Times Square 1943, Smoking camel sign

My second Times Square photo from 1943 by John Vachon, colorized.  
Note the lights left on the second floor. These are the small things that bring a photo to life.



The Camel sign was located on the Claridge Hotel ( Broadway, between 43rd and 44th Streets) until the hotel, which served as a location for the film “Midnight Cowboy” was replaced with an office building.


Another view of the same exact sign.





The Camel sign was designed by Douglas Leigh in 1941.
Here is an original pencil sketch for the sign's design.


1942 New year, new sign.

During WWII, the image switched from soldiers to sailors to airmen





                                     
 The sign was puffing out smoke for 25 years
up until 1966.
For this colorizing project I had a lot of photos and videos in color to look at.
I tried my best to stick to the real colors from the historical photos I found.
                                          

                                     




In its early years the sign blow out perfect rings of smoke every 4 second, but it seams like
that feature stopped working shortly there after.



What I found interesting was that the Camel sign changed faces throughout the war.
Featuring service men from all branches of the US military.
1944

V.E day
Note  that the Whisky sign is not up yet as apposed to V. J. day

V.J. day, August 14, 1945












1947





Photographer Douglas Leigh

1948

.Photo by willem van de poll.   1948 






                                               


1949








 Photographer: Helen Hobbs  May 1948






1951



1953

1954

1954 photo by Marvin E. Newman




Walker EvansBillboards in Times Square, New York, 1952
The Walker Evans photo (which I found 2 years after I colorized the 
John Vachon photo) made me realize that I got the colors for the hotel walls and sign totally wrong. 

Phil Silvers AKA Sgt. Bilko was featured on the Camel cigarets sign
in 1955




Times Square, 1955
Photo: Frank Paulin




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDh5n4RTmms



Phil Silvers as "shrewd sgt. Bilko" on TV guide 
Oct 29th 1955 




1955












1958
Photo by Benn Mitchell






Miroslav Sasek, illustrator
 1916-1980 





1959


 1959 Actor CARL BETZ And Wife Lois


1959 (Note that the pepsi battles are gone)
.        

               
This is the same location in the 60's

 1961, 

Actresses Millette Alexander and Louise King, and nightclub entertainer Ted Lewis, stand 

outside a giant mailbox stamp selling booth in Times Square, New York City, while Assistant 
Postmaster Aquiline F. Weierich dispenses stamps from inside booth. 
The mailbox includes an injunction to use Zone numbers
(the precursor to Zip codes in large cities).




1962

 

1962

Hotel Claridge (1506 Broadway) - 1962. 
New York Yankees Roger Maris in the Times Square Camel sign 
after his record breaking 61st home run was hit October 1, 1961.




1964

 35mm restored slide from the collection of Bill Kotter





       

1964








Here is this video:
                                                   

                                      
1964
Photo by Eddie Hausner, NY Times

this specific version is from 1965
                                           .                                          

   

Borje Dorch as photographed by Erik Collin in 1965. 

1965

1965

    
    1965   
1965
In this next youtube video go to Min 05:00
where you can see this sign in the night time

1966 The end of the Camel sign.



1967, after the camel sign was taken off the next ad still used the Con Edison steam.
This time it came out of a riverboat smokestack in an ad for the movie
 "The sand pebbles".



A recreation of the "Camel Smoke" billboard sign in Woody Allen's 1987
"Radio Days" film.


Here is a full look at the Claridge Hotel on the corner of 44th and  Broadway.





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