Neon was first unveiled by Georges Claude, a French engineer, at the Paris Motor Show in 1910. By sending a voltage through the electrodes in a sealed glass tube containing rarified gas, Claude discovered that the tube would give off a “glow discharge”.

Did they have neon signs in the 30s?

The first neon sign made for public display was erected at a car show in Paris in 1910. He was awarded patent in the US in 1915, which gave him protection and the ability to run a monopoly company – Claude Neon Lights – through the early 1930s.

What was the first ever neon sign?

Most visual culture historians agree the first neon signs were for Packard cars in Los Angeles when in 1923 auto industry businessman Earle C Anthony commissioned two giant red neon signs spelling out “Packard” and perched them on top of a downtown hotel at the corner of 7th and Flower Streets.