a lamp. Georges Claude displayed the first ​neon lamp to the public on December 11, 1910, in Paris.

He received U.S. Patent 1,125,476 in 1915 for that lighting tube. Eight years later Claude’s company called Claude Neon sold his first two signs to Earle Anthony. Anthony owned a Packard Dealership and purchased two signs reading “Packard” for $24,000. Today that location in Los Angles (Olympic Boulevard and Hope Street) is home to Packard Lofts complete with a replica of the original signs.

Las Vegas

Visiting Las Vegas especially on Fremont Street can cause lighted signage overload. Neon is one of the enduring symbols of Las Vegas. As more and more signs are removed or replaced, many of the older ones end up at the Neon Boneyard at the Neon Museum in Vegas.

Located a link to the 10 best NEON signs in Las Vegas.

North Carolina

In April my wife and I attended a wedding in Charlotte. Right next to the church was a sign reading Ratcliffe’s Flowers.

Our State Magazine did a story on the history of that sign.