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Magee Grocery Store and meat shop: Located at 6481 West Boulevard in Kerrisdale - Photographed April 26, 2008.

Back in 1944 this small Kerrisdale store was going through some major changes. Canada Safeway, the original tenants who had the store built during the 1930s was moving out and Magee Grocery Store moved in. After the big apple neon sign was installed in about 1948, Magee Grocery became the visual Landmark of Kerrisdale.

The original store has been divided into two separate establishments with the Home Consignment Corner at the southeastern corner, and Magee Groceries at the northeastern corner. But in the 1940s, Magee had his Meat shop where Home Consignment Corner is now, with a large warehouse in the back which could take handle deliveries and store dry goods.

When East and West boulevards were completed in the 1950s Magee Grocery and Meats had the hottest, boomingest market place in Vancouver, boasting between $2 and $3 million a year. Folks from miles around came there to buy fresh meat and produce.

Neon signs history in Vancouver started out in about 1924 when enterprising Granville street merchants imported the first 'eye-grabbing' modern advertising technology. Neon Signs had a reputation of literally stopping traffic. This liquid light was imported from Claude Neon Company of Paris, France. George Claude Started his business of making signs when he exhibited a small sign using neon gas at the Grand Palais in 1910. His fame was secured when he sold a simple blue and red neon sign to a Packard Automobile dealer in Los Angeles. They stopped traffic with their warm glow at night.

The Neon Gas product was actually a waste product from experiments to purify oxygen, and found an excess of neon gas. Sealed in a glass tube and bombarded with an electrical current, this gas would produce a red/orange glow. Argon produces a blue glow. Claude achieved a strong steady light with further experiments and was granted a patent in 1915.

By the 1960s, the market for Neon Signs started to become over saturated. It is possible that new generation hippie movement with thoughts of getting back to nature away from urban decay triggered the death of the ending of neon's glory days.

Fortunately, new thinking has revitalized the neon sign as city planners and merchants have realized the value of color in advertising and the value of character signs. Next time you are out for a drive take a look at some of the old marquee signs like Stanley Theater on Granville street and Hollywood Theater on West Broadway and you'll see why such artistic beauty survives.