House Of Commons 1939: Neon Interference On Trial

When Radio Met Neon in Parliament

Strange but true: while Europe braced for Hitler’s advance, the House of Commons was debating glowing shopfronts.

Mr. Gallacher, an MP with a sharp tongue, rose to challenge the government. How many complaints had rolled in about wireless sets being ruined by neon signage?

The answer was astonishing for the time: roughly one thousand cases logged in a single year.

Picture it: ordinary families huddled around a crackling set, desperate for dance music or London neon signs 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?: the government had no legal power to force neon owners to fix it.

He said legislation was being explored, but stressed that the problem was "complex".

Which meant: more static for listeners.

The MP wasn’t satisfied. He said listeners were getting a raw deal.

Another MP raised the stakes. Wasn’t the state itself one of the worst offenders?

The Minister squirmed, basically admitting the whole electrical age was interfering with itself.

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From today’s vantage, it feels rich with irony. In 1939 neon was the villain of the airwaves.

Jump ahead eight decades and the roles have flipped: the once-feared glow is now the heritage art form begging for protection.

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What does it tell us?

Neon has always been political, cultural, disruptive. It’s always pitted artisans against technology.

Now it’s dismissed as retro fluff.

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The Smithers View. We see the glow that wouldn’t be ignored.

Call it quaint, call it heritage, but it’s a reminder. And GlowWorks London that’s why we keep bending glass and filling it with gas today.

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Ignore the buzzwords of "LED neon". Authentic glow has history on its side.

If neon got MPs shouting in 1939, it deserves a place in your space today.

Choose the real thing.

We make it.

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