listed on the New York Curb Exchange, which later became the American Stock Exchange. Until being delisted in 2011 Trans-Lux stock was the oldest company to be listed on the American Stock Exchange. In 1925, the company had 41 installations on stock exchange floors and brokerage house boardrooms throughout the country. Moving pictures By 1927 the company had created a much larger, commercial-sized theater screen and took it, along with its rear projector system and a new wide-angle lens, to the motion picture industry. To further penetrate the market, the Trans-Lux Movies Corporation, in partnership with RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) Studios, was created. Using Trans-Lux as its trade name, it began a theater-building program. The first Trans-Lux theater at 58th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City was actually converted from retail space, and featured larger seats, more leg room, and wider aisles than the average theater of the day. Seating only 158, it was much too small for the crowd it attracted. The rear projection technology allowed the house lights to remain low so patrons could read their programs and easily locate their seats, and also eliminated the distraction of a beam of light slicing down through the crowd from an overhead projection booth. In accordance with its news "heritage" the theatre featured a program made up exclusively of "shorts" (usually comedy routines or musical numbers) and newsreels. When the company's third theater opened two blocks away on 60th and Madison on November 10, 1933, it was turned back into retail space. In 1931, Percy Furber turned over company operations to his son, Percy. By this time, Trans-Lux had 4,000 stockholders, over 100 employees, and was valued at $2 million. In 1934, the company opened two more newsreel theaters in Brooklyn, New York and one in Philadelphia. Three more locations were added over the next three years, with architect Thomas W. Lamb designing the theater in Washington, D.C.. Offering 600 seats covered in blue leather, its lobby decorated with sports murals by New York artist Andre Hudiakoff, it was one of the first public buildings in the city to have air conditioning. Located one block away from the White House, it was considered to be the most elegant Art Deco theater in the capital, up until its untimely demolition in 1975. In 1937 the company shortened its name to the Trans-Lux Corporation. Along with other theater-related businesses, it initially suffered