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ELECTRICAL ADVERTISING
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By F. A. ORTH
Federal Electric Company
hat is it? Is it a man's name? Will a i sign help my business? Is a neon tube to be preferred over a lamp bulb elecsign? Are there wires in neon tubes? it will it cost?
These and many other questions arise in connection with neon tube signs — the most outstanding development in the history of the electric sign industry. Consequently, there will be answered in this article those questions which are asked most frequently, so that the reader may obtain a general understanding of the very real value of this type of advertising.
It was in 1898 — thirty-one years ago — that a new gas was discovered by Sir William Ramsay. He gave to this new element the name "Neon," a Greek word meaning "new." Soon afterward, he discovered that when an electric current is passed through this gas sealed in a tube, a beautiful orange red color results. Realizing the possibilities of his discovery from a commercial standpoint, the following year he asked Georges Claude, a Frenchman, to endeavor to develop his discovery so that it might be utilized in this way. Georges Claude accepted Sir William's proposal and together with J. de Beaufort, worked with this new gas in his Paris laboratory, devising methods and devices for its practical use.
As a result, in 1914, the first neon commercial signs made their appearance in France. To-day, many outstanding examples of the advertising value of neon light mark the thoroughfares of Paris and other European cities, as well as those of this country.
What was, perhaps, the first neon sign erected in this country (United States) was the Packard sign manufactured
in Paris and brought to San Francisco by Earl C. Anthony. It was placed on the home of Packard Motors in San Francisco in 1922. It read "PACKARD, EARL C. ANTHONY, INC."
The word "PACKARD" predominated in the sign, while "EARL C. ANTHONY, INC." appeared directly beneath the word "PACKARD," and was, apparently, an enlargement of Mr. Anthony's handwritten signature. The sign was forty feet long and twenty feet high. Considerable interest was created along Van Ness Avenue with the appearance of the Packard sign.
Growth of Electrical Advertising
Since then, successful business men have been quick to realize the commercial value of neon tube signs as a real asset to business. Many who had not previously entertained the idea of electrical advertising, as embodied in the type of sign which derives its lighting effect from electric lamps, immediately grasped the opportunity afforded by neon. Since the appearance of the first neon sign in the United States, the growth of electrical advertising in the neon field has been phenomenal; in the short period of seven years — 1922 to 1929 — numerous signs and ornamental designs have been erected throughout the country.
Neon signs and ornaments may be used not only where other electrical display signs are adaptable, but in many other places as well. Trade marks and designs may be reproduced accurately inasmuch as the tubes can be bent to any desired shape. They may be erected where the electric lamp sign cannot be utilized.
For example, the tower of the Coliseum in London is outlined with red neon tubes. At night the tower stands out in
• AUGUST 1929 •
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