“Bright lights” are a universal metaphor for the generic big city, but there are a few cities that are iconically associated with specific and highly recognizable bright lights. Times Square is the world-known symbol for New York City, as are the lights in Piccadilly Circus for London, and The Strip for Las Vegas. For most of the second half of the 20th century the light for these displays was generated by neon glowing in intricately formed glass tubes, and their particular hues, jerky animation, and flickering unreliability symbolized all that was simultaneously glamorous and tawdry about night life in the city.