Artcraft Fluorescent Lighting Corporation

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Artcraft Fluorescent Lighting Corporation
Company typePrivate
IndustryLighting
Founded1940 - 2002 (62 years)
Founders
  • Louis Levy
  • Max Wittenberg
Fate
  • Dissolved in 2002
  • original Corp. sold in 1968
HeadquartersBrooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
Number of locations
  • New York, NY
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Washington, DC
Area served
United States (mostly east of the Mississippi)
Key people
  • Max Wittenberg
  • Co-Owner - (1940 - 1953 approx.)
  • Harry Handler
  • Co-Owner - (1953 approx. - 1968 approx.)
ProductsFluorescent Fixtures, Neon Signs, Electric Fans
RevenueIncreaseUS$, $50 million annually - in 2008 dollars; inflation-adjusted
  • In late 1940s-1950s,
$2 million a year [AAA Dun & Bradstreet rating][1]
Number of employees
Increase200 approximately

Artcraft Fluorescent Lighting Corporation[2] was an American mass manufacturer of fluorescent lighting fixtures from the time of the public introduction of the fluorescent lamp at the 1939 World's Fair. Artcraft was first to announce and start mass manufacturing of a liner showcase striplight fixture and slimline ballast in 1946.[3][4]

Fluorescent lighting was new to consumers, businesses, and professionals, who were familiar with incandescent lighting.[5]

The benefits of fluorescent lighting were lower operating costs, more light for the same power input, and less maintenance.[6][7] The company remained in existence until about 2002 in Brooklyn, NY.[8]

The three top fluorescent fixture manufacturing companies from the beginning were, Lightolier [Blitzer family], the largest, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, with approximately $500 million in annual sales, followed by Artcraft Fluorescent Lighting Corporation [Levy family], and Globe Lighting Products, Inc. [Waitzkin family], originating from New York City.[9]

Sources

Industrial Directory of New York State, 1949ed, 1953ed, vol. 3468, pp. 638, 684

Lighting - Interior Lighting- Artemide (Firm), vol. 63–64, 1953, p. 82

Lighting - Interior Lighting- Artemide (Firm), vol. 53–54, 1948, pp. 175, 392

Mark Stanley Rea, ed. (c. 1993), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, New York, Part IV Lighting Applications, Lighting Handbook Reference & Application (8th ed.), pp. 517–749, ISBN 0-87995-102-8 (previous editions published under title: IES lighting handbook)

Electrical Consultant (original from Cornell University - digitized, Feb 1, 2011 - Print Advertisement) Lighting & Lamps, vol. 53, 1948, p. 21

Electrical West (original from McGraw-Hill Company of California., 1967), vol. 134, 1967

Chain Store Age - Super Markets, vol. 40, 1964, p. 64

"United States Library of Congress", Dun & Bradstreet Corporation Records (Science, Technology & Business Division), Industrial Directories, John Adams Building Collection, Located Off-site at Fort Meade, Manhattan & Bronx & Philadelphia, PA, 1945 Pg. 1481, Feb. 1st 1948, Feb. 1st 1950, Feb 1st 1951, Feb 1st 1952, Pg. 2371, Feb. 1st 1953, Feb. 1st 1954, Feb.1st 1955, Jan. 1st 1956, Jan. 1st 1957., Washington, DC, September 2016

Arthur A. Bright & Rupert Maclaurin (1943), Economic Factors Influencing The Development and Introduction of The Fluorescent Lamp, The Journal of Political Economy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [MIT], University of Chicago Press, vol. 51, pp. 429–450

Arthur A. Bright, Jr. (1949), The electric-lamp industry: technological change and economic development from 1800 to 1947, New York, Macmillan Co., pp. 399–417, ISBN 0-405-04690-1

Moody's Dividend Record - Moody's Investors Service, Incorporated, 1948, Artcraft Fluorescent Corp., 7% partie, pfd, 1948, p. 143

Lighting the Way, Natural museum of American History, © 2015 Smithsonian Institution.

"Eat a Sloppy Joe at Currant Cafe Sunday While You Wait For Lit Brooklyn to Open", March 14, 2014 - Bedford and Bowery, © New York Magazine., 14 March 2014

Buckley, Cara (7 May 2008), ""© New York Times - Front Page, May 7, 2008" - Previous headquarters building of Artcraft Fluorescent Corp. featured for current new use of space of building."", The New York Times

"© New York Times, May 7, 2008, Front Page reprint"

""Slide-Show" - Related Article to © New York Times, May 7, 2008 - Previous headquarters building.", The New York Times, 8 May 2008

References

  1. ^ Dun & Bradstreet, Artcraft Fluorescent Corporation Financial Records 1945-1957, Library of Congress, Washington D.C., Retrieved September 2016
  2. ^ Industrial Directory of New York State, 1949ed, 1953ed
  3. ^ Electrical Consultant, Volume 50, Page 4, 1946 - Lighting, Volume 53 & 54, Page 174, 175, 1948
  4. ^ Westinghouse Engineer, Volume 12-13, Page 141, 1952
  5. ^ John H. Campbell, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, The University of California, Berkeley, California, The History and Technical Evolution of High Frequency Lighting, pages 1-2, 1977
  6. ^ Mark Stanley Rea, PH.D. FIES, Editor-In-Chief, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, The Lighting Handbook and Reference, 1993
  7. ^ Arthur A. Bright and Rupert Maclaurin, Economic Factors Influencing The Development and Introduction of The Fluorescent Lamp, The Journal of Political Economy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [MIT], University of Chicago Press, 51, No.5, 1943, pp. 429-450
  8. ^ New York State, Division of Corporations, State Records
  9. ^ Paul Levy, Early industry leaders in New York City, Sillman Family Private Collection, 1998

External links

"The Magic of Fluorescence", © 1945 short video film by General Electric Company, Nela Park, Ohio (how fluorescent bulbs are manufactured, located at time marker 10:27)

"How It's Made : Fluorescent Tubes", © 2009, Discovery Channel

"Tour of the Lightolier Manufacturing Plant", © Bob Vila, Action Media Inc. - Episode 8, Part 2, 31 August 2011

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