The Contemporary Night Owl

	New York City's Times Square circa 2005, with the Panasonic Jumbotron in view.

Have you ever been in a major international city (especially a metropolis such as NYC or Tokyo) and caught a glimpse of a video billboard projecting a hi-tech ad or some other kind of programming? Or some other kind of enormous image being projected on the side of a building? Ever wondered about the history of the technology behind these amazing images? Let's have a look at the earliest and most groundbreaking giant screens...

Giant screens in unconventional outdoor settings as a medium of advertising, broadcasting, and relaying information gradually caught on throughout the mid-20th century. These screens enable advertisers to catch the public eye with dazzling, eye-catching ads or commercials (or TV shows and news broadcasts for that matter) and reach a wider audience than with traditional media such as television.

In 1933, the most famous and at one time, most common example of a giant outdoor screen was debuted to the world when the first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, NJ, USA. This theater, which closed its doors after a mere three years, set the stage for thousands more like it to open across the US. Drive-in theaters would become a pop icon and an important part of the American landscape in the 1950s-60s.

In 1936, the British movie Things To Come (adapted by producer Alexander Korda and H.G. Wells from Wells's novel The Shape of Things To Come) featured a giant outdoor screen over which the public could gather and watch politicians give speeches from a broadcast studio. Ironically enough, this vision of the future was already becoming a reality with the historical developments in television technology made during that time as well the debut of the first drive-in theaters! Things To Come was an early preview of things to come in the world of broadcasting.

On America's Election Day in 1947, a giant screen popped up in an unlikely place: Starkville, Mississippi. This screen was erected on a drug store in town by the owners of the local newspaper to announce the local, statewide and national election results to people attending a large election party in town. As the results were announced (including the election of Miss. judge John C. Stennis to the US Senate - a seat he would hold for 42 years.), townspeople watched them live on the screen. This was a forerunner to Election Day TV coverage, which was just a few years away.

The "ancestor" of the video billboard or video screen as we know them today was created by one of the companies who has made good use of and pioneered it over the past few decades: Sony. In 1961, Sony debuted the Sony Scope, which was a huge movie projector that projected images such as public service ads, manga shorts, and Sony product commercials on buildings owned by the company in Tokyo. The Sony Scope, which was discontinued in 1964, was fired up several times a week at night and was extremely hi-tech when it first came out.

In the 1960s-70s, a new technology was developed which would revolutionize the world of advertising and broadcasting: LED technology. With their bright colors and long life, LEDs have enabled a whole generation of video screens, billboards, and more to be created, ranging from small video displays on store shelves to the gargantuans mentioned in this post! In 2004, what was then the largest LED display in the world was unveiled in Las Vegas, NV at the Fremont Street Experience. Since then, gargantuan LED displays in Suzhou, China and at an Absa bank location in Johannesburg, South Africa have successively taken the title as the world's largest LED screens.

One of the first Jumbotron models at Expo '85.

Sony would create another milestone in both large-screen televisions and giant screens when it unveiled the Jumbotron to the world in 1985 at the Expo '85 World's Fair, which was held in Tsukuba, Japan. This giant TV and video screen is based on LED technology. At the time it premiered, this TV was one of the most state of the art and largest ever manufactured. Five years later, the first Jumbotron was installed at One Times Square in New York City. Throughout the early and mid-1990s, this Jumbotron showed programming such as news, weather, music videos, "infotainment" programs, and The Late Night Show with David Letterman to the masses of people passing through Times Square at any given time. In 1996, Sony shut their Jumbotron down and that was soon replaced with one from their rival, Panasonic. That Jumbotron was in turn replaced in 2010 by one from Daktronics.

Other Sony Jumbotrons were installed elsewhere in the world, including what was, until 2005, the largest in the world at the former SkyDome (now named Rogers Centre) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The Galleria in Seoul, South Korea.

One of most spectacular giant LED screens in the world is that of The Galleria in Seoul, South Korea. This massive screen, which was created in the 1990s, is powered by LED lights and engulfs the entire main building of the mall! It displays LED people, flowers, messages (which seem to be mostly in Hangeul), and more.

At the time of this writing, the world's largest video screen is located at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC, USA. This screen, which is 61 meters long by 24 meters wide (200x800 ft.), is a Panasonic HD set that went into operation in 2011. This screen gives a spectacular view of the race to the audience...and anyone who happens to be within viewing distance of the speedway! However, that screen will soon lose its title this year when the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas, TX, USA unveils its new "Big Hoss TV"! That screen is a massive HD screen measuring 66 meters wide by 28 meters wide (218 feet wide and 94.6 feet) tall!

