When Georges Claude demonstrated
an impressive, practical form of neon tube lighting in 1910, he apparently
envisioned that it would be used as a form of lighting, which had been the
application of the earlier Moore tubes that were based on nitrogen and carbon
dioxide discharges. Claude's 1910 demonstration of neon lighting at the Grand
Palais in Paris lit a peristyle of this large exhibition space.
Neon signage was received with particular
enthusiasm in the United States. In 1923, Earle C. Anthony purchased two neon
signs from Claude for his Packard car dealership in Los Angeles, California;
these literally stopped traffic. Claude's US patents had secured him a monopoly
on neon signage, and following Anthony's success with neon signs; many
companies arranged franchises with Claude to manufacture neon signs. In many
cases companies were given exclusive licenses for the production of neon signs
in a given geographical area; by 1931, the value of the neon sign business was
$16.9 million, of which a significant percentage was paid to Claude Neon Light,
Inc. by the franchising arrangements.
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