View high-res version.

Neon Signs

Take a near vacuum of some noble gas. Ram electrons through it at ridiculously high voltages. The result? Light. Neon lights were among the first pliable lights- you could form a neon light to fit any shape. Today, LEDs serve that purpose, and they can have incredibly dramatic results, but there’s something so wonderfully arcane about neon lights. Neon lights, by the way, rarely use neon these days. They mostly use a combination of argon, mercury, and a phosphor coating on the glass. This is how the variety of possible colors are achieved. This particular neon sign hangs over the Pittsburgh landmark, “Wiener World”. During the warmer months (which I’m looking forward to!), they sell ice cream through a walk-up window. That, in turn, brings back childhood memories (in the Hudson Valley, my native land, walk-up ice cream parlors still thrive- Wiener World and the chain Rita’s are the only ones I know of in Pittsburgh).