Museum of illuminated advertising

About us

Family business Elektro Drapac has specialized in manufacture and installation of illuminated signs and advertisements for 30 years. We are the very first company in this field in Czech republic. Signmaking became our passion over the years and we make inovations and try new procedures as well as we like to look into the past. This is the reason why we became the collectors of historical signs and advertisement. Because when you love your job, you are interested in everything related to it. Over the 30 years we collected many signs. The ones our customers no longer need and many historical enameled and metallic signs which were a forerunner of modern advertisement.

The museum

To celebrate our thirtieth anniversary we have decided to not keep those magnificent  historical examples of our craft for ourselves and share it with the world. And because our company is located next to a busy bike path we created an outdoor exhibition.

The exhibition is free, it is accessible from the public road and can be seen at any time of the day. It is beacuse some of our texts and logos are also illuminated.

Exposition

You can find there signs from various historical periods, including some truly unique pieces.

The oldest pieces of advertising banners include metal and enamel signs, some dating back to the  Austro-Hungarian Empire.

There are some unique illuminated banners dating back to the period od Austria - Hungary. For example the advertisement "Malíř pokojů"(Room painter) hung in the arcade in Dvůr Králové and it is made of glass and metal and was illuminated by a light bulb. It is hand-painted and its entire design is an example of master craftsmanship. The "LÉKÁRNA" (Pharmacy) also has a similar design.

Another unique, historically significant piece is the advertisement for "GEVAERT" photo paper from Antwerp, Belgium. It was manufactured by the Prague company ADLER in 1920. This advertisement was placed in Náchod next to Vesmír cinema, until the nationalization of the photo studio which was located here.

Another examples are neon signs which contributed to the mass expansion of the entire field of illuminated advertising. These neons were widely used in the United States, mainly between 1920 and 1960. In 2010 they started being replaced by LED technology. Nevertheless even today neons are still used, despite the fact that their production is technically demanding and energy consumption is high compared to today's technologies, and the manipulation with these letters is very dangerous.

You will also find signs from our production which were illuminated by fluorescent tubes. These include, for example advertisements that could no longer be displayed due a ban of tobacco advertising.

Our museum also offers a place to relax and sit. Cyclists on e-bikes can use the socket to charge e-bikes for free.

Green energy

Our company usually realizes a large number of orders that go through different stages of production at the same time. However, this also edemands high energy consumption. And because we are an environmentally friendly company in all respects we use energy from renewable sources which we can now share with you using the sockets for charging e-bikes which you will find next to the bike path. So if you have gone on a longer trip around the area you can sit in peace at our museum and meanwhile recharge your e-bike.