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Neon Issues Just 40 years ago Vancouver was a riot of colour and movement that exploded along the streets by way of one of the largest displays of neon in the world. Sign designers had a heyday creating everything from huge rooftop clocks and loaves of bread to giant apples and rainbows. The Sun Tower on Beatty Street was outlined from the ground up in neon tubes, even the Pacific Stage Lines Bus Company splashed the company name across the front of its coaches in neon. "Vancouver business spends $2 million a year spelling out its virtues in this gas that was discovered by accident, developed commercially by a French traitor who invented the robot bomb, and imprisoned in glass tubes by gentle-lunged craftsmen who dare not burp." Vancouver Sun August 1, 1953 Long before Las Vegas was a twinkle in the desert, Granville Street attracted tourists and gawkers alike, all there to see the spectacle of lights that was neon. At the peak of popularity in the1950's, there was an astonishing one sign for every 18 residents in Vancouver - that's over 19,000 signs for a population of just 345,000. It is hard to imagine how these brightly lit streets must have looked since there are far fewer neon signs in the city now. However, using the resources from the Vancouver Museum's collections, we hope to recreate a little of the magic and excitement of Vancouver's streets in the 1950's through this virtual City Lights exhibition.
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