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{{Short description|American manufacturing company}}
== History of fluorescent lighting in the United States ==
{{Infobox company
| name = Artcraft Fluorescent Lighting Corporation
|logo =
| type = [[private company|Private]]
| industry = Lighting
| foundation = 1940 - 2002 (62 years)
| founders = {{flatlist|
* Louis Levy
* Max Wittenberg
}}
| fate = {{flatlist| * Dissolved in 2002
* original Corp. sold in 1968}}
| location = [[Brooklyn]], New York City, New York, United States
| area_served = United States (mostly east of the Mississippi)
| key_people = {{unbulleted list|Louis J. Levy|{{small|([[President (corporate title)|President]] and Co-Owner)}}}}{{unbulleted list|Max Wittenberg|{{small| Co-Owner - (1940 - 1953 approx.)}}}}{{unbulleted list|Harry Handler|{{small|Co-Owner - (1953 approx. - 1968 approx.)}}}}
| locations =
* New York, NY
* Philadelphia, PA
* Washington, DC
| products = Fluorescent Fixtures, Neon Signs, Electric Fans
| num_employees = {{increase}}200 approximately


| revenue = {{increase}}[[US]][[dollar|$]], $50 million annually - in 2008 dollars; inflation-adjusted
From the early days of lighting, no significant developments were realized for fluorescent technologies, known around 1880, until [[General Electric]] secured the patent rights to the bulb. At the [[1939 New York World's Fair]], the public got it's first glimpse of the [[fluorescent light]] and fixture and soon after, in about 1940, Louis Levy and Max Wittenberg formed the corporation that would become one of the three (3) largest in manufacturing the fluorescent light (or lamp) fixture in the world. In the 1950s, fluorescent lighting outsold incandescent lighting more than any other time in history and for over 70 years went virtually unchanged and is the most common form of lighting in industrial, office, retail, and home use on the planet until popularity of the LED light began in the late 1990s.
* In late 1940s-1950s,
$2 million a year [AAA Dun & Bradstreet rating]<ref>Dun & Bradstreet, Artcraft Fluorescent Corporation Financial Records 1945-1957, Library of Congress, Washington D.C., Retrieved September 2016</ref>
}}


'''Artcraft Fluorescent Lighting Corporation'''<ref>Industrial Directory of New York State, 1949ed, 1953ed</ref> was an American mass manufacturer of fluorescent lighting fixtures from the time of the public introduction of the [[fluorescent lamp]] at the [[1939 New York World's Fair|1939 World's Fair]]. Artcraft was first to announce and start mass manufacturing of a liner showcase [[striplight]] fixture and slimline ballast in 1946.<ref>Electrical Consultant, Volume 50, Page 4, 1946 - Lighting, Volume 53 & 54, Page 174, 175, 1948</ref><ref>Westinghouse Engineer, Volume 12-13, Page 141, 1952</ref>
== History ==


Fluorescent lighting was new to consumers, businesses, and professionals, who were familiar with [[incandescent]] lighting.<ref>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</ref>
The corporation started with Louis Levy who first began his quest with technology by earning and saving money assembling [[radios]] when we was about 20 years old. When the idea of fluorescent lighting came to his attention he developed a friendship with Max Wittenberg and together, they started the Artcraft Fluorescent Lighting Corporation about 1940 with Mr. Wittenberg principally taking on the responsibilities of managing the business, sales, and accounting office and Mr. Levy managing the manufacturing, fixture development, and production department. This was very new to most businesses and professionals who were familiar with [[incandescent]] lighting and transitioning to this newer form of lighting was not easy at first.


The benefits of fluorescent lighting were lower operating costs, more light for the same power input, and less maintenance.<ref>Mark Stanley Rea, PH.D. FIES, Editor-In-Chief, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, The Lighting Handbook and Reference, 1993</ref><ref>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</ref> The company remained in existence until about 2002 in Brooklyn, NY.<ref>New York State, Division of Corporations, State Records</ref>
As time elapsed, more and more places of business recognized the benefits of fluorescent lighting, brighter and less maintenance. The idea took hold. There were over 200 employees at the factory and branch offices about 1959. [[Neon signs]] also were very popular and manufacturing began of those as demand impinged on society at the time. The company began selling more and more fixtures in the New York City area that they eventually opened showroom offices on Bleeker Street in [[Manhattan]], and then in Washington, DC and Philadelphia, PA about 1947 and began making and selling display cases and electric fans. Some notable clients were the original [[Macy]] New York department store and the [[United States Navy]] just to name a couple. Sales and manufacturing skyrocketed by the mid 1950s east of the Mississippi, and many other companies were beginning to make fixtures to supply the evergrowing world-wide marketplace. Max Wittenberg passed away in the late 1950s and Mr. Levy continued operations with a new partner until about 1968 when he sold the corporation. They remain in existence today in Brooklyn, NY.


