number of people watched the sign go into action for the first time. I again quote the Easton Sentinel: “First are seen two green arrows that shoot out from a center and they form a long straight line pointing out the breadth of the city; then the red sun looms up behind the green horizon line; then the sun rays shoot up and flash tongues of flame, red in the sun itself and shading off to a pale pink. Suddenly over the blazing sun and in the midst of its rays the word ‘EASTON’ breaks out in letters of white light ten feet high, and as the sun rays fade and die away ‘CITY OF RESOURCES’ flashes out below in a line of five foot white letters. A moment later it all fades out and the display repeats itself every minute from dusk until midnight.” The Valentine Electric Sign Company of Atlantic City, New Jersey was the company that came up with the original design for this sign. Owned by Mr. Thomas E. Valentine, his company combined the artistic skill and mechanical ingenu-
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ity to create these outdoor billboards of animated lights. Just think of the technology and equipment needed in 1908 to make an animated sign like this function without the aid of a computer. The Easton slogan sign was one of the first of its type ever to be produced. Mr. Earl E. Whitehorne, editor of Selling Electricity, an electrical trade publication published in New York City, came to Easton that rainy Wednesday evening just to see the lighting of the sign. Selling Electricity was the major trade journal for the electric light and power industry in the United States and Canada. Mr. Whitehorne was particularly interested in this sign since it was the first time an electric company and a board of trade joined forces to develop an advertising strategy to promote an entire city rather than just a product or business. Mr. Whitehorne stated to a reporter that evening that utility companies across the country would be very interested in the story of the Easton slogan sign. Now, why would a company like the Easton Gas and Electric Company commit such a large amount of capital to a public relations campaign
Summer 2022
Easton Heritage Edition
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