| 1904 |
Bernhard Blitzer founds the New York Gas Appliance
Company in the Bowery section of New York City, initially selling gas
lighting fixtures as well as the newer electric lighting devices. |
 |
| 1910 |
Lightolier begins to develop its own designs. |
|
| 1919 |
The company renames itself Lightolier, a combination
of light and chandelier. |
|
| 1925 |
ightolier develops publications
such as the company's stylebook, The Handbook of Lighting Fixture
Success and The Charm of a Light Conditioned Home, which
help educate the industry as well as the consumer marketplace about the
value of good lighting. |
|
| 1926 |
Lightolier crosses the Hudson, moving its headquarters
to Jersey City, New Jersey and beginning major manufacturing operations. |
|
| 1934 |
The New York City showroom moves uptown to 36 th
Street and includes a separate demonstration space. |
|
| 1947 |
Lightolier develops Optiplex the
first modular enclosed fluorescent fixture. Optiplex is installed in offices
at Rockefeller Center. |
|
| 1955 |
Lightolier introduces flexible and functional design
into its decorative lighting, including the first pulley reel and traveler
track pendants. |
|
| 1958 |
The Seagram's Building in New York City selects
Lightolier to provide the luminous ceilings for its perimeter offices.
The landmark installation raises the company's profile in the architectural
community. |
|
| 1959 |
Lightolier introduces Multigroove ,
the first downlight with a finely textured baffle for glare control,
leads lighting fashion toward downlighting and to the rise of Lightolier's
broad line of Calculite incandescent downlights. |
|
| 1961 |
Lytespan , the first track lighting system is introduced. Inspired by the pole lamp, Lytespan plays a significant role in transforming store and museum lighting and is the company´s most often-cited example of "do it first, do it better." |
|
| 1964 |
Lightolier develops Lytecaster ,
the first downlights marketed as a frame-in kit and separate reflector
(now the standard approach). |
|
| 1965 |
The Lytegem high-intensity lamp
is selected for the Museum of Modern Art. |
|
| 1967 |
High Visual Performance (HVP)
is one of the first parabolic fixtures for comfortable and efficient
office lighting. The design changes the appearance of commercial
spaces for over three decades. Early installations include such high profile
buildings as the Boston's John Hancock Tower in Boston and New York's
Citicorp Center. |
|
| 1969 |
Lightolier becomes a publicly traded company, 35
years after issuing equity to key employees. |
|
| 1975 |
Lightolier introduces Lytetube pendant
fluorescent lighting, which grows into broad line of indirect lighting
for offices and schools. |
|
| 1981 |
Lightolier is acquired by Bairnco Corporation. |
|
| 1984 |
Together with Bairnco's other lighting entities,
Lightolier forms Genlyte, which goes public as The Genlyte Group in 1988,
with Lightolier as Genlyte's flagship company. Lightolier moves a short
distance from Jersey City to Secaucus, New Jersey. |
|
| 1986 |
Lightolier enters the dimming controls business
with Scenist , the first all-in-one-box dimming system
for residential and commercial applications. |
|
| 1992 |
Lightolier develops GENESYS , the
first full feature electronic lighting design workstation. |
|
| 1993 |
The first electronically ballasted compact fluorescent
downlights are introduced to offer superior energy savings and comfortable
operation. |
|
| 1994 |
The company moves its headquarters to Fall River,
Massachusetts, home of its largest manufacturing operation. In 1996, Lightolier
opens its TechCenter, its fourth generation of demonstration and education
facilities, in Fall River. |
|
| 2001 |
ATOM, a remotely controlled electronic
module for Lytespan track, permits, for the first time, individual track
fixtures to be controlled separately, like theatrical lighting. |
|
| 2003 |
iGEN introduces a new generation
of flexibly controlled office lighting , providing total dimming flexibility,
allowing office occupants total personal control of the fixtures immediately
overhead. |
|
| 2004 |
Lightolier celebrates a century
of leadership and innovation in lighting with the renovation of its TechCenter,
publishing of Lighting that Makes a Difference - the First Hundred
Year (history in print and DVD), and development of a companion video
presentation.
The company launches the largest product release in its history with
new miniature HID and low voltage downlights, track, decorative, and fluorescent
fixtures. |
