Eagle Electric Manufacturing Company, founded in 1920, was a maker of electrical devices, switches and circuit units based in

Long Island City, New York Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brookl ...

, in the borough of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

History

The company was founded by Louis Ludwig and his younger brother Philip Ludwig both of whose children ran the company after the founders died. The company's New York workers were represented by a union. Picketers were arrested outside the company's plant in January 1938. For many years, Eagle had a giant neon

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

overlooking the

Queensboro Bridge The Queensboro Bridge, officially the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City. Completed in 1909, it connects the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens with the Midtown Manhattan ...

that became a familiar sight to motorists. It read, in capitals, ''"Eagle Electric-Perfection is not an accident"''. The slogan was written by founder Louis Ludwig. In 1987, under the direction of Mel Ludwig, the Advertising Manager, Oswald Fernandez began a process of updating the slogan the logo and packaging graphics. When the building was purchased the company had moved production to various parts of the world. As of 2006, Cooper Wiring Devices has moved all their manufacturing out of Long Island City, to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and the south-east United States. Eagle bulb and plug adapter

By the early 1980s Eagle Electric was selling thousands of wiring device SKUs to hardware stores across the country. In 1991 Eagle Electric, under the leadership of the Advertising Director, introduced a line of

surge protector A surge protector, spike suppressor, surge suppressor, surge diverter, surge protection device (SPD), transient voltage suppressor (TVS) or transient voltage surge suppressor (TVSS) is an appliance or device intended to protect Electronics, ele ...

wiring devices under the brand eSmart, with the strong support of senior management. The eSmart brand was the first trademark with an "e" in front of it. The brand sold well to the

big box store A big-box store, a hyperstore, a supercenter, a superstore, or a megastore is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The ...

s as there was no competitive surge protector line in the industry. Eventually the brand was dismantled by then Marketing Director Jim Cook, because he felt that computers were a "passing fad." The company began to move its production facilities away from New York to

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

in the early 1980s and later to Mexico. In 1997, the company announced that a new labor contract and tax abatements had convinced it to keep its operations in New York. But a year later, the company's president and some other executives were removed by its board of directors. In the spring of 2000, Eagle was purchased by

Cooper Industries Cooper Industries was an American worldwide electrical products manufacturer headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1833, the company had seven operating divisions including Bussmann electrical and electronic fuses; Crouse-Hinds Company, Cro ...

to form Cooper Wiring Devices, Inc. Cooper Wiring Devices is now based in

Peachtree City, Georgia Peachtree City is the largest city in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 38,244. Peachtree City is located in southern Metro Atlanta. Golf carts are widely used in the city. Over 10,000 hous ...

Eaton Corporation Eaton Corporation plc is an American-Irish-domiciled multinational power management company, with a primary administrative center in Beachwood, Ohio. Eaton has more than 85,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countr ...

bought Cooper Industries in 2012, and Eagle Electric is now known as Eaton Wiring Devices.

References

External links

Cooper Wiring Devices, Inc.
Manufacturing companies established in 1920 Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City 1920 establishments in New York City Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2000 2000 disestablishments in New York (state) American companies established in 1920 {{US-manufacturing-company-stub