Solari di Udine

Solari di Udine SpA is an Italian company that designs and manufactures public information displays, historically split-flap displays. The company was founded in 1725 in Udine, a small town in northern Italy. Initially, the company specialized in clocks for towers. It began working with designer Gino Valle after World War II, and developed signs with four flaps, each with ten digits, to display the time. The company eventually designed displays with 40 flaps, with the help of Belgian inventor John Myer. The new displays could include numbers and letters, allowing for a much wider use.[1]

Split-flap display at 30th Street Station in 2013, since moved to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

Display at the Museum of Modern Art

The company's split-flap displays, commonly with white numbers on black flaps, won the Compasso d'Oro award in 1956. In this year, Solari sold its first moving sign to Liege railway station in Belgium. It subsequently sold thousands to airports and train stations. There is no known record of surviving Solari split-flap displays, though hundreds have been replaced with more modern displays across the world.[1]