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Ah Neon
updated: Nov 12, 2011, 8:06 PM
By David Powdrell
Ahh neon. The first of the noble gases. The second lightest inert gas. Periodic Table Element 10. Heatless light. Andy Warhol. Art Deco. And now, beer advertisements.
First, a couple of interesting factoids about the history of neon:
The French engineer, chemist and inventor Georges Claude was the first person to apply an electrical discharge to a sealed tube of neon gas (circa 1902) to create a lamp. He displayed the first neon lamp to the public in December, 1910 in Paris.
In 1923, Georges and his company, Claude Neon, introduced the first neon sign in the United States. The sale was to Earle C. Anthony, a Packard car dealer in Los Angeles. Earle's two Packard signs were the rage at the time with people driving long distances to see the eye-popping "liquid fire". Per Wikipedia, Earle paid $1,250 for each neon sign. Today, neon signs can be purchased for about $200 a pop on eBay.
On a universal level, neon is among the most abundant chemical elements by mass but relatively rare on Earth. It's industrially produced by cryogenic fractional distillation of liquefied air, which is completely over my head. Neon plasma has the most intense light discharge at normal voltages and currents of all the noble gases. The average color of neon light to the human eye is red-orange.
Neon is monotonic, making it lighter than the molecules of diatomic nitrogen and oxygen. Fill a balloon with neon and it will rise in the air, albeit more slowly than a helium filled balloon.
Although the depression of the 1930's slowed the neon revolution down a bit, neon seems to be making a retro recovery of sorts, especially for those looking for some nighttime attention or wanting to sell beer.
On a neon cruise through my hometown of Carpinteria last night, I counted 25 signs advertising beer for sale, 5 establishments telling the public that they were open for business, 1 enticing massage parlor, a creative eyeglass company, a fine restaurant establishment and a dry cleaner that provides expert alterations.
Four businesses were closed but chose to keep their neon "Open" sign turned on.
I didn't see one neon "Closed" sign.
A good friend recommended I shoot these neon images.
Here's Carpinteria neon at night.
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