First unveiled by Georges Claude, a French engineer, at the Paris Motor Show in 1910, it was just the begining of its short yet colorful life from the 1920s to 1960s, known as Neon's Golden Years.

The United States would see its first vibrant neon product in 1923, lighting up a Packard car dealership's Los Angeles showroom. The rest is history as the bright hues of the gas-filled glass tubes would be lighting up countless structures, businesses, attractions, eye-catching advertisement signage and many more uses throughout the country. I can still remember the McDonald's Hamburgers Over 1-MILLION SOLD sign lit in neon as well as the glow of numerous motel neon signs during my family's big vacation via automobile through the Catskill Mountains of New York.

So, whether it was the bright lights of Broadway, the numerous casinos in Las Vegas, your local drug store or auto repair shop, neon lights ruled the night until the 60s. But while technology improvements like today's LED platform now reign as top dog illuminating the night's signage, there are still plenty of examples still shinning brightly reminding us a very colorful past. Note, while neon is a noble gas, colorless, ordorless and basically inert under normal conditions, when subjected to an electrical charge, it produces only a bright red-orange glow. So while neon was the initial choice for many projects, other gases such as argon were utilized to achieve a variety of different colors.