Static And Glow: Parliament’s Strange Neon Row

The Day Westminster Debated Static and Glow

Looking back, it feels surreal: while Europe braced for Hitler’s advance, MPs in Westminster were arguing about neon signs.

Labour firebrand Gallacher, rose to challenge the government. Was Britain’s brand-new glow tech ruining the nation’s favourite pastime – radio?

The answer was astonishing for the time: the Department had received nearly one thousand reports from frustrated licence-payers.

Imagine it: modern sign makers UK listeners straining to catch news bulletins, drowned out by the hum of glowing adverts on the high street.

Major Tryon confessed the problem was real. But here’s the rub: the government had no legal power to force neon owners to fix it.

He promised consultations were underway, but stressed that the problem was "complex".

Which meant: more static for listeners.

Gallacher shot back. People were paying licence fees, he argued, and they deserved a clear signal.

Another MP raised the stakes. If neon was a culprit, weren’t cables buzzing across the land just as guilty?

The Postmaster-General ducked the blow, admitting it made the matter "difficult" but offering no real solution.

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From today’s vantage, it feels rich with irony. Neon was once painted as the noisy disruptor.

Jump ahead eight decades and the roles have flipped: neon is the endangered craft fighting for survival, while plastic LED fakes flood the market.

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So what’s the takeaway?

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 neon.

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Our take at Smithers. We see the glow that wouldn’t be ignored.

That old debate shows neon has always mattered. And that’s why we keep bending glass and filling it with gas today.

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Ignore the buzzwords of "LED neon". Glass and gas are the original and the best.

If neon could jam the nation’s radios in 1939, it can sure as hell light your lounge, office, or storefront in 2025.

Choose craft.

You need it.

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