Artkraft Strauss traces its origins to 1897, when horse-cars ran on Broadway and gaslights flickered from theater marquees. From then until now and on into the future, Artkraft Strauss sets the standard in technological innovation. Among Artkraft Strauss "firsts":  3D advertising displays, mechanical animation, Times Square neon, traveling "news zippers," jumbo video, sidewalk bridge advertising, real-time LED information displays, large-scale interactive signs and multimedia displays and more.

Artkraft Strauss's greatest hits include Times Square's Coca-Cola spectacular, loaded with space age technology; the real-time block-long news and stock market tickers on Morgan Stanley's world headquarters at 1585 Broadway; the British Airways display, a half-size replica of the supersonic Concorde flying over the bustling intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway; the humorous Joe Boxer display with its Internet-connected electronic message center; the brilliant neon logos of Samsung, Suntory, Budweiser, Kodak, and Hertz, among others; and larger-than life billboard advertising for such fashion giants as Calvin Klein and Ellen Tracy.

Artkraft Strauss began as Strauss Signs, founded in 1897 by artisan Benjamin Strauss. Strauss furnished the city's retailers, restaurants and theaters with meticulously painted showcards and posters, and sent teams of gold-leafers across the country to embellish windows, doors and storefronts. By the teens and '20s Strauss Signs―applying the innovative methods of a Russian immigrant named Jacob Starr―had become Times Square's principal builder of theater marquees and entertainment displays, including the original marquee of the historic New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street. Clients included the Ziegfeld Follies, the Floradora girls, and the rapidly expanding Loew's theater chain.

In the 1920s, Starr left Strauss to start his own engineering firm. He formed an association with the Artkraft Company of Lima, Ohio, a national leader in the manufacture of neon lighting, a newly minted technology. Starr formed Artkraft-New York, and in 1931 he merged with his old employer, Strauss, creating Artkraft Strauss.

By the 1950s, Artkraft Strauss had become the dominant force in marketing, designing, and building outdoor advertising in Times Square. And Artkraft Strauss had become famous throughout the world for the magic of its spectaculars: the power and grace of the Anheuser-Busch eagle, winging through the night high above the street; the ingenuity of the "smoking" Camel sign, which wafted giant smoke rings over Broadway; an immense three-dimensional coffee cup that emitted real coffee aroma. These Artkraft Strauss classics, like yesteryear's beloved Broadway shows, occupy a cherished place in American cultural history.

In the 1960s and 70s Artkraft Strauss entered the electronic age with sophisticated sign animation controllers, information displays such as sports scoreboards and time-and-temperature units, and some of the first computer-controlled message centers.

The 1980s and 90s saw the merging of electronic techniques with classical display media, to create landmark electronically-controlled displays for global advertisers including Sony, Canon, Panasonic, Fuji, Hitachi, and Samsung.

At Artkraft Strauss today, all signs point to a second hundred years even more dazzling than the first.