Neon signs produced by Julia Bickerstaff, owner of Neon Unity
Preserve the magic
When I first walked through the unassuming, white-walled corridor that led to Neon Creations’ workshop in Bolton, I was unsure if I was in the right place. However, once the doors were opened to the workshop itself, my face instantly lit up as I looked around the room in awe. In stark contrast to the rest of the building, the room was filled floor to ceiling with incredibly vibrant and creative neon signage. Having only before seen single pieces in restaurants or in images online, the instant impact the signage had on the room was incredible.
The impression neon signage has and its ability to light up a room and give it such character is, I would argue, certainly something that’s kept its magic alive since its inception in the 1900s.
The science of neon goes back even further to 1898 to British scientists William Ramsay and Morris Travers who observed a red glow in Geissler tubes – a sealed glass tube containing a “rarefied glass”.
Neon signage is described as an evolution of the Geissler tube. Geissler tubes weren’t suitable for lighting due to gas pressure decreasing with use and so followed the Moore tube. Using nitrogen or carbon dioxide instead, the tubes had a mechanism for maintaining pressure and were commonly used in the early 1900’s.
O Factoid: In a clear glass tube, argon gas gives off a steel blue light while neon gas produces red light O
Around this time, a French company called Air Liquide owned by Georges Claude began producing neon as a by-product of its air liquefaction business. It is said Claude first demonstrated the lamps in the form of two 12-metre-long bright red neon tubes in 1910 at the Paris Motor Show. Two years later in 1912, the first neon sign was sold to a barber in Paris.
In 1919, the entrance to the Paris Opera was lit up with neon tube lighting and over the years that followed, the popularity of neon signage grew. Fast forward over 60 years and the Museum of Neon Art opened in Los Angeles in 1981 as the first museum in the world to showcase solely neon art. Today, the museum still advocates the creative use of neon and the longevity of the signage itself has been demonstrated through the discovery of a neon sign in Los Angeles which is still glowing after over 70 years.
There can often be misconceptions around the safety and environmental credentials of neon particularly with the rise in LED signage with designs that imitate neon at a lower price point. However, when installed correctly and adhering to regulations, neon signage poses no real hazards. It is important to note that the use of neon signage in domestic environments compared to commercial mean there will be different considerations to take when choosing the right sign and in terms of regulations to follow.
A shift in demand
Neon Creations was formed in 2005 by Tony and Catherine Spink. Based in Bolton, the company produces neon signage for the whole of mainland UK. The majority of the company’s work comprises of one-off custom neon signs, but it can also take on volume orders of around 20 units. Working with a wide variety of clients to produce neon signs for both commercial and domestic purposes, Neon Creations offers a neon design service or can work from artwork supplied by clients.
Based in Bolton, Neon Creations was founded in 2005 by Tony and Catherine Spink
Tony Spink first got into producing neon in 1989 when he saw a job advert for a neon sign-making apprentice at Pearce Signs. “When I went for the interview, there was another glass bender in the workshop who I knew from going to football,” Spink explains, adding: “He put in a good word for me, and it all started from there.” Neon Creations is now made up of a team of five: co-founder Catherine, co-founder and glass bender Tony, office supervisor Donna, glass bender Sam, and senior glass bender Terry.
Tony Spink first started producing neon signage in 1989 as a neon sign-making apprentice at Pearce Signs
Neon has been used over the years in the form of art installations, to brighten up live music events, in architectural design, and more commonly in recent times to make a space as “instagrammable” as possible in spaces such as beauty salons, bars, and restaurants. Today, there appears to be a shift happening from signage to more one-off bespoke, statement pieces instead.
Spink says: “For some time now, neon is being used more for statement artwork as opposed to signage. On lots of projects, the neon sign is the main feature of an interior design, rather than being an afterthought or add-on.”
This is something Julia Bickerstaff, owner of Neon Unity (which operates from www.neoncraft.co.uk) has also experienced. Bickerstaff has been making neon for 35 years and provides genuine neon for signage nationally for trade and direct, and also globally when needed. In addition to this, she makes artworks and commissions for domestic use and supply materials.
Julia Bickerstaff has been making neon for 35 years and has shared her knowledge with many in a bid to keep the skill alive
“Back in the 80s I trained and worked in the largest sign company in Europe and the last guise of Claude-Neon known as Oldham Claudgen,” Bickerstaff explains, adding: “I was one of the lucky ones, learning amazing skills from the best master makers in the UK. I was able to learn from the late Geoff Spanton, a master of glass manipulation.
“Many years later and with experience under my proverbial belt, today my company is what they call a sole trader offering a vast flexibility for anyone wanting the real thing, “NEON” with soul. I, along with a few thoroughbred makers, are the last bastions of real neon making.”
