Neon signs of Terézváros
Because of my work, I’ve been dealing a lot with Terézváros lately, so I was genuinely excited to read Telex’s recent article summarizing how businesses in the 6th district have changed. It doesn’t address neon signs directly, but it does touch – indirectly – on many of the processes that also explain why neon has been disappearing.
“The disappearance of Terézváros’s former clothing hub is not an isolated example: Budapest’s central areas have been fundamentally transformed over the past 15–20 years and have become increasingly international. Small artisans and traditional Hungarian eateries have been replaced by Thai massage parlors or exotic snack bars…”
The decline of small trades is closely connected to the disappearance of neon signs. Even though the article focuses mainly on the post-transition period after 1989, “knife sharpeners,” “watchmakers,” and “cobblers” have typically been struggling to survive since the 1970s. As the article also notes, the owners are usually retirees who are barely getting by (and it’s another question altogether whether they could manage on their pensions alone), and they won’t be passing their shops on to a younger generation. And of course, there’s neither the will nor the money to renovate their neon signage.
That’s why I was skeptical about the “Neon Boulevard” plans presented last November: the neon is gone, the shops are gone – so the question arises whether the Vietnamese corner stores opening in their place will be required to install neon signs.
“In line with the spirit of the times, services related to beauty care (hair salons, cosmetics, pedicures) and health (for example massage, exercise) increased by the largest margin in Terézváros.”
This excerpt also set a few thoughts in motion for me, because there are still quite a lot of “women’s/men’s hairdresser” neon signs to be found around Budapest (even if most of them no longer work). If the Neon Boulevard project truly aims to unify the city’s visual identity, it could require the thoroughly out-of-place “barber shops” to reuse surviving neon signs as shop signs. That would take cooperation across multiple districts, strict city-level building regulations – and, of course, political will.
But let’s look at a few specific neon signs in Terézváros. Oktogon, for instance, was already a prominent location: even in the 1930s, several huge neon advertisements lit up the area:
Photo by Fortpan, 1930
That tradition continued in the 1970s as well – although by then, entirely different words were glowing:
Photo by Fortepan, 1973
One of the neon signs with the longest history is ERMA, which I’ve written about several times before, but let me quote the WeLoveBudapest article instead:
“ERMA’s story begins, oddly enough, with a not particularly prosperous flower shop on József Boulevard and its owner, Mariska Goldberger. Erzsébet Herzmann drops in to buy something; the two women in their twenties quickly become friends. That very evening, over a small spritzer, they start making plans to open their joint needlework shop in place of the flower shop.”
In 1987, a new version was made based on the 1937 neon design, and it was registered as protected together with the shopfront. Thanks to this, the neon sign is still there on Teréz Boulevard – though only those who know what they’re looking for will notice it. Right now, a tanning salon’s “tubes” advertisement is overshadowing a sign that has seen far better days:
Andrássy Avenue is famous for its elegant shops, but the only place that still holds on to its neon signage is Írók Boltja (the Writers’ Bookshop).
Photo by Isabel Val
Also on Andrássy Avenue, the removal of the Puppet Theatre’s neon sign caused considerable public outrage. Fortunately, the Kiscelli Museum took it in, so at least it’s now in a safe place:
Photo by Ránki Júlia, 2017
Although the 6th district didn’t have the highest concentration of neon signs (the 7th, for example, was much denser in this respect), you can still find a few “forgotten” remnants here and there.
Photo by Isabel Val
The Bistro sign on the corner of Eötvös Street and Szófia Street has held on for a long time, even though there’s no shop attached to it anymore.