glowin.

Neon.

Sure it’s a definition for a crazy slew of colors. And people tend to add it to nouns in order to make awesome band name,( I’m looking at you neon indian and neon trees) but neon is actually really cool and I’ve always been fascinated by what makes it glow, but I never even knew what it is or who came up with it. Recently on a drive down santa monica blvd, the old route 66, I noticed tons of awesome neon signs and so it sparked my interest.

Neon is derived from old Geissler tubes which used electric tubes and rarefied gas (which is just gas super below atmospheric pressure) when this was placed in tubes it glowed by it didn’t last very long. However in 1898 Georges Claude (French dude extraordinaire) noticed a long lasting red glow in ones of these tubes, which is what we know as the element Ne… ooo smart! Neon was born! In 1902 he started the ‘air liquide’ company with began creating commercial signs for businesses. One of the first non signs was available for public display in Paris in 1913 and advertised the cinzano vermouth company. The first U.S. sign was actually in display in Los Angeles for the Packard car company in 1923.

When it first became available there were only a handful of colors, but newer patents have created what can only be estimated as 100 colors in modern day neon making.

So there you have it, awesome band name to vibrant colors. Geeze, these French people really peaked in the late 1800s…crazy!

need to know more: neon!