sky-writing, vbl. n.
[sky n.1]
The tracing of legible signs in the sky, esp. for advertising purposes, by means of smoke trails made by aircraft or (occas.) by letters and devices projected by searchlight. Also, the writing so produced.
| 1923 Western Gaz. 16 May 8/4 Sky-writing..did not commend itself to the general body of advertisers. 1926 H. Barr in Mod. Advertising I. 9/1 Invented in 1910 by John Clifford Savage, it was not until twelve years later that sky-writing became an accomplished fact. Ibid. 9/2 The corporation..is stated to have spent {pstlg}320,000 on sky-writing publicity alone. 1932 Flight 8 July 638/1 Night sky-writing, by projection of light on to clouds at night, was considered at no little length. 1935 H. G. Wells Things to Come ix. 91 Sky writing by the new planes. 1959 Belfast Tel. 9 Oct. 7/1 It is believed to be the first time skywriting has been used in a general election. 1966 Punch 13 July 54/1 Long ago You fancied many wonders that we know, The ‘Telephonoscope’, for one, ‘Sky Writing’, and the Long Range Gun. 1978 F. Ross Sleeping Dogs 157 He couldn't have made his intentions universally clearer if he'd spelled them out in sky-writing. |
So as ppl. a. and hence [as back-formation] sky-write v. (a) intr., to practise sky-writing; (b) trans., to trace in the sky by means of smoke trails; sky-writer; sky-written ppl. a.
| 1922 Daily Mail 8 Aug. 5/3 The Daily Mail sky-writing aeroplane was over Margate and Folkestone yesterday. 1926 Mod. Advertising I. 9/2, 1,450 sky-written demonstrations were carried out by eight pilots. 1927 Pictorial Weekly 17 Sept. 198 A window sign which reproduces in miniature the work of the sky-writer. 1932 Times Educ. Suppl. 22 Oct. p. iv/3 A battery of sky-writing projectors will be installed on the roofs of buildings. 1934 Webster, Skywrite. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? xii. 219 Feeling his words fade off into the air like a sky⁓writer's. 1959 J. Cary Captive & Free xlvii. 203 She was always calling him on the telephone with new ideas—aeroplanes sky-writing the message..; pavement-writing;..and loudspeaker vans. 1960 Guardian 29 Dec. 3/2 Sky⁓written slogans. 1973 J. Drummond Bang! Bang! i. 2 The plane swooped... The smoke spurted... People wondered if it was possible for a sky-writer to dot his ‘i’s. Ibid. 3 They've been sky-writing to advertise their shows. |