House Of Commons 1939: Neon Interference On Trial

When Radio Met Neon in Parliament

On paper it reads like satire: in June 1939, just months before Britain plunged into war, Parliament was wrestling with the problem of neon interfering with radios.

Gallacher, never one to mince words, rose to challenge the government. Was Britain’s brand-new glow tech ruining the nation’s favourite pastime – radio?

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.

The Minister in charge didn’t deny it. The snag was this: there was no law compelling interference suppression.

He spoke of a possible new Wireless Telegraphy Bill, but warned the issue touched too many interests.

Which meant: more static for listeners.

Gallacher pressed harder. He pushed for urgency: speed it up, Minister, people want results.

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

The Minister squirmed, saying yes, cables were part of the mess, which only complicated things further.

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

Eighty years on, the irony bites: the menace of 1939 is now the endangered beauty of 2025.

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What does it tell us?

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

In truth, it’s been art all along.

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Our take at Smithers. We see proof that neon was powerful enough to shake Britain.

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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Don’t settle for plastic impostors. Glass and gas are the original and the best.

If order neon signs London could shake Westminster before the war, it can certainly shake your walls now.

Choose craft.

We make it.

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