Michael Kunde
31, 1988 this is a digital version of an article from The Times Print Archive, before it began online publishing in 1996.
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From the white ball coming tonight to the flashing coca --
The neon view of Times Square is located on the 47 th Street and is almost entirely a masterpiece of the art Kraft Strauss logo.
Since 1907, three generations of the Starr family, which owns the business, have been overseeing the tradition of putting the ball down the pole on top of Times Square.
But the sense of ownership of the family is not limited to New Year's Eve.
To make sure its outdoor showroom is always sparkling, Artcraft sends a worker to Times Square every night to look for burnt things
Bulbs or neon tubes that need to be repaired.
As the only manufacturer in the "spectacular" city --
Flashing neon signs can have a mile-long pipeline and a price tag for more than $1 million
Artcraft claims to have at least 90% of revenue on the signboard at Grand Times Square.
From Budweiser and Admiral TV to the advertising transformation of Kirin and Panasonic, ready for another transformation of advertising, the company is now ready for a new wave of advertising space, with the completion of six senior executives
High-rise buildings being built around Times Square.
Although Artcraft dominates Times Square, it does not find that the business of leasing and making logos is a Road to Forever
Increase wealth.
Artcraft's sales in 1987 were about $10 million, and the construction of signs and displays accounted for about twice as much
There are three in total and the rest come from space rentals on the sign.
Artcraft has about half of the signs in Times Square.
In addition to the neon lights, Artcraft has built a variety of outdoor exhibitions such as scoreboard, theater walk horse farm and bus shelters.
It also made custom metal products for sculptors.
New York accounts for the majority of its sales, but it has done work across the country and exported signs to foreign countries, including Iceland, Nigeria and Peru.
Tama Starr, president and chief executive, said growth has been slow in recent years.
After considering inflation, the company's sales may even decline since the 1950s.
Last summer Artcraft acquired the West End neon company.
The interior signs of the Bronx area include small items such as the exit signs for the lights and the elevator buttons.
In addition to the West End, Artcraft's sales will reach about $13.
This year 5 million
It does not disclose profits.
Because the large signage that Artcraft specializes in is one, they are still built by many of the same procedures that Tama's grandfather Jacob Starr started at the beginning of this century, and he founded the company, and pushed it to the forefront of the neon business in the 1920s.
But innovation like computers
The speed of controlling the cutting machine is as fast as the company can afford.
"We are in a transitional period, starting on the 19 th.
Arts and crafts store in 21 century
Century factory ". Starr said. Ms.
Twelve years after renting windmills, growing tropical fruits and writing songs freely in Hawaii, Starr returned to the company in 1982.
"Of all I 've done, I'm most proud that my royalty check this year is enough to pay my $10 per year ASCAP dues," she said . "
From a company in Finland that uses one of her songs.
Madam, today's advertisement
Starr is in charge of the company's business, while her brother Jonathan works mainly in the factory. Jonathan is the chairman and chief operating officer of the company.
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But even if the computer appears and the production specialist rearranges the floor of the factory, the actual logo construction is still done by hand.
In Artcraft's workshop
40,000 square feet of two floors on 12 Avenue and 57 Street-
Artists make designs and models, engineers and metal workers build structural brackets and metal boxes with a tolerance of 1/64 th and craftsmen bend gently 4-
The length of the glass pipe above the combustion gas jet.
Other workers take the air out of the tube and replace it with a mixture of various inert gases (
Neon lights in red and orange, ar in blue, green and yellow)
More clear with mercury.
Neon signs are available in a variety of colors, except for brown and black, with samples, signs and sculptures everywhere in the workshop showing the colors that may be produced by different gas blends, various shades of phosphorus lining and tube glass on the tube.
After the electrode is connected to the tube, the electrician must connect the transformer required for about every 40 feet tubes.
The transformer converts mains to high voltage-
15,000 to 25,000 V-
But the current used by neon lights is very low.
The wires are hidden behind the sheets-
A metal box made of a huge pattern showing the required paint and the holes needed for the tube.
Wiring, Transformers and controls in flashing order are hidden behind the logo. Perhaps Ms.
Starr's biggest challenge is how to deal with the changing face of the Times Square.
When the early proposal for the reconstruction of Times Square could weaken its gorgeous glow, she was supported by the Art Society.
Starr took immediate action.
To protest this threatened change, she closed the big sign for half an hour on March 24, 1984.
The New York Municipal Arts Association and other institutions were involved and finally passed the Zoning Resolution to ensure that the new buildings in Times Square included space for large bright signs. Ms.
Starr, who is now chairman of the community planning committee, including Times Square, believes that zoning regulations are "better than none ", but I hope that in the process of coordinating outdoor displays with large, dignified buildings, the spontaneity of Broadway glitz and glitter will not disappear.
"So far, Artcraft has not leased any sign space on the new building, nor has it arranged to produce any signs, although it has been involved in several negotiations.
"An advertisement with universal symbolism", but in the last moments of 1988, Starrs will not pay too much attention to the changing look of Times Square.
"This is a minute for the intersection of the universe and the secular," Ms. Starr said.
The ball is a common symbol of celestial bodies falling from high places.
In all irrational acts, noise makers will drive away evil souls, and funny hats will be hidden behind as masks.
"The ball itself has an aluminum skeleton with a diameter of 6 feet and a profile of 180-
Watt bulb.
Weighing about 250 pounds, put it down with your hands 77-
Foot flagpole on Times Square.
Jonathan Starr, as the official timekeeper this year, will have an eye on his watch (
Synchronize at 11: 30. M.
Signal from WWV Station, Fort Collins National Bureau of Standards, Colorado. )
The other is about the downward development of the ball, exceeding the mark on the flagpole.
A crew of six hangers will put the ball down and ask for adjustments so that the ball reaches the bottom of the flagpole at midnight, at that time, Artkraft's electrical foreman, Robert diareuzo, would throw a switch to light up the yellow colored aluminum number, 1989.
A version of the article appeared on page 1001031 of the National edition in December 31, 1988, titled: The company that made it in 89.