Other noteworthy giant video screens include the screens at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, the Dallas Cowboys screen at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, TX, USA (which was the largest in the world until the Charlotte video screen came along), the Houston Texans' screen at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX (currently the largest in the American NFL), and the Tokyo Racecourse in Tokyo, Japan. All four of these screens are Mitsubishi Diamond Vision screens.

Over the decades, giant video screens, video/LED billboards, and more have been used to display movies and other entertainment programs, advertise products, broadcast news and information to large numbers of people, and magnify live events such as sporting events and concerts. Political leaders have reached massive number of supporters (and opponents) with these video screens. The screen in Things To Come has definitely become an everyday reality in our modern world.

Links:
http://www.oobject.com/category/giant-screens/
http://www.urbanscreens.org/ (A website dedicated to giant screens in urban society.)
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/31/business/media-business-advertising-sony-s-times-square-jumbotron-has-begun-attract.html (A New York Times article from 1993 about the Sony Jumbotron.)
http://www.ledsmagazine.com/articles/2005/01/leds-transform-department-store-in-seoul.html (An interesting article from LEDs Magazine about the LED lights of Seoul's Galleria Mall.)
http://www.digitalsignagetoday.com/article/210081/Jo-burg-digital-signage-install-billed-as-world-s-largest-LED-display (Article from Digital Signage Today about the LED display in Johannesburg, South Africa that became the world's largest in March 2013.)

(Image Credits: Times Square: Jorge Royan.  Expo '85 Jumbotron: ころぞう/Ubcle. The Galleria: Christian Richters. All images used courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) 

This morning I was sitting in my chair thinking about a snack food that many of us GenXers/Yers here in the US have craved and yearned for for almost 23 years now. A pastry item that was pulled off store shelves and cast into '90s oblivion just when its popularity was starting to grow. That item was Hostess Cakes' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pies.

When they debuted to the world in 1990, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pies caused a bit of excitement among us kids who were huge fans of the show....and who were lucky enough to have a convenience or grocery store around that carried Turtle Pies in stock! Turtle Pies debuted to the public at the time when the show was the most popular cartoon on TV and the two feature films were out at the theaters. They were cakes/pastries with a fairly hard green sugar shell and glazing and had a vanilla pudding (aka "Vanilla Puddin' Power") filling. Later on some Turtle Pies were issued with a regular yellow shell, but with a green "ooze" filling that resembled the mutagen ooze from the show. You could take a big chomp out of these pies and the vanilla goodness would come gushing out! The commercial that aired during weekday and Saturday morning cartoons showed the Turtle Pie being constructed layer by layer and made us want to go out, buy one, eat it, and get filled with Turtle Power! As the Turtles would say, "Gnarly, dude!"

What made us GenX/Yers want to rush out and buy these pies were not only the pies themselves, but the speical little gift within. At first each Turtle Pie contained a sticker depicting the turtles, but when the second TMNT movie debuted at the theaters in March of 1991, each pie came with a free glossy collector's card that depicted a scene from the movie. There were four issued in total and our friends on the school playground would be happy to trade us some other trading cards, such as a special edition Yo! MTV Raps Vanilla Ice or Marky Mark card, for our extras. If we saved up enough "Turtle Points" from the pie wrappers, we could send them off to Hostess and get a free toy.

Alas, by late 1991 or early 1992, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pies had completely vanished from the store shelves, never to be seen again. Granted, Turtle Pies were essentially Hostess's Pudding Pies stripped of the chocolate coating and dyed green. But pudding pies just aren't (weren't?) the same as Turtle Pies. That green dye and the sugar shell makes a world of difference. There have been attempts to recreate the Turtle Pie, but the authenticity of these recipes has varied. Some recipes have tasted very close to the original; others not so close.

For those of us who were lucky enough to experience the splendidness that were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pies during their relatively brief existence, they may be long gone, but they will live on forever in the hearts and souls of us whose parents bought them for us every time we went to the store. We will never, ever forget eating those pies while watching the show and communicating in Morse Code with our friends or siblings via our toy TMNT communicators! Nor will we forget the taste of the pudding in our mouths as we bit into the pies. Or the excitment of finding a little envelope in the mail (after a 1-2 month wait!) with our special toy inside. Those pies were special little snacks indeed.
   
If you have any special memories of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pies, please share them with us in the Comments section below!

P.S.
For those of you out there who are curious, I saved up my 100 or so Turtle Points and got a set of clicking TMNT "signalling devices"! One of those is still at my mom's house, probably sitting in some forgotten nook or cranny somewhere gathering dust......  

The iconic "Jesus Saves" neon cross in New York City.

