Neon!

McCarter originally wanted to be an electrician, but he fell in love with the neon trade in Iowa in the early 1970s. He was working with his wife’s grandfather in her family’s sign business.

“When I watched him do it, I found it so fascinating I just had to learn it,” McCarter said.

He bought a one-man sign shop called Henry Dietz Signs in 1977 and changed the name to Columbia Sign. In 1980, he moved to Iowa and sold Columbia Sign to its current owner. Then when he came back to Columbia in 1985, he worked for the company before opening Creative Neon three years later.

McCarter services and repairs existing neon signs and creates and restores custom neon pieces for clients all over the U.S., for both industrial and retail businesses.

“The majority of my work is service and repairs right now because neon is slow,” McCarter said. “My personal favorite thing to do is bringing back vintage neon signs. Restoring them and bringing them back to life for people to enjoy. If I won the lottery, I would still do neon because I just enjoy doing it.”

McCarter created a neon version of a 1954 Ford convertible for a friend’s recreation room last year, “which was a lot of fun.”

As far as McCarter knows, he’s the only person in Columbia who bends neon. His rarity makes his business prosperous but also is a characteristic that concerns him.

“I think the future of neon will always be uncertain,” McCarter said. “There is certain lighting, like LED, that’s taking over, but as far as exposed neon, there’s nothing else like. It’s the brightest and crispest light out there.”

In the ’70s businesses started asking for more plastic signs, but neon eventually “came back again,” he said. “I think it will always be here as long as there are people here to do it.”