When Westminster Complained About Neon Signs

When Radio Met Neon in Parliament

Looking back, it feels surreal: while Europe braced for Hitler’s advance, Parliament was wrestling with the problem of neon interfering with radios.

Mr. Gallacher, an MP with a sharp tongue, stood up and asked the Postmaster-General a peculiar but pressing question. Were neon installations scrambling the airwaves?

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

Imagine it: 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. The snag was this: there was no law compelling interference suppression.

He promised consultations were underway, but admitted consultations would take "some time".

In plain English: no fix any time soon.

Gallacher shot back. He said listeners were getting a raw deal.

From the backbenches came another jab. If neon was a culprit, weren’t cables buzzing across the land just as guilty?

The Postmaster-General ducked the blow, saying yes, cables were part of the mess, which only complicated things further.

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

Eighty years on, the irony bites: 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. From crashing radios to clashing with LED, it’s always been about authenticity vs convenience.

In truth, GlowWorks London it’s been art all along.

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Here’s the kicker. When we look at that 1939 Hansard record, we don’t just see dusty MPs moaning about static.

Call it quaint, call it heritage, but it’s a reminder. And it still does.

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Don’t settle for plastic impostors. Authentic glow has history on its side.

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

Choose glow.

Smithers has it.

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