This fifth edition of the popular sign design series includes the winners of recent Signs of the Times contests: electric and commercial signs for retail shops, restaurants and bars, residential ...
Todd Miller shares his story of romance on the Square.
| Tweet |
This is a story of the convergence of love and NYC’s first, electronic billboard, which displayed a marriage proposal directly above the Crossroads of the World.
In 1978, the first electronic billboard appeared in Times Square. Known as Spectacolor, the billboard was created and designed by George Stonbely, who, a bit later, created the outdoor-advertising company (which is now Clear Channel Spectacolor, a preeminent developer of outdoor signage in the Times Square landscape).
To no one’s surprise, the billboard was installed on the northern face of the Allied Chemical Building (now One Times Square), when it was owned by Douglas Leigh. Leigh transformed the building from its original Gothic look to a more modern, austere look by recladding the building with white marble. Sherwood Equities and Jamestown has since purchased the building and transformed it into the sign tower that has become the international icon of New Year’s Eve.
When Stonbely operated the Spectacolor billboard, in an effort to attract round-the-clock attention, the public could “buy” time on the board for personal (family-friendly) messages.
A young Todd Miller took advantage of this program with a fantastic way to propose to his girlfriend. He recounted his first and only billboard buy.
During one of my weekend commutes from college in Florida to NYC, where my girlfriend was working on her master’s at NYU, I was browsing through an airline magazine when, there in front of me, was an advertisement for a 30-second message to be flashed on the first, electronic billboard of its kind. Not just any billboard, it was the Spectacolor billboard in Times Square.
Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
