When Neon Owned the Night

While neon was a fixture of cities nationwide, Las Vegas was in many ways its spiritual home. Feb. 17, 1972.
"Before evolution hit a snag, and we reverted to slouching and staring at our phones, human beings walked with their eyes up, looking at things. In the countryside, people contemplated church steeples, maple trees, clouds. In cities, they gaped at neon — and it was everything. Between the 1930s and the 1970s, neon signs were a potent American symbol for both glamour and depravity, hope and desolation. In movies, how many star-struck ingénues have gazed up at the bright lights of Broadway? How many down-and-out characters have checked into a seedy hotel and found a malfunctioning sign buzzing like a bug-zapper outside their window? ..."
NY Times

The night-as-day feel of Times Square was partly a result of neon signage. Dec. 11, 1948.