Bickerstaff describes the rest of the signage industry as “leaving neon behind” with more and more of her work becoming one-offs instead of mass production. However despite this, she says she finds this, in a way, pleasant as it means there is variety and excitement in the working day with bespoke and unique pieces being made.
The reason for this shift to more one-off signage, Bickerstaff says, is due to aesthetics and the quality and craftmanship that you don’t get from new LED alternatives on the market. She explains: “New neon makers are coming along; they are the new artisan makers not training in the field of the giant neon signs of old or mass production of signage for high street shops but working on one off bespoke signage or artwork projects akin to artists such as Tracy Emin or sculptures which speak in light.
“Real neon is considered for aesthetics and the look and feel of a real neon light. No plastic light or silicone tubes in sight just long-lasting glass tubes. From a commercial perspective, Neon was in the 1920s and 70s considered the best in quality and most decadent level of signage and lighting by clients and now it is returning to that level of consideration again. The quality and craftmanship in its production is astonishing.”
An endangered craft
The protection of neon glass bending is an important topic with the skill currently sitting on the Heritage Craft Association’s Red List of Endangered Crafts. This means the craft is at risk of potentially dying out. Spink believes this is due to a lack of training up of younger people and keeping the skills alive as senior and older glass benders retire. Neon Creations took on Sam as a trainee at age 16 in 2012 and she is now a fully competent glass bender.
Another reason Spink raises is the onset of cheaper LED alternatives which are often marketed as ‘Neon’ signs, causing confusion amongst consumers who may not be aware of the difference. “We need to carry on educating people about the differences between neon and LED, and the fact they are completely different products. We also need to dispel a lot of the misconceptions people have about neon and its safety – these misconceptions are often used in the marketing and advertising used by the LED companies.”
We need to carry on educating people about the differences between neon
and LED, and the fact they are completely different products”
The advertising of some LED signage companies which Spink clarifies are mainly companies that drop ship their products rather than trade companies that manufacture in-house is something that is having an impact on the day-to-day workings of Neon Creations. “The office is continuously having to explain to potential clients that the reason other quotations they have obtained are much cheaper is because they are not being quoted for neon, but for LED, so it’s not a like-for-like quotation.
“I personally find this very frustrating as someone that actually stands behind a flame making neon signs. It is almost as though they are belittling the skill of glass bending.” That being said, it is the satisfaction that you get from creating something from scratch, by hand, using very basic/minimal materials such as glass and a flame, is the thing Spink loves the most about the trade. “I’m still fascinated by how it all works even after 30 years of doing the job,” he says, adding: “I also like to get to use my creativity.”
Reflecting on the perhaps uncertain future of neon, Bickerstaff says it is the passion of customers and collectors wanting “the real thing” that is keeping neon and its magic alive. On its potential ‘demise’, Bickerstaff adds that this would be “not because it is an ‘old’ light source but because of a lack of understanding of what glass neon tubes are and their ecological achievements over decades of use compared to the alternatives of old and new.”
Echoing Spink’s concerns, Bickerstaff also raises the issue of a lack of skilled workers as the full-time makers “die out” as they retire. “I am aware that there are people and companies like my own taking up the baton of making but they are missing the industrial wholesale making of neon which I feel will not return. Perhaps that is a good thing. It can be a bit laborious making the same letters day in day out, though it taught me a lot.
“It is a priority to prevent this endangered Red List Craft from becoming lost in the future. There is an appetite for heritage signage out there that needs the love and care in the future and a passion for new innovative uses for neon. That is why we strive to educate and teach about neon, what it is, and what it can do for us all.”
There is an appetite for heritage signage out there that needs the love and care in the future and a passion for new innovative uses for neon”
In a bid to keep the skill alive and educate others about neon, Bickerstaff has shared her knowledge with many others and some have gone on to run their own neon workshop businesses and others have continued as hobbyists. In addition to this, Bickerstaff also offers informal installation training for electricians looking to include neon glass handling and installation in their business models. Recently, Bickerstaff has also contributed to a technical book about glass work and specifically neon which will be published this year.
Restored by Bickerstaff for a collector after its previous owner had to sadly sell during the pandemic, this sign now sits in pride of place in a private Chevrolet garage collection
Despite being faced with some issues such as price increases, reduced materials and the availability of products and gasses, Bickerstaff is confident that neon has a good future ahead of it. She says: “Assurance is in place that we are good for the future as long as we keep using this amazing global, economical, very simple and efficient century old lighting phenomenon known simply as neon.
“You can copy the name, use it to describe something else but there is only one real neon, the rest are copies. Imitation is the best form of flattery. As I have said in the past, the future of neon is held by the general public, the population at large. They have the power to lobby to continue, preserve, and nurture knowledge for the future and history.
“Like the old saddle makers of the early 1900s, they saw the motor car take their work. But you can still buy a saddle today because people still want to ride horses.”
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