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.<ref name="ReferenceA">Paul Levy, Early industry leaders in New York City, Sillman Family Private Collection, 1998</ref>
== Success of an industry ==


== Sources==
Since it's inception, the corporation grew over time and was at it's
prime, the pinnacle, in 1952. Maintaining a "AAA" [[Dunn and Bradstreet]] rating was not a simple task back then, and the corporation had that rating for many years, analogous to a 5A, ER3, 1 rating today. Many businesses found success in manufacturing fluorescent light fixtures as they gained popularity in the 1950s and have maintained success in the current business environment. The three (3) major companies from the beginning were, [[Lightolier]], the largest, purchased by Philips Electronics Group Brand recently, with approximately $500 million dollars in annual sales, followed by Artcraft Fluorescent Lighting Corporation, and Globe Lighting, all originating from New York City.

== Influence around the world ==

As most people know, this style of lighting has remained unchanged for over 70 years. Go into any factory, any store, any office building, and look up. They are everywhere. Yet with the advent of newer technologies and especially energy conservation, the 'going green' wave taking place today in 2011, the LED light is becoming ever more popular in these establishments and transition to these and other technologies will take many more years.

== Past Officers ==

* Louis Levy -- President, a pioneer of the fluorescent light fixture
* Max Wittenberg -- Secretary and Treasurer
* Jay Stern -- Vice President
* Bernard Lugar -- CFO, Chief Financial Officer
* William Fishkin -- General Counsel
* Daniel Zaslowsky -- Legal Officer

== Previous location(s) and operations ==

* Brooklyn, NY (original factory)
: -- New York, NY, Manhattan (showroom)
: -- Philadelphia, PA (showroom & sales office)
: -- Washington, DC (showroom & sales office)

== References ==


{{Citation
{{Citation
| author-link = State of New York
| author-link = State of New York
| title = Copyright: Industrial Directory of New York State
| title = Industrial Directory of New York State, 1949ed, 1953ed
| volume = 3468
| volume = 3468
| pages = 638, 684
| pages = 638, 684 }}
| date = 1949ed, 1953ed
{{Citation
| year = 1949, 1953 }}
| author-link = Artemide (Firm)
| title = Lighting - Interior Lighting- Artemide (Firm)
| volume = 63-64
| pages = 82
| year = 1953 }}
{{Citation
| author-link = Artemide (Firm)
| title = Lighting - Interior Lighting- Artemide (Firm)
| volume = 53-54
| pages = 175, 392
| year = 1948 }}


{{Citation
| editor = Mark Stanley Rea
| title = Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, New York, Part IV Lighting Applications, Lighting Handbook Reference & Application
| pages = 517–749
| year = c. 1993
| edition = 8th
| isbn = 0-87995-102-8 }} (previous editions published under title: IES lighting handbook)


{{Citation
{{Cite web
| author-link = Electrical Consultant (original from: Cornell University - digitized, Feb 1, 2011)
| title = Electrical Consultant (original from Cornell University - digitized, Feb 1, 2011 - Print Advertisement) Lighting & Lamps
| title = 1939 New York World's Fair
| location = Themes and Zones
| volume = 53
| pages = 21
| url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_New_York_World%27s_Fair
| accessdate = March 29 2011 }}
| year = 1948 }}


{{Citation
| author-link = Electrical West (original from: McGraw-Hill Company of California., 1967)
| title = Electrical West (original from McGraw-Hill Company of California., 1967)
| volume = 134
| year = 1967}}


{{Citation
{{Citation
| author-link = CSA Super Markets - Volume 40 - Page 64 - 1964
| title = Chain Store Age - Super Markets
| volume = 40
| pages = 64
| year = 1964 }}

