Kresky Signs, Inc. was originally incorporated in 1953 as a separate division of the Kresky Manufacturing Company in order to accommodate the growing success of its sign production division. In 1969, Kresky Manufacturing was sold to the Zero Manufacturing Company of Burbank Ca. Two years later, Zero Manufacturing decided to move the manufacturing operation to Southern California. Kresky Signs, Inc. was incorporated as a separate entity in 1971.

Early Years

In the early 1900's, Jesse E. Kresky founded the Kresky Manufacturing Company in Petaluma, California. At that time, Petaluma was known as "the egg basket of the world" and was a leading exporter of poultry products. Jesse Kresky's early interests in improving chicken incubating equipment, along with his conviction that oil heating was a viable source for a safe, economical and efficient source of heat, led to the production of the Kresky Automatic Brooder Stove - an oil burning stove for incubating baby chickens. Improvements to the burner system led eventually to the design of the Kresky "Blue Wonder" burner - Which found many domestic uses (especially in the conversion of wood and coal stoves) as well as for food cookers and boilers of various kinds. During World War I, the government promoted increased production of chickens and eggs for distribution overseas and Kresky Manufacturing found itself producing increasing numbers of incubator stoves. Later, during the Prohibition Era, many "bootleggers" used Kresky oil burners as they gave off little soot and made it easier to conceal the location of illegal stills.

In 1938, Jesse Kresky sold the company to Clarence A. Miller, who expanded the operation to include home furnaces. That year, the firm began marketing an oil-fired floor furnace - the first to be marketed by any firm in the oil heating industry. World War II found Kresky Manufacturing busily turning out burners for the government, as Kresky Burners were used extensively in naval vessels and in conditions where concealment was a necessity. During this time, Kresky Manufacturing won the Army/Navy "E" Award two times in appreciation for it's excellent performance regarding it's government contracts. After a devastating fire in 1947 (which completely destroyed the production facility), Kresky Manufacturing doubled it's plant size to 100,000 square feet to meet the increasing demand of the home heater market. In the month directly after the fire, Kresky production workers turned out more heating units than at any other time in the company's previous history.

The Sign Company

In 1951 Kresky diversified its business when it pioneered the mass-production of quality metal signs for the national market west of the Rocky Mountains. Prior to this time, processed metal signs had to be shipped to western customers from east of the Rockies, a situation that proved to be very expensive and slow to meet the demands of the western customers. Addressing the concerns of the Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, GA. Kresky became the first supplier of baked enamel metal signs in the western United States, and Coca-Cola became the first national advertiser to take advantage of freight savings to it's western markets. Kresky Manufacturing capabilities transferred well into metal sign production and it soon began producing metal signs for the California State Highway Department and the National Safety Council, mine makers for the Army Corps of Engineers and a variety of point-of-sale advertising signs for food and beverage companies.

It wasn't long before Kresky baked enamel signs were being used for fleet identification as well. By the early 1960's, Kresky Signs had begun utilizing 3M Scotchcal and 3M Scotchlite decal materials in addition to its baked enamel sign products, leading to the introduction of steel-rule die cut numbers for fleet identification and a variety of customized vinyl decal products. The increased versatility sparked even greater exposure to the trucking industry and Kresky was soon providing decals and signage for a number of truck fleets.

In the early 1970's, the U.S. Department of Transportation introduced Hazardous Material Transportation regulations for the trucking industry and Kresky Signs responded with the introduction of the Kresky Flip-page Hazardous Materials Placard Book. Kresky Signs' manufacturing capabilities and baked enamel screenprinting experience was well suited for this endeavor. Processing aluminum sheet, Kresky began producing it's unique placard design to satisfy the placard requirements of it's fleet customers.