999 Main Street / Buffalo, NY
1464 Main Street / Buffalo, NY
The Flexlume Sign Corporation was established by Frank A. Rowell in 1904 located in Buffalo, NY. For a time Flexlume Sign Co. was a world leader of lighted advertising sign production with offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.
The main part of Flexlume Sign Corp. business was producing large outdoor advertising signs for various industries across the country which included automobile companies, gasoline, oil, bottling companies, soda companies, breweries and distilleries just to name a few. Some of the larger and most well-known clients that Flexlume produced signs for were companies like Standard Gasoline, US Tires, Chevrolet, Philco, Victrola, and Coca Cola just to name a few. They produced large outdoor metal signs with both neon lettering, milk glass lettering, as well as back-lit reverse-painted glass lighted signs; these signs usually were displayed outside of establishments to advertise companies and/or their products.
Various breweries from across the country contracted Flexlume Sign Corporation to produce large and small signs to advertise both the brewery as well and the products of beer, ale, and porter that they sold. Just some of their clients were breweries like Esslinger’s, Adam Scheidt, Yuengling’s, Kaier’s, Trommers, Becks, Carling, Pabst, Piels, Utica Club, Stein, and Goetz just to name a few.
During World War II, Flexlume was forced to briefly close due to the metal and supply shortages used towards the War efforts. All of the building’s contents were sold at auction to a family member of the owner by the name of Paddy Rowell Sr. in 1944. Patty Rowell Sr. was also a sign manufacturer at the time; he purchased Flexlume for the company’s materials and patents of Flexlume Company in his company’s portfolio offerings. in 2015, Patty Rowell sold the company to Curtis Martin and Tom Hanft; Flexlume is still in business to this day operating under the name of Flexlume Sign Company.
Below are a few examples of their signs:
