November 6, 1928: The Times Square "Zipper" goes into operation, bringing news headlines to people who don't have access to radios -- in this era before television.
Since the advent of the telegraph in the 1840s, newspapers commonly used their buildings to share the latest headlines. At first, simple chalkboard signs were used for bulletins. But limelight illumination, electric lights, magic lantern projections, and other novel techniques were later employed.
The method of using electric lights to spell out moving letters was invented by Frank C. Reilly, and patented in 1923. Reilly called his invention the Motograph News Bulletin. In 1928, The New York Times installed a Motograph News Bulletin to display news headlines on the sides of Times Tower, at 1 Times Square, where 42nd Street, 7th Avenue and Broadway come together. The 1st news story it announced was the election of Herbert Hoover as the 31st President of the United States. (I have a separate entry for that event.)
The display was 388 feet long, 5 feet high, and employed over 14,800 light bulbs. Popularly known as the "Zipper," the sign went on to feature in several newsreels, including those announcing Presidential elections and the surrenders of World War II, V-E Day and V-J Day.
It was darkened during World War II, to comply with wartime lighting restrictions. It operated continuously until 1961, when The New York Times moved out of the building. The tower was subsequently purchased by Allied Chemical in 1963. It was put back into service in 1965, but would only operate sporadically with some gaps lasting several years.
It also displayed sports scores and weather reports.
In 1975, the Motograph Zipper was extinguished and sat dark for 5 years. Newsday rented the display in 1980, putting it back into service once more. However, in December 1994, Newsday announced the lease would terminate at the end of the month.
It was replaced by an electronic version in 1995, which was in turn removed in 2018 due to the replacement of all individual screens on the front of One Times Square with a 350 foot-tall LED billboard in 2018.
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November 6, 1928 was a Tuesday. This was also the day the news-flashing "Zipper" sign was introduced in Times Square. I have a separate entry for this event.
Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season didn't start until November 15. So there were no scores on this historic day.
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