Today's blog topic is one many night owls - particularly those who spend any significant amount of time on the road - are probably familiar with: Neon church crosses.

Neon church crosses that light up the night sky are one of the most famous symbols of nighttime America. They can be found along many major American highways and interstates and in some inner city neighborhoods. Neon crosses can be found on top of church steeples and on the sides of various other buildings across the country, inviting the public to come to church or acting as beacons of comfort at night for anyone with troubles on their mind. During the Christmas season, they spread a bit of Christmas cheer along dark stretches of interstate highway where Christmas decorations might be sparse. Most importantly of all, neon crosses have become messengers in the night which help spread the message of Christ during the nighttime hours when most people are asleep.

For many centuries, crosses on top of churches have pointed us in the direction of Heaven, lifted the cross of Christ to the world, and much more. Neon crosses have served all of these purposes for many decades now. It's unclear when and where the first neon cross was created in the USA, but neon signs in general became highly popular in the United States during the 1920s-1930s. It can only be assumed the first neon crosses appeared on churches during this period.

For the next five decades onwards, neon crosses would pop up all over America. Many of these crosses have become historical landmarks. One such cross is the famous Route 66/I-55 neon cross over St. Paul's Lutheran Church (also known as the Church of the Neon Sign) in Hamel, IL. This cross was erected in 1946 in tribute to Oscar Brunnworth, a local soldier who was killed in Italy during World War II. This cross has been a source of inspiration and comfort to many late-night drivers driving along I-55 ever since it was erected. Another famous American neon cross is  the foreboding cross hanging over St. Paul's House in Manhattan, NYC which has warned passers-by that "Sin will find you out" for six decades now since it was erected in the 1950s. Also in Manhattan's Alphabet City neighborhood is the iconic "Jesus Saves" cross, which has made appearances in TV shows, movies, websites, and more.

In the 1970s, the number of neon crosses (and neon signs in general) began to drop in the US due to complaints about light pollution and rising electricity and maintenance costs. There are not nearly as many neon crosses now as there once were, but they are still very much a part of the American nightscape.

The Suwon Jeil Church in Suwon, S. Korea.

In addition to the US, there are other countries where neon crosses have become a familiar part of the nighttime landscape. One such country is South Korea. In the ROK, red crosses can be found all over the country. They are on top of virtually all Protestant churches across the country, including in the capital Seoul, which has earned it the informal nickname of "the city of the neon crosses"! These crosses serve very much the same purposes as the neon crosses in America do. And on top of Aegibong Hill near the DMZ separating North and South Korea, a huge electric Christmas tree tower is lit every year for 15 days which broadcasts a visual message of peace to the North through the Christmas season. This tower can be seen as far away as the North Korean city of Kaesong. However, some of the red neon crosses that have popped up in Korea may not exactly be a symbol of traditional Western Christianity......

According to a July 2008 article from the Asia Times Online, some of these red crosses have a meaning that goes beyond traditional Christian symbolism. In Korea, red crosses are also symbolic of the Donghak, or the "Eastern Learning" movement indigenous to Korea. These crosses reflect the "Poguk anmin" ("Protect the nation and secure peace for the people" in English) mantra, which is the call for a return to Confucian ideals and a Korean identity not shaped by foreign influence. In this case, these crosses are a call for Korean Christians to practice a more Korean-specific form of Christianity.    

Shanghai's Muen, or Moore Memorial Church in 2007.

One other neon cross that deserves special mention is the neon cross on top of the Muen Church in Shanghai, China. Erected in 1936 when the church was known as Moore Memorial Church and inspired by the neon crosses in the US, this red cross stood out in the city's nightscape when all around it were neon signs advertising nightclubs, dance halls, and all the other "party hard" establishments that are part of any major city at night. After the Communist victory in mainland China in 1949, all the neon lights - including the Moore Memorial Church cross - were turned off by the authorities. The cross would not be turned on again until 1988. Today the Muen Church is surrounded by office buildings and billboards advertising the latest iPhone, but it still stands out in the midst of the urban hustle and bustle, just as it did in the 1930s and 40s.

Other countries which have their own neon cross traditions include the Philippines, where blue neon crosses can be seen in cities across the country at night; Vietnam, where the neon lights of the Nha Trang Cathedral can only be described as stunning, and the UK, where a blue neon cross adorns the top of the Round Chapel in the Lower Clapton district of London's Hackney borough.

Since they started making their first appearances in the night skies all those decades ago, neon church crosses have been a source of inspiration for many, have become historical landmarks, and have carried Christ's message throughout the night. They have also become a means of guidance (both spiritually and navigationally) and have soothed many a soul, Christian and non-Christian alike.

