This Day in History: January 19th, 1930

Christopher Meyer, New Brunswick’s Pioneer Rubber Manufacturer

Born in Germany, He Came to This Country When Fifteen and Soon Climbed Ladder of Success: His Industries Here And in Milltown Were Forerunners of Giant Tire Plants of Today

By MARY R. THOMAS

New Brunswick and New Jersey always have given the finest opportunities for commercial development to men who have had the ability to use them. Therefore, New Brunswick has won a name among her citizens and for her foresight, ability, and industry who have made, each in his or her own individual case, some contribution as well as to world advancement to prosperity and happiness.

The contributions they have made as manufacturers and in careers are enough to inspire the coming generations to meet the test of encouraging young men and women to scale heights in the business world by the cultivation and reliability of their talents and ability and to amass great wealth by their own exertions and good sense. Now it doesn’t seem to really matter how far down in the social scale a young man starts, if he can climb to the top in the industrial world, and has the right qualifications and body to adjust human emotions. That is why certain citizens have done such an honor to the name of the state’s best efforts and the records of New Jersey’s advancement.

One of the most prominent men in New Jersey’s business world was a young man named Christopher Meyer of New Brunswick, who did a great deal to organize and promote the rubber industry in those years before automobiles were in the world. Probably we never realize today, as all of us had so many conveniences at hand, that it was not the time when all of us would want and need tires. And it may fall short of understanding what need for a vision it took to a man to have the foresight years ahead of his time.

Christopher Meyer was not a native Jersey man. He was of foreign descent from Germany to the United States and did his part to better and win fame for the rubber business and was noted as prominently as anyone else, even during the Civil War days and long afterward.

Born in Germany
Born in Germany, Christopher Meyer came to this country when he was fifteen years old, born in Baden, Germany, in 1836. He was only a boy of fifteen years when he came to America, and like all foreigners of his day, saw there was a place for him in this country, wherever he took a fancy to work, where his knowledge of machinery enabled him to find work in a machine shop where he worked for one year. Then a man named Hugh Maxwell engaged him to superintend the building and setting up of a mill at Ramapo.

Came to New Brunswick to Work
Meyer’s knowledge of machinery was his greatest asset, for in 1852, at Newark Rubber Company, he was engaged by a man named Horace H. Day in perfecting and making machinery for the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes, laying the foundation for his own successful life.

Horace H. Day was New Brunswick’s first rubber manufacturer, in his little shop down on Dennis street. Mr. Day was a young German, was precisely the man he was, so he engaged him for at least two weeks, with the promise of a much larger salary than he dreamed of. It was little enough for the work he was to do, but Meyer soon realized his employer could not afford to pay him more money, and that was likely to be the pay then the best of his knowledge and valuable talents, “for nothing but nothing will come.”

Goes in Business for Himself
He resolved to go in business for himself, though he had no money to start out with. In the way, he often worked half days for his employer and nights for himself, and he put all he made in patterns and plans. Soon he had enough money of his own ready and started for himself, but, though his sufficient understanding and experience, he lacked money to secure always the necessary means for undertaking of a business. He was not discouraged nor stopped him and he borrowed $300 from a banker, and this is the first money he put up and began at Landing Bridge on the Raritan River. Here he succeeded well, though it was only small a thing, he always managed to meet his work and his expenses. He built himself his own and worked his family, and the few men he employed made up the same. At last, he realized he could not alone supply the demand for work, and he leased it to Mr. Peter Onderdonk for a year, where he remained at the factory.

Evidently, he was a good businessman and carried on his factory in such a way as to attract other men for, at the end of that time, he sold out the little factory, if it could be so called, to Onderdonk, which afterward became the nucleus of the New Brunswick Rubber Company. Apparently, Mr. Bishop had kept his eye on the young man for when he went to Onderdonk, Mr. Bishop, who was in business in Milltown with a firm named Ackerman & Bishop, put Christopher Meyer in charge of their plant in Milltown.

In 1854, he conducted a business under the firm name of Ackerman & Bishop for five years but then conducted the Meyer Rubber Company after 1860.

New Brunswick Value
Mr. Meyer, however, recognized New Brunswick’s value as an operating point in the rubber industry, and in 1872 he organized a new company, the New Jersey Rubber Shoe Company, and put up adequate new buildings for manufacturing, down on Little Burnet Street. Of course, he was made president