Kate Widdows 
Michael Blazek The first commercial neon sign was made in 1912 for a Paris coiffeur on Boulevard Montmartre. Its crimson glow was a wondrous spectacle, and neon quickly became an unstoppable phenomenon, making its way to every corner of the developed world. More than 100 years later, the elemental components of a neon sign have remained largely unchanged: a combination of gas, glass, and electricity, when hand-shaped into letters and words, forms a strikingly legible message easily seen from great distances, yet is gentle on the eyes from mere inches away.
From the solitary voice of a monoline script to the frenzied chorus of a glitzy Las Vegas spectacular, the rapturous beauty of neon letterforms has an almost endless variety. These glowing gems are cultural markers of regional character and anchors of community, reflecting dominant styles and collective attitudes of the moments in which they are built. While the emergence of new lighting technologies threatens to extinguish neon’s commercial viability, the number of neon museums, educational resources, enthusiasts, and highly skilled tube benders continues to grow year after year. Are we all doomed to a future where urban nightscapes are drenched in LED billboards? Or is the simplicity of neon’s technology the key to its survival?