{{Citation
| title = United States Library of Congress
| title = United States Library of Congress
| periodical = 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.
| periodical = Reference Collection, archives of New York City corporations
| location = Washington, DC
| location = Washington, DC
| date = April 1997
| date = September 2016
| url =http://www.loc.gov/index.html }}
| url = https://www.loc.gov/rr/business/brscoll.html#industrial}}


{{Citation
|author1=Arthur A. Bright |author2=Rupert Maclaurin
|name-list-style=amp | title = 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
| volume = 51
| issue = 5
| pages = 429–450
| year = 1943}}


{{Citation
{{Citation
| author= Arthur A. Bright, Jr.
| last = Luger
| title = The electric-lamp industry: technological change and economic development from 1800 to 1947, New York, Macmillan Co.
| first = Bernard
| pages = 399–417
| author = Bernard Luger, past United States Auditor and region three Director for Health, Education, and Welfare
| year = 1949
| title = Documenting a corporation
| isbn = 0-405-04690-1 }}
| journal = Sillman family private collection
| volume = 1
| pages = 2
| date = May 1995
| year = 1995 }}



{{Citation
{{Citation
| author-link = Moody's Investors Service, Incorporated, 1948
| last = Zaslowsky
| title = Moody's Dividend Record - Moody's Investors Service, Incorporated, 1948, Artcraft Fluorescent Corp., 7% partie, pfd
| first = Daniel
| author= Daniel Zaslowsky
| pages = 143
| title = An era a long time ago
| year = 1948 }}
| journal = Sillman family private collection
| volume = 2
| pages = 3
| date = May 1995
| year = 1995 }}


{{Citation
| title = Lighting the Way, Natural museum of American History, © 2015 Smithsonian Institution.
| url = http://americanhistory.si.edu/lightproject }}


{{Citation
{{Citation
| title = "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.
| last = Levy
| date = 14 March 2014 | url = http://bedfordandbowery.com/2014/03/eat-a-sloppy-joe-at-currant-cafe-this-sunday-while-you-wait-for-lit-brooklyn-to-open/ }}
| first = Paul
| author= Paul Levy
| title = Early industry leaders in New York City
| journal = Sillman family private collection
| volume = 3
| pages = 4
| date = October 1972
| year = 1972 }}


{{Citation
{{Citation
| title = "© New York Times - Front Page, May 7, 2008" - Previous headquarters building of Artcraft Fluorescent Corp. featured for current new use of space of building."
| last = Sillman
|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 7 May 2008| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/nyregion/07lofts.html?scp=1&sq=mckibbin&st=nyt |last1 = Buckley|first1 = Cara}}
| first = Suzanne
| author= Suzanne Sillman
{{Citation
| title = An employee's perspective
| title = "© New York Times, May 7, 2008, Front Page reprint"
| journal = Sillman family private collection
| url = https://store.nytimes.com/products/new-york-times-front-page-reprint }}
| volume = 4
| pages = 5
| date = August 1996
| year = 1996 }}


{{Citation
{{Citation
| title = "Slide-Show" - Related Article to © New York Times, May 7, 2008 - Previous headquarters building.
| last = Sillman
|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 8 May 2008| url = https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/07/nyregion/20080507LOFTS_index.html?action=click&contentCollection=N.Y.%20%2F%20Region&module=RelatedCoverage&region=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article }}
| first = Richard
| author= Richard Sillman
| title = A retrospective look back
| journal = Sillman family private collection
| volume = 5
| pages = 6
| date = January 2011
| year = 2011 }}


== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}


==External links==


{{Citation
<!--- Categories --->
| title = "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)
| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRp4qbISBoo }}

{{Citation
| title = "How It's Made : Fluorescent Tubes", © 2009, Discovery Channel
| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-eynJd9y-U }}

{{Citation
| title = "Tour of the Lightolier Manufacturing Plant", © Bob Vila, Action Media Inc. - Episode 8, Part 2
| date = 31 August 2011 | url = https://www.bobvila.com/sections/tv-shows/projects/21-accessible-home/episodes/244-installing-a-tankless-water-heater/videos/1111619563001-tour-of-the-lightolier-manufacturing-plant }}


[[Category:Technology]]
[[Category:Lighting brands]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1940]]
[[Category:1940 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:Privately held companies based in New York City]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1940]]
[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City]]

Latest revision as of 09:16, 9 December 2023

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

[edit]

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

[edit]
  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
[edit]

"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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