Strand Lighting history

1918: The two electricians present their company to Moss Mansell, a manufacturer of arc resistances and dimmers in Cecil Court, who agrees to buy into the company.

1922: Strand develops the Sunray glass reflector batten, or S-batten, a footlight with gelatin color filters to apply complementary colors and change effects such as costumes, makeup, and scenery.

1928: Strand applies for a patent for the Stelmar ellipsoidal spotlight, a 1K and 500W ellipsoidal profile spot that would set the stage for theatre lighting for decades to come.

1929: Strand patents the Magnetic Clutch, Strand's first contribution to compact remote control of lighting.

1930: Strand develops safer controls – at the time electrical circuits were typically controlled by on/off open knife switches mounted on a slab of slate or marble, leaving the operator vulnerable to electrocution.

second, the first was in Halifax in 1931).

1932: Fred Bentham joins Strand.

1936: Strand unveils its first television installation: the BBC Alexandra Palace television studios in North London.

1953: The company introduces the world’s first mass-produced theatre spotlight.

1958: The C Core dimmer system is installed at Yale University.

by 35 years a form to become popular in the 1960's.

1962: Chichester Festival Theatre: Britain's first new theatre in thrust stage format and first LC control (72-way transistor/choke preset).

The first instant dimmer control, 1966

1968: Strand Electric is purchased by the Rank Organisation to become Rank Strand Electric, a timely acquisition that is said to have saved the company.

1972: Strand returns to The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon, to bring the theatre a new 240 way Digital Dimmer Memory (DDM) computer system.

1975: Wally Russell becomes president of Strand Lighting USA.

1981: Prelude, Harmony and Minim, Strand's new series of Profile, Prism Convex and Fresnel spots shown for the first time at ABTT Trade Show.

1983 saw the end of the Pattern 23 the first die-cast

1991: Strand Lighting becomes the first (and only) North American company to achieve ISO 9000 Quality certification.

Strand's Arthur Earnshaw worked with designer Ionides to use concealed auditorium lighting to achieve 'glowing sunshine' (from Savoy Theatre history, 1992)

1999: 8 new compact, highly efficient cool-beam SL luminaires introduced in March at USITT in Toronto, including 6 fixed-angle versions and two zoom fixtures.

2007: Following a difficult few years of trading during which Strand made significant cuts, it was beginning to make a profit for the first time in several years.

2013: The 500ML lighting console from Strand is introduced to the market.

2014: Strand introduces the groundbreaking NEO Lighting Control Console featuring a sophisticated software system with a rich set of hardware controls.