Links:
-http://route66news.com/2011/01/01/the-old-neon-cross/ (Article about the Hamel, IL neon cross.)
-http://www.religiousproductnews.com/articles/2007-February/Feature-Articles/The-History-of-Church-Steeples.htm (The History of Church Steeples)
-A Protestant Church in Communist China: Moore Memorial Church, Shanghai 1949-1989 by John Craig and William Keating. Excerpt from Google Books about the church's neon cross.
-http://www.idealshanghai.com/venues/3756/ Website about Muen (Moore Memorial) Church.

(Image Credits: "Jesus Saves" pic: David Shankbone. Suwon Jeil Church pic: Zubro. Muen Church pic: Kwz. All images used via Wikimedia Commons.)

An authentic 1933 issue of the "Kangaroo Boxer" poster hanging on Joey and Chandler's wall on "Friends".

For those of you who are fans of the '90s-early '00s hit sitcom Friends, you've no doubt noticed that on the wall of Joey and Chandler's apartment hangs a poster of a boxing kangaroo. At the top of the poster are the words "Кенгуру -Боксер"and at the bottom "Владимир Дуров младший". If, like many Friends fans out there, you've spent the past two decades wondering what this poster means, you're about to find out!

In Russian, "Кенгуру -Боксер" means "Kangaroo Boxer" and at the bottom of the poster is the name Vladimir Durov, Jr. (Владимир Дуров младший), with "Junior" in parentheses. Vladimir Durov, Sr. (1863-1934) was part of the Durov family, who are Russia's leading "circus family". The Durovs became a huge sensation in the Russian circus during the Tsarist times and their reputation as the nation's most legendary and pioneering "circus family" has continued up to the present day. Vladimir was a very famous clown and animal trainer who zealously supported the Bolshevik Revolution. Many of his performances mocked Tsar Nicholas II and his government and praised the Bolsheviks. Both Vladimir and his brother Anatoly referred to themselves as the "kings of jesters, not the jesters of kings".

At least three members of the next generation of Durovs bore Vladimir, Sr's name, and which one - if any - is depicted in this poster is uncertain. First was Vladimir's own son, Vladimir, who died in 1912. Two other members of the Durov family, Vladimir Griegorievich (1909-1972) and Vladimir Leonidovich, followed in their uncle's footsteps and became circus performers and animal trainers in the Soviet circus. Vladimir Griegorievich eventually became a People's Artist of the USSR. According to author Miriam Neirick's 2012 book When Pigs Could Fly and Bears Could Dance: A History of the Soviet Circus, a Vladimir Durov (possibly Vladimir Griegorievich?) performed at circuses at home and abroad and became a proponent of world peace, often releasing white doves over the audience as a sign of peace and goodwill. This Vladimir deeply loved his motherland and wanted to do his part to help foster friendship between the Soviet peoples and the peoples of the world. He used his performances to overcome international paranoia about the USSR and promote it in a good light, going well above and beyond the propaganda promoted by officials at the state-sponsored circuses to show the good sides of the peoples of the Soviet republics and how beautiful their cultures are.

In our modern world, fast transmission of news headlines and other information, such as stock quotes, is essential. For over 146 years, the same medium of transmitting these news headlines has been used and that is the ticker format. News and stock tickers are used in both the virtual world and in the real world. Cell phones and computers have ticker apps, and real-time tickers can be found in and on the outside of buildings. Many of the famous real-world tickers can be found in New York City, but there are some in other cities as well. Here are five of those tickers from both the past and the present:

A Russian Hughes telegraph machine on display at a museum in Finland.

1.) Edward A Calahan's Ticker Tape Machine
The great-great grandfather of all tickers is Edward A. Calahan's (1838-1912) stock ticker telegraph machine. This telegraph machine was invented by Edward A. Calahan in 1863 and was derived from the earlier telegraphic printer created by David E. Hughes in 1856, which was a revolutionary machine for the early telegraph industry in the 1850s-1860s. Prior to its invention, the only way to pass on the latest quotes was to dispatch a courier with a handwritten note, who would make a daily trek across town to deliver the quotes to their destination. Calahan took quote reporting to the next level by using the Hughes machine to print the quotes up via small ribbons of paper - or 'ticker tape' (now you know where ticker tape has its beginnings!) via a telegraph transmitted at a sending station at another location.

Calahan premiered his invention in New York City in 1867 and over the next decade, it would be found in banks and stockbrokers' offices all over the city. This machine gave banks, stock brokers, and more the ability to instantaneously transmit the latest stock quotes over a long distance. Gone were the days when couriers would have to run across town with the latest quotes, hoofing it to get the quotes to their destination before the work day ended! Over time, the ticker tape machine was used worldwide for transmitting the day's stock quotes, until newer stock ticker machines based on the same technology began to supersede it beginning in the 1930s.

