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 residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

, in the borough of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

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 advertise ...

overlooking the

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

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 (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, 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 introduced a line of

surge protector A 'surge protector'' (or spike suppressor, surge suppressor, surge diverter, surge protection device (SPD) or transient voltage surge suppressor (TVSS) is an appliance or device intended to protect electrical devices from voltage spikes in alt ...

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 (also hyperstore, supercenter, superstore, or 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 te ...

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 (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

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 and CEAG ex ...

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, Fayette County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 34,364. Peachtree City is located in South Metro Atlanta. P ...

Eaton Corporation Eaton Corporation plc is an American-Irish multinational power management company with 2021 sales of $19.63 billion, founded in the United States with global headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and a secondary administrative center in Beachwood, ...

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