75 Years of Hamilton

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Celebrating 75 Years of Moving Experiences Forward

In the past three-quarters of a century, we’ve had revolutionary accomplishments, conquered tremendous challenges, and remained focused on building better brand experiences.

We're proud of Hamilton’s evolution and how we've innovated over the years while staying committed to our values. If you played a part in shaping Hamilton’s story over the past 75 years, we want to extend our sincere gratitude to you.

Take a walk down memory lane with us to discover how Hamilton has grown since 1947 and explore the milestones that have transformed our future.

Learn more about our history.

1947

Renzie Hamilton founded Hamilton Display Manufacturing Company. Hamilton’s office opened in 1947 and subsequently moved downtown in the 1950s.

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1960s

Hamilton Displays was widely known as the “King of Floats” for building most of the floats in the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade. Among Hamilton’s most outstanding floats were the “Princess Float” that won top honors at the 1964 Indy 500 Festival Parade and the Indiana University Big Ten float at the 1968 Tournament of Roses Parade.

Indy 500 float

1966

Hamilton created Indiana’s Historymobile, a bus that served as a museum on wheels, celebrating Indiana’s 150th Anniversary.

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1990

Dan Cantor and Joel Coleman purchased Hamilton Displays from Renzie’s brother, Kenneth Hamilton when the facility was located in the old Indiana National Guard Armory.

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1991

Hamilton expanded with the acquisition of Dimensional Designs, their largest competitor and a company with over 15 years of industry experience.

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1992

A new era began with a 200,000-square-foot facility in Indianapolis’ East Side, consolidating the warehouse, manufacturing, and office space into a single location.

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1990s

Hamilton continued to invest in innovation in the early 90s. Hamilton began screen printing, moved to color renderings, and invested in their first CNC (computerized numerically-controlled) machine.

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1995

Hamilton co-founded Sho-Link Inc., a national installation and dismantle labor company. Today, Sho-Link is one of the most respected I&D companies, with a presence in over 65 cities throughout North America.

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2000s

Hamilton launched specialty disciplines to offer even more services like Hamilton Brand Environments, Hamilton Retail, and Hamilton Event Technologies.

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2015

The launch of Hamilton Mobile Tours took their design and production skills combined with event management capabilities creating unique mobile experiences.

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2015

Hamilton opened their Chicago office in Downers Grove, establishing a presence in the vibrant Chicago market.

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2017

Hamilton renovated their Indianapolis headquarters to create a productive, collaborative, and empowering space for employees.

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2019

Hamilton acquired the digital agency, ARK Media, to form Hamilton’s Digital Engagement team. ARK Media brings over 20 years of experience combining intelligent multimedia functionality with a proven understanding of the attendee experience.

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2020

On the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020, Hamilton launched Hamilton EXTEND®, the award-winning virtual and hybrid brand experience and event solution that enables event marketers to extend their reach and customer engagement beyond the physical space.

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2021

Hamilton assisted in producing four mass vaccination sites and logistically planning 11 mobile sites across Indiana. For each of these significant sites, Hamilton managed the installation of tents, rentals, and transportation logistics, ensuring each site was adhering to the strict vaccine storage requirements. Hamilton’s collaboration with the Indiana Department of Health resulted in the administration of over half a million vaccines across Indiana.

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2021

Launch of Hamilton inSIGHT®, Hamilton’s proprietary lead capture solution designed to capture qualifying information from every booth visitor.

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2021

Launch of HUB LIVE®, Hamilton’s touchless attendee engagement solution and content delivery for in-person, virtual, or hybrid events.

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2022

Hamilton celebrates its 75th anniversary. Learn more about our history and Hamilton's past, present, and future. Read our blog post for a Q&A with Hamilton's Chairman and CEO, Dan Cantor.

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2023

Launch of StudioH, Hamilton’s in-house creative experiential studio. With a focus on “experience first,” our creative studio develops campaigns and experiences to evoke emotional connectivity with audiences that help drive exceptional outcomes.

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