Artkraft Strauss Sign Corporation.

The Arkraft Strauss Sign Corporation created some of the most iconic signs in American advertising. A major presence in Times Square since its earliest days, Artkraft Strauss was responsible for the "smoking" Camel Cigarettes sign, the "flying" Anheuser-Busch eagle, the 2 Times Square Coca-Cola sign, and numerous other large-scale illuminated signs referred to in the trade as "spectaculars." The company was also responsible for the New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square, a tradition they began in 1907, until 1996.

The Artkraft Strauss Sign Corporation had its roots in Strauss Signs, a small sign-painting operation founded in 1897 by Benjamin Strauss. Strauss Signs had a reputation for producing meticulously painted showcards and applying gold leaf lettering to office doors and storefronts, but by the 1920s, the company had grown to become the principle builder of theatre marquees on Broadway, whose work included the original marquees of the New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street, the Ziegfeld Follies, and many of the original Loew's Theatre buildings.

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