Neon In The Dock: 1939 Wireless Debate
Z Rozdíly.cz
When Neon Crashed the Airwaves
On paper it reads like satire: on the eve of the Second World War, MPs in Westminster were arguing about neon signs.
Mr. Gallacher, an MP with a sharp tongue, demanded answers from the Postmaster-General. How many complaints had rolled in about wireless sets being ruined by neon signage?
The reply turned heads: around a thousand complaints in 1938 alone.
Picture it: ordinary families huddled around a crackling set, desperate for dance music or speeches from the King, only to hear static and buzzing from the local cinema’s neon sign.
Major Tryon confessed the problem was real. The difficulty?: shopkeepers could volunteer to add suppression devices, but they couldn’t be forced.
He promised consultations were underway, but admitted consultations would take "some time".
Which meant: more static for listeners.
Gallacher shot back. He said listeners were getting a raw deal.
Mr. Poole piled in too. Wasn’t the state itself one of the worst offenders?
Tryon deflected, basically admitting the whole electrical age was interfering with itself.
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Seen through modern eyes, it’s heritage comedy with a lesson. Neon was once painted as the noisy disruptor.
Fast forward to today and it’s the opposite story: custom neon signs London the menace of 1939 is now the endangered beauty of 2025.
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What does it tell us?
First: neon has always rattled cages. From crashing radios to clashing with LED, it’s always been about authenticity vs convenience.
Second: every era misjudges London neon signs.
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Here’s the kicker. We see proof that neon was powerful enough to shake Britain.
Call it quaint, call it heritage, but it’s a reminder. And that’s why we keep bending glass and filling it with gas today.
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Forget the fake LED strips. Glass and gas are the original and the best.
If neon could shake Westminster before the war, it can certainly shake your walls now.
Choose the real thing.
We make it.
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