Keeping home up in lights

By Colin W. Sargent

Neon is the vibrant niche where business and culture collide. Just ask John Roberts of Jayar Signs. A city is most spectacular when it has a glow on.

When we called Bailey Sign in Westbrook, they said nobody in Maine repairs or designs neon from glass. They said we’d have to contact an out-of-state guy.

His name is Neon Williams. I went to his shop [in Somerville, MA] one time, but he wasn’t open that day. Neon’s a funny business. First it’s hot, then everybody says it’s dead, then it comes back. I find myself in a unique position: I’m the only full-service neon-glass shop in southern Maine.

How did you get started in neon?

My father opened up a branch of United Neon in Houlton in 1938. I was born up there in 1941. But everybody went running back to Portland because the neon business went dark during World War II when there were blackouts in all the cities. Dad worked on Liberty ships as a painter at the shipyard in South Portland. I went to South Portland High, 1956-59. Then I got married and went back for another year. I took some night courses in electricity at Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute, courses in engineering drawing. 

After the war, my father worked as a sign man at United Neon on Elm Street in Portland. The building still stands. I have a picture: my father’s in it, my brother’s in it, the crew of 1950. I joined them in 1957.=

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