Britain’s Pre-War Glow Problem

Strange but true: in June 1939, just months before Britain plunged into war, Parliament was wrestling with the problem of personalised neon signs London interfering with radios.

Mr. Gallacher, an MP with a sharp tongue, demanded answers from the Postmaster-General. How many complaints had rolled in about wireless sets being ruined by neon signage?

The reply turned heads: the Department had received nearly one thousand reports from frustrated licence-payers.

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

Postmaster-General Major Tryon admitted the scale of the headache. The snag was this: shopkeepers could volunteer to add suppression devices, but they couldn’t be forced.

He said legislation was being explored, but stressed that the problem was "complex".

In plain English: no fix any time soon.

The MP wasn’t satisfied. He pushed for urgency: speed it up, Minister, people want results.

From the backbenches came another jab. Wasn’t the state itself one of the worst offenders?

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. In 1939 neon was the villain of the airwaves.

Eighty years on, the irony bites: neon is the endangered craft fighting for survival, while plastic LED fakes flood the market.


Why does it matter?

Neon has always been political, cultural, disruptive. It’s always forced society to decide what kind of light it wants.

Now it’s dismissed as retro fluff.


Here’s the kicker. We see the glow that wouldn’t be ignored.

So, yes, old is gold. And that’s why we keep bending glass and filling it with gas today.


Forget the fake LED strips. Authentic glow has history on its side.

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

Choose glow.

Smithers has it.


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Pub: 26 Sep 2025 00:59 UTC

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