A colorless, odorless, tasteless gas, deriving its name from the Greek neos, meaning “new,” neon was discovered in 1898 by two English chemists, William Ramsay and Morris Travers. They puzzled at the gas’s natural red-orange glow and attempted to alter its color chemically. But it was a Frenchman, physicist Georges Claude, who perfected the neon tube in 1909 and used it the following year to illuminate the Grand Palace in Paris. Claude demonstrated that employing a gas, rather than a rigid, fixed filament, enabled neon bulbs to glow regardless of their length or configuration. Neon’s advertising value was quickly appreciated.

A publicist, Jacques Fonseque, persuaded Claude to prepare a line of tubing that proclaimed the name of a client’s business. In 1912, the first neon sign blazed on Paris’s Boulevard Montmartre. It read (in French), “The Palace Hairdresser,” and glowed a red orange. Only later did scientists discover that by altering the gas and placing powders inside the tube, they could produce a full spectrum of colors.

Find this & other great insights in our Crutchfield Dermatology newsletter archive