History of Neon Lights

Georges Claude was the inventor of the first neon lamp. The word neon comes from the Greek word “neos” meaning “the new gas”. In 1898 neon gas was discovered by William Ramsey and M.W. Travers in London. Neon is a rare gaseous element found in the atmosphere to the extent of 1 part in 65,000 of air. It is obtained by liquefaction of air and separated from other gases by fractional distillation.

Georges Claude was a French engineer, chemist and inventor. He was the first person to apply an electrical discharge to a sealed tube of neon gas to create a lamp. The first lamp was displayed to the public on December 11, 1910 in Paris.

The first two neon signs sold in the United States were sold to a Packard car dealership in Los Angeles, reading “Packard” and sold for $24,000.

Neon lighting quickly became poplar in business advertising.

Neon is known to form an unstable hydrate. Neon plasma glows reddish-orange. The discharge of neon is the most intense of the rare gases at ordinary currents and voltages.

Neon and helium are used to make gas lasers. Neon is used in lighting arrestors’ high-voltage indicators and wave meter tubes. It is also used as a cryogenic refrigerant; it has over 40 times the refrigerating capacity per unit volume than liquid helium and over 3 times that of liquid hydrogen.

Neon signs have come a long way since their inception. Since neon was first used in signs, it has captured everyone’s imagination, and signs are ordered for business and personal use, custom made to meet one’s specific requirements.

Red is neon’s natural color. Today there is more than 150 colors possible. Almost every other color other than red is produced by using argon, mercury and phosphor. The colors in order of discovery were blue (Mercury), white (Co2), gold (Helium). All the other colors come from phosphor colored tubes. The mercury spectrum is rich in ultraviolet light which in turn excites a phosphor coating on the inside of the tube. Phosphors are available in most pastel colors.

Custom signs are becoming popular for personal use, too.  Custom-made neon clocks are becoming popular with enthusiasts who like to design their own glowing time machines.