46. KSIĘGARNIA IM. ŻEROMSKIEGO (BOOKSTORE) (119/125 al. Solidarności). An exquisitely designed neon tube set on unchanneled metal letters, the last of which continue to glow feebly. 47. WARSZAWA WSCHODNIA (Kijowska) Of the several neon signs launched with the new railway station in 1969, the largest one was installed on the roof on the front of the building. It had typical channeled letters lined inside with neon tubes. The side elevation neon sign shown in the photo with some letters missing demonstrates a different design since the neon tubes are fixed under the letters. The neon sign was removed with the commencement of the station’s renovation as part of the Euro 2012 preparations. 48. STACJA WARSZAWA POWIŚLE (Kruczkowski St). A similar design of one of the two neon signs displaying the station’s name, once provided with the illuminated sign “PKP”. It dates back to 1964. 49. STACJA WKD (Aleje Jerozolimskie). One of the elements of the “neonisation” of the newly-built suburban railway stations – in this case the Warsaw Commuter Rails. The structure features channeled letters lined inside with neon tubes. 50. DWORZEC GDAŃSKI (Słomińskiego St). The building with the neon name was put into use in 1959. The Polish State Railways’ logo appeared much later, in the 1980s presumably. The metal channel letters were lined with a single tube inside. 51. MASZYNY DO SZYCIA (138 Marszałkowska). The cult neon sign, which, long before its complete deterioration, lost its most interesting feature: a drawing of a sewing machine with a moving needle. Its movement is rendered by zigzagged shapes of the first and last letters of the sign. The flat smooth-faced letters are lined with single neon tubes. 52. LUX (28 Aleje Jerozolimskie). The abbreviation was used for a chain of stores offering lighting accessories. The neon sign dates back to the early 1970s and it is already considerably damaged in the photo. The 152 | Neony – ulotny ornament warszawskiej nocy
smooth-faced letters were set on square plates and lined with a single neon tube. The identical plates between the letters were embellished with graphic motifs of the articles offered by the shop. The upper symbol must be a light bulb, the lower one could show a radio or TV valve. The vertical neon tubes create the background of the entire composition. 53. MYDŁA FARBY (13 Nowolipki St). In contrast to the previous sign, this one, used for a cleaning products shop, shows a far more sophisticated graphic design, indicating the 1960s as the time when the design was made. The sprawling first word set within a circle resembles the one from the famous neon sign “Maszyny do szycia”. In this case, however, the tectonics of the letter M, conjuring the image of a vertical movement, seems unjustified. The neon tubes were run in a single line against the flat face of the base letters. 54. FARBY (6 Bitwy Warszawskiej 1920 St). A roofed semaphore neon sign with the base letters fixed on corrugated plates. The letters are unchanneled and so the neon outline runs along their outer edges. The unsophisticated neon sign perhaps dates back to the 1980s. 55. PZO (43 Grochowska St). The neon sign was placed at the top of the State Optics Company. The installation in the shape of the company’s logo features a triple band of tubes which line the channels creating the initials PZO, and a double one in a smaller sign “Warszawa”. The logo is composed of two lenses marked with a blue line: a biconvex and a concave/convex one. Interestingly, the neon sign remains on the building, although the PZO closed its business a few years ago, and some of the buildings have been torn down. 56. ŻYRANDOLE (28 Marszałkowska St). Of the neon sign advertising a shop which offered interior lamps a barred structure was preserved for some time as well as some of the tubes forming a loose pile of horizontal rings threaded on a bunch of vertical tubes. Did the composition contain any other features? Presumably yes, they might have formed lampshade silhouettes.