historically important pair of early 20th century matching ornamental copper-plated cast iron interior lobby elevator floor indicator lights salvaged long ago from the non-extant singer building in new york city, ny. the two cast iron elevator indicator lights would have contained both white and ruby red glass globes to indicate whether the elevator car was traveling up or down. the interior porcelain sockets and rayon cloth cord are original to the fixtures. the singer building at liberty street and broadway in manhattan, was a 47-story office building completed in 1908 as the headquarters of the singer manufacturing company. it was demolished in 1968 and is now the site of one liberty plaza. the building was commissioned by frederick bourne, the head of the singer sewing machine company. he hired noted architect ernest flagg, who was an early exponent of the beaux-arts architectural style. flagg believed that buildings more than 10 or 15 stories high should be set back from the street, with the tower occupying only a quarter of the lot. the 12-story base of the building filled an entire blockfront, while the tower above was relatively narrow. the tower floors were squares only 65 feet on a side. a forest of marble columns rose high to a series of multiple small domes of delicate plasterwork, and flagg trimmed the columns with bronze beading. a series of large bronze medallions placed at the top of the columns were alternately rendered in the monogram of the singer company and, quite inventively, as a huge needle, thread and bobbin. at 612 feet above grade, the singer building was the tallest building in the world from its completion until the completion in 1909 of the 700-foot metropolitan life insurance company tower at 23rd street and madison avenue in manhattan. skyscraper zoning legislation, enacted in 1916 at flagg's urging, incorporated many of his ideas for setbacks in tall buildings. in 1961, the singer company sold the building and subsequently moved to midtown manhattan. the singer building then was acquired by real estate developer william zeckendorf, who sought unsuccessfully for the new york stock exchange to move there. united states steel acquired the building in 1964. by the 1960s the building was uneconomical because of its small interior dimensions. the tower portion of the building contained only 4,200 square feet per floor, compared with 37,000 square feet per floor of the building that replaced it, the u.s. steel building (currently known as one liberty plaza). although new york had a newly created landmarks preservation commission by the time demolition commenced in 1967, and the singer building was considered to be one of the most notable buildings in the city, it did not receive landmark designation that would have prevented demolition. alan burnham, executive director of the commission, said in august 1967 that if the building were to have been made a landmark, the city would have to either find a buyer for it or acquire it. demolition commenced in august 1967 and was completed the following year. the singer company moved to rockefeller center. an earlier singer building, also built by flagg, remains standing at 561 broadway at prince street in soho. white glass globes not included. the fixtures are attributed to hecla iron works, brooklyn, ny.