Bright lights, old city: Remembering Vancouver’s neon glory

In 1953, Neon Products boasted there were 19,000 neon signs in the city of Vancouver — one for every 18 residents. No more. Times changed, neon faded in popularity, and was even derided as a “sleazy light source” by anti-blight crusaders. In the late 1960s Vancouver council enacted laws that put an end to the big neon spectacular — for decades you couldn’t even put up a flashing neon sign. Today there are only a few dozen of the 19,000 signs left.

John Mackie