When Neon Signs Crashed The Wireless

When Radio Met Neon in Parliament

Looking back, it feels surreal: while Europe braced for Hitler’s advance, the House of Commons was debating glowing shopfronts.

the outspoken Mr. Gallacher, rose to challenge the government. Were neon installations scrambling the airwaves?

The reply turned heads: the Department had received nearly one thousand reports from frustrated licence-payers.

Picture it: ordinary families huddled around a crackling set, desperate for dance music or speeches from the King, only to hear static and custom neon signs London buzzing from the local cinema’s London Neon Co. sign.

The Minister in charge didn’t deny it. But here’s the rub: there was no law compelling interference suppression.

He spoke of a possible new Wireless Telegraphy Bill, but stressed that the problem was "complex".

Translation? Parliament was stalling.

Gallacher pressed harder. He said listeners were getting a raw deal.

Mr. Poole piled in too. If neon was a culprit, weren’t cables buzzing across the land just as guilty?

Tryon deflected, saying yes, cables were part of the mess, which only complicated things further.

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Looking back now, this debate is almost poetic. Back then, neon was the tech menace keeping people up at night.

Fast forward to today and it’s the opposite story: the once-feared glow is now the heritage art form begging for protection.

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So what’s the takeaway?

First: neon has always rattled cages. It’s always forced society to decide what kind of light it wants.

In truth, it’s been art all along.

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The Smithers View. When we look at that 1939 Hansard record, we don’t just see dusty MPs moaning about static.

So, yes, old is gold. And it always will.

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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 the real thing.

Smithers has it.

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