The ticker tape machine was an early example of a printer, and in particular the ribbon printers of the late 20th century. The name is onomatopoeic and comes from the sound of the ticking telegraph reels and the operators ticking away at their telegraph keys! This telegraph machine was also an even earlier example of information being transmitted or broadcast in real-time. As a matter of fact, real-time stock quote tickers would not become a reality until 1996, some 129 years after the invention of the Hughes telegraph!


2.) The One Times Square Ticker

The One Times Square ticker circa 2005.

No listing of famous tickers would be complete without the world-famous One Times Square news ticker!

The One Times Square ticker (also known as the "zipper") was unveiled to the world in 1928 by The New York Times newspaper to announce the results of the US presidential election. When it was first created, the ticker was powered by 14,800 lamps!

On the evening of August 14, 1945, the ticker was used to relay news about Japan's surrender to crowd waiting in Times Square. When the headline "Official - Truman Announces Japanese Surrender" came scrolling over the ticker, over 750,000 people waiting in the square cheered. War was over. This image - and the iconic image of the sailor kissing a nurse - were immortalized by Life magazine when they were displayed on the cover the following week.

With the exception of five years (1975-1980) when it was turned off, the ticker has been used to announce many of the major news headlines of the 20th and 21st centuries, ranging from the end of World War II to Apollo 11 landing on the moon, the Apollo 13 disaster (images of people anxiously watching the ticker for the latest news about Apollo 13 are famous), and the many events that have happened in the US since 9/11.

Today the ticker is owned by Dow Jones, who also own and operate The Wall Street Journal.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Market Center.

3.) The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Market Center
Chances are you've seen it while watching a report on the day's financial news headlines, in particular financial news pertaining to the Asia-Pacific region. It's not very historic or groundbreaking, but the ticker at the Tokyo Stock Exchange is famous in its own right!

The ticker surrounds the Market Center, which was the trading floor of the TSE until it went fully electronic in late 1998 and the floor was closed. During the heyday of the Japanese economy from the 1970s-early 1990s, this was the place where stock traders buzzed with excitement over Japan's juggernaut of an economy. These days, the Market Center is the place where reporters from around the world report financial news stories from Japan and Asia in general.

In the background behind the Market Center is the Tokyo Stock Exchange's state of the art ticker board, which displays all the latest stock quotes from around the world.

Girls operate a stock ticker at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC.

4.) The Waldorf Astoria Hotel
Another famous NYC ticker is the stock ticker that runs along the wall of the Bull and Bear Pub located inside the hotel! This ticker comes in handy for the patrons who want to know the latest stock quotes while they eat, and celebrate gains....or a rival company's losses!

In the days of old, another stock exchange board could be found at the hotel. That board has been made famous in the picture on the right, taken by Underwood and Underwood in 1918.


5.) The US and Cuban News Tickers in Havana
During the 2000s, a curious propaganda war broke out between the US and Cuban governments. At the US interests section in Havana, a news ticker was erected which displayed the latest news headlines from around the world, as well as headlines which vilified the Cuban government. Not long afterwards, the Cuban government erected billboards and flags displaying anti-American slogans, pictures, and so on which blocked the ticker from view by the Cuban public.

In 2009, the American ticker was turned off after the Obama administration came to power in the US. The propaganda feud seems to have died out since then.


Ever since the first ticker machines came into existence, building tickers have been a way to quickly relay information to passers-by. Most importantly of all, some tickers, suck as the One Times Square ticker, have become historical landmarks in their own right! Over time, these tickers will continue to relay news and information to future generations to come.

(Image Attributions: Hughes telegraph machine: Olaf. One Times Square: interrupt. TSE Market Center: ehnmark. All images used courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

First off, if this is your first visit to this blog, I'd like to wish you a warm welcome and hope you enjoy your visit! Now for a little info about this little blog of mine.....

The Contemporary Night Owl was a blog created by me a little over a year ago, but has sat in mothballs ever since. At the time, I had a whole different purpose and scope in mind for it as well as a whole different topic. However, those original plans fizzled out and I've been contemplating what to do with this blog ever since. That is, until now.

I've now relaunched TCNO in the hopes of creating an entertaining and informative blog that explores pop culture and contemporary trends and events around the world, both past and present. Hopefully I'll succeed in my endeavors and if so, the late-night hours I've sat up writing these blog posts just might be worth it.:-D

Anyway, feel free to read any of the posts here and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them wherever appropriate. I always appreciate a little feedback!