Talk:Leaders of the World sign/Archive 1

Rotating cylinder?
, regarding your question about the rotating cylinder, I agree with you that there's a bit of a mystery there. The source says, Realism was accomplished by employing a series of flashing lights to detail the movements of the chariots, horses, and drivers, while a rotating cylinder depicted the stadium audience, which certainly contradicts the other sources which say there's no moving parts. Well, at least no moving parts on the visible face of the sign; my readings of the technical descriptions lead me to believe there must have been rotating shafts operating all the gazillions of switches, player-piano style. So, I'm not sure how to resolve your query, at least without a lot of WP:OR about what the source really means. I'll think on it a bit. In any case, thanks for your careful reading. -- RoySmith (talk) 18:53, 11 August 2021 (UTC)


 * I've dropped the verbiage about the rotating cylinder. -- RoySmith (talk) 20:50, 11 August 2021 (UTC)

Classification?
I'm curious about your "start class" quality rating. I'm looking at the definition of start class at WP:ASSESS and this doesn't seem to match any of the criteria. Could you take another look? -- RoySmith (talk) 13:42, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
 * "and Wikipedia:Manual of Style compliance non-existent". This article has no structure (it's just a big lead paragraph) and the images are randomly located to the point texts get indirectly sandwiched. The information gets a C, the structure gets a long-stub grade. (CC) Tb hotch ™ 17:19, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
 * @Tbhotch Thank you for your suggestions. I have provided section breaks and provided a MOS-compliant lead paragraph. -- RoySmith (talk) 17:50, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

Other signs???
your addition got me doing a bit more research, and I discovered that there were copies of this sign erected in other cities. Recording here some more sources that I need to track down someday when I get more time:


 * https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A137285
 * https://www.google.com/books/edition/Electrical_World/TOBQAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22chariot+race+sign%22+detroit&pg=PA498&printsec=frontcover
 * https://www.sawtrax.com/2021/04/08/the-evolution-of-signage-and-why-versatility-for-sign-makers-matters/
 * https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14579516087
 * https://federalheath.com/signs-times-federal-sign-perspective/

And it looks like Fitzgerald referred to the sign in another book of his:


 * https://genius.com/F-scott-fitzgerald-my-lost-city-annotated
 * https://www.themetropolitanspirit.com/metropolitan.html -- RoySmith (talk) 01:01, 7 November 2021 (UTC)
 * That's super cool! I found this page from The Illuminating Engineer 1911 that indicates the New York-issue LotW is actually the installment of the sign (first being Dayton and second being Detroit). (Someone tell Fran.) I wonder if the Milwaukee engineer was able to get his to animate. If you can't access that ProQuest source it mentions frequently that the chariot race is inspired by Ben Hur. There's also this page from Electrical Merchandising 1915 that recalls the sign not doing a very good job advertising. DigitalIceAge (talk) 02:05, 7 November 2021 (UTC)