In the early 1960s, Woodbury engineer Arthur Minasy started playing around with designs for an “article surveillance” device to thwart the theft of clothing from department stores. He was the founder of Knogo Corporation in Hauppauge at the time. The company created plastic tags that hung off clothing. The company also made magnetic strips that could be permanently fixed to articles like library books and hospital linens to prevent theft.
His invention was a clothing tag that triggered an alarm if someone tried to sneak the item past a cashier Minasy’s original device measured five inches, sported a C battery and weighed half a pound, but tests at area Stern’s department stores proved its worth – shoplifting declined noticeable at stores equipped with the devices
He graduated from New York University with an engineering degree in 1949 and got his master’s in industrial engineering. Minasy, who had served in the technical services branch of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II – and Sperry and other defense firms afterwards –opened branch operations across Europe, with headquarters in Belgium.
The 68-year-old inventor died in Brussels in 1994. The firm eventually sold off its highly profitable global business to arch-rival Sensormatic. In 1997, what was left merged with Minneapolis-based Video Sentry Corp., a maker of video surveillance equipment.
Minasy’s original electronic wafer is in the Smithsonian Museum.
Sources:
"Arthur Minasy, 68, the Inventor of Tags to Thwart Thieves." New York Times (1923-), 12 May, 1994, pp. 1. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/arthur-minasy-68-inventor-tags-thwart-thieves/docview/109245238/se-2
“Recalling Long Island’s Anti-Theft Clothing Tag Inventor.” Long Island Press, 6 Nov. 2017, www.longislandpress.com/2017/11/06/recalling-long-islands-anti-theft-clothing-tag-inventor
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