Shorpy keeps showing these old photos of opera houses and theaters with some kind of proto- digital signs out front. Here is anexample, and one of the commenters has three pictures he grabbed from older Shorpy pages. Look familiar to anyone?
I like the theory that it’s a signal to chauffeurs and cabdrivers. Chicago’s Orchestra Hall puts out a sandwich board during performances with the approximate ending time. But wait, wouldn’t a fair number of performances go into four-digits (past 10 pm)?
Just a guess, but maybe it can display numbers or initials that could signal a carriage driver.
IIRC, the signs were used to signal the number of cabs needed and the number of passeners per cab. I remember this from something my mom said. Someone will come along with better info.
Well, it’s clearly not made to display numbers. Just look at the arrangement of the lights.
While I was in Manhattan this week I saw one!
It is indeed for calling cabs. And the one above the marquee of the St. Regis Hotel on East 55th Street is still in operation. Here’s a street view link.
Actually, it turns out that they were carriage calls. Wealthy patrons and their chauffeurs were given a card with a number and a punch pattern. When the concert was over, pushing the punch card into a reader lit the display with a three digit number, and the chauffeur holding that number knew to pull up in front for his employer.
That’s very good information, thanks.
Thanks for that link! I find it utterly fascinating to read these 100 year old descriptions of all this technology that was new and wondrous at the time. It’s very striking to compare this book to the tech news sites of today. I’ll definitely add the e-book version of this to my “reading queue”.