Thursday, December 29, 2011

Long Acre Square Times Square

The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in New York City, New York 1904.

At 41st street we get a nearer view of the tower-like building of the New York Times, sometimes called the "Andiron Building." The array of signs before us here is simply bewildering. Perhaps the most impressive of these is the one reminding us that it is time for a high ball, and incidentally giving us the exact time of the night.

Crossing 42nd street we reach another of the triangle "Squares," known as Long Acre Square, or by its new title of Times Square. With the continuous movement of business uptown, this section is now the center of the theater district, and has besides some of the newest and finest of the city's hotels.

In variety, size and ingenuity of electric signs the Great White Way is unsurpassed. Every trick and device that ingenuity can suggest and money produce seems to have found a place within these comparatively few blocks.

In some of the larger signs striking color effects are produced; as for example in the Levy sign depicting a female figure, and in the AnheuserBusch sign. Movements of various kinds are also one of the devices for attracting attention, the most conspicuous one being the Wilson High Ball sign, which changes every minute, thus giving the exact time.

This Image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1923 are copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF from the U.S. Copyright Office. Works published before 1923 in this case 1907, are now in the public domain.

Long Acre Square Times Square

TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: Good Lighting and the Illuminating Engineer, Volume 1 Published: 1907. Original from: the University of California. Digitized: Feb 3, 2010.

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