201:. In the 1920s Starr left Strauss to start his own engineering firm in association with the Artkraft Company of Lima, Ohio, a leading maker of neon lighting, a newly minted technology. Starr formed Artkraft-New York, and in 1931 merged with his old employer, Strauss, creating Artkraft Strauss. The company occupied its block-wide manufacturing facility at 57th Street and the West Side Highway for 75 years, until 2001, when it moved its operations to Queens. By the 1950s, Artkraft Strauss had dominated the outdoor advertising market in Times Square, and was known worldwide.
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Artkraft
Strauss maintained its singular presence in Times Square after neon had been eclipsed by electronic technologies, a process that began in the 1980s, and was thus involved in the area’s rebirth after years of deterioration. Chief among its work from this period are the block-long news and
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Artkraft
Strauss began as Strauss Signs. Founded in 1897 by artisan Benjamin Strauss, the company furnished New York’s retailers with posters and painted show cards. By the 1910s and 20s, Strauss signs, applying the innovative methods of a Russian immigrant named
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commercial and esthetic history. Today, the company maintains a small number of billboards, and provides a variety of sign designer and consulting services to architects, historians, designers, and other outdoor advertising companies.
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north-Square “spectaculars” created for
Canadian Club and Admiral Television. For almost a century, Artkraft Strauss was also responsible for the annual midnight
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in the northern part of Times Square, which featured state-of-the-art digital technology. It also rebuilt the
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McKendry Joe, "One Times Square: A Century of Change at the
Crossroads of the World," David R. Godine, 2012
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Cassie, Ron. "When the Domino Sugars Sign First Went Up in 1951, There Was No
Fanfare,"
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which was first illuminated on April 25, 1951. The neon tubing was replaced by
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display, a block-long extravaganza with a perpetual waterfall; and the high-
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Guide to the
Artkraft Strauss records at the New York Public Library
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168:'s iconic signs and displays. These included the “smoking”
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sign, which wafted giant smoke rings over the Square; the
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is a sign design and consulting company headquartered in
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The works of
Artkraft Strauss are not limited to just
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387:Mass media companies of the United States
77:Learn how and when to remove this message
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184:that signaled the new year’s arrival.
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382:Companies based in New York City
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322:The Encyclopedia Of New York,
331:Russel Sage Foundation, 1991
324:Yale University Press, 1995
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298:Times Square Spectacular,
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317:Currency Doubleday, 1998
32:This article includes a
329:Inventing Times Square,
300:Smithsonian Books, 2007
207:Morgan Stanley Building
61:more precise citations.
305:Times Square Roulette,
320:Kenneth T. Jacobson,
280:Retrieved May 7, 2021
278:(magazine), May 2021.
205:stock tickers on the
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352:Anaheim Sign Company
347:Custom Signs Website
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313:and Edward Hayman,
307:The MIT Press, 2001
162:Manhattan, New York
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315:Signs and Wonders,
303:Lynne B. Sagalyn,
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195:Jacob Starr
59:introducing
366:Categories
311:Tama Starr
261:References
276:Baltimore
247:Baltimore
245:plant in
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147:.artkraft
104:Industry
188:History
140:Website
120:Founder
112:Founded
107:Signage
55:improve
223:Queens
239:meter
170:Camel
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377:Neon
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