First neon sign on a dirigible

Tyre manufacturer Goodyear started flying helium-filled blimps some 1,500–2,000 ft (460–610 m) over cities as a novel form of advertising in 1925. Five years later, in order for the adverts to also be seen at night, red-orange neon lettering – some 10 ft (3 m) tall – was attached to an aluminium frame and placed on the sides of their blimps. The inaugural illuminated night flight was made by Defender on 14 October 1930, in the sky above the mansion of Goodyear's president, Paul Litchfield, in Arizona, USA.

The idea of applying neon lettering to the blimps was first raised in 1929 by dirigible pilot Jack Boettner in correspondence with Goodyear's vice-president Karl Arnstein.

The design was improved in 1932 by pilot and engineer H Webster Crum who devised a way for the lettering to be changed dynamically, rebranding the system as "Neon-O-Gram". This meant that short messages or slogans of six to 10 words could be displayed and Goodyear started to rent the space to other companies.

As early as this innovation was, Goodyear wasn't the first to take neon signs to the skies. In the 1920s, light aircraft were occasionally flown low over populated areas such as New York City with neon signs attached to the undersides of the wings.

During World War II, the Goodyear blimps were grounded for safety reasons. When they returned in 1947, they opted for a new form of lit signage known as "Trans-Lux", but this used incandescent light bulbs instead of neon tubing. Illuminated Goodyear blimps still exist in the 2020s, but nowadays some 80,000 lightweight LEDs (in a display system known as "Eaglevision") are the favoured technology to ensure adverts can be seen clearly, no matter whether it's day or night.