The Pre-War Fight Over Neon Signs And Radio

When Neon Crashed the Airwaves

Strange but true: in the shadow of looming global conflict, the House of Commons was debating glowing shopfronts.

the outspoken Mr. Gallacher, stood up and asked the Postmaster-General a peculiar but pressing question. Was Britain’s brand-new glow tech ruining the nation’s favourite pastime – radio?

The answer was astonishing for the time: around a thousand complaints in 1938 alone.

Think about it: the soundtrack of Britain in 1938, interrupted not by enemy bombers but by shopfront glow.

The Minister in charge didn’t deny it. The snag was this: shopkeepers could volunteer to add suppression devices, but they couldn’t be forced.

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

In plain English: no fix any time soon.

Gallacher pressed harder. People were paying licence fees, LED neon signs London he argued, and they deserved a clear signal.

Another MP raised the stakes. What about the Central Electricity Board and their high-tension cables?

The Postmaster-General ducked the blow, admitting it made the matter "difficult" but offering no real solution.

---

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

Jump ahead eight decades and the roles have flipped: the once-feared glow is now the heritage art form begging for protection.

---

What does it tell us?

Neon has never been neutral. It’s always forced society to decide what kind of light it wants.

In truth, it’s been art all along.

---

Here’s the kicker. 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 still does.

---

Forget the fake LED strips. Real neon has been debated in Parliament for nearly a century.

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

Choose the real thing.

Smithers has it.

---