‘Mr. Neon’ still going strong after seven decades

Lisa Haefs

Contributor

July 6, 2026

ANTIGO – A seven-decade career in the neon industry, Dean Blazek said, earned him the reputation of “Mr. Neon.”

Now, a new book, “Follow the Signs,” traces his journey from watching a neighborhood sign-maker at work to becoming a globally recognized figure in the neon industry.

“Follow the Signs,” Dean said, traces his full career arc through interviews with him and recollections from his wife, Polly, and their six children: Michael, Jay, Betsy, DeAnne, Mark and Julie.

In the book, Mark recalled accompanying his father on workdays and learning early lessons about hard work while traveling throughout the Northwoods servicing signs.

Granddaughter Clare O’Neill is now the third generation of the family to become a glass bender.

“It is a legacy that I am beyond proud to be a part of,” she wrote.

“Follow the Signs,” Dean said, was written in collaboration with his son, Michael – who describes his dad as “a vibrant leader in the movement to keep the art of neon sign-making alive.”

He notes he was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2024 as the oldest active neon sign maker – as he, at the age of 92, continues to make signs, teach glass-bending and restore vintage signs in Antigo. 

Forefront of movement

Dean said the book traces his early fascination with neon, developed as a youngster in Antigo, and the role he played at the forefront of the movement. 

In the book, Michael highlights how his dad used to watch Edgar Hull, who owned Antigo Neon, making neon signs through a basement window of Olk’s Drug Store.

“Dean would watch for hours and became fascinated with the craft,” Michael wrote.

After graduating from Antigo High School in 1952, Dean said he honed his skills at Everbrite – an electric sign company in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee’s brewery industry, he said, drove strong demand for Schlitz and Pabst Blue Ribbon signs distributed to bars across the region.

Dean also said he regularly painted and repaired large rooftop signs – some reaching six stories.

He said his career was literally “saved by the O,” recalling a rainstorm incident atop the Schroeder Hotel when a jolt of electricity sent him forward into open space.

“I was only kept from falling 27 stories to the sidewalk by the grip of one hand on the letter O,” he said. “My whole life passed before me. It didn’t take long, because I was only 19.”

It’s a story Dean said he has retold many times.

After returning to Antigo in 1955, Dean said he established Northern Advertising.

Using the skills he honed in Milwaukee, he said he handled everything from sales and design to manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

Beer signs remained a fixture of the business, Dean said, as distributors for Blatz, Pabst, Old Style, Miller and Hamm’s supplied signs to taverns throughout the region.

In Antigo, that demand was evident, with the book noting as many as 27 taverns are within a 10-mile radius in the small rural city of just more than 10,000 residents. 

Though neon remained his passion, Dean said he expanded into the billboard business, eventually maintaining 103 billboards across northern Wisconsin.

He said he sold the business to Jones Sign Company out of Green Bay in 2024.

However, Dean said he continued working as a glass bender at Everbrite, producing thousands of brewery signs and an estimated 30,000 “On Tap” neon signs for Schlitz and Blatz window displays. 

Educating a generation

With the introduction of plastic signage in the 1960s, Dean said neon fell out of favor with advertisers.

But when it experienced a resurgence in the 1970s, he said the industry needed a new generation of glass benders.

In response, and at the suggestion of the Wisconsin Advertising Association, Dean created Wisconsin Neon Workshop, an accredited six-week program that trained hundreds of glass benders between 1979 and 1998. 

In the book, Michael wrote: “Dean estimates he taught more than 500 glass-bending students coming from as far away as Thailand, Japan, Egypt and New Zealand.”

Many of those students, Dean said, remain in the industry today or have gone on to teach others.

Freely sharing knowledge of what has often been considered a secretive craft, Dean said he contributed regularly to an industry trade publication and authored several technical manuals on neon sign-making.

He said he and Michael also collaborated on “Neon: The Next Generation” – which was coauthored by Dydia DeLyser and Paul Greenstein, who said Dean stood apart for his decades of efforts to share the craft.

Mixing art and science

According to the book, neon sign-making blends art and science, with roots stretching back to the late 19th century.

The medium gained early attention, the book notes, when inventor Nikola Tesla helped illuminate a Westinghouse sign at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Within a few decades, neon became a popular advertising tool thanks to its bright, eye-catching glow.

Serving partly as a technical manual, Dean said “Follow the Signs” explains how neon signs are made by bending glass tubes into shapes and letters before filling them with neon or argon gas. 

Throughout the book, Dean and Michael share techniques for creating signs, discuss equipment modifications Dean developed for other glass benders and review his role in training future generations through Wisconsin Neon Workshop.

The next chapter

Even though he sold Northern Advertising years ago and the Wisconsin Neon Workshop closed, Dean said he remains active in the industry through DB Collectibles, focusing on buying, selling and restoring vintage signs. 

He said he also created Yesterday’s Sign Park in downtown Antigo, recently donating it to the Langlade County Historical Society.

Though neon is again fading from mainstream advertising as LED lighting becomes more common, Dean said he continues to restore signs and add to his collection.

“It’s hard to pass up a bargain,” he said. “I like the restoration process. Right now, I’m working on a 93-year-old sign. It’s a year older than me. They don’t make signs like that anymore.”

Dean said “Follow the Signs” is available through the Langlade County Historical Society Museum in Antigo, and he and Michael have donated copies to several institutions, including the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, where a book signing is planned later this summer.

“We spent two years working on the book,” Dean said. “It was really a labor of love. I wanted the history of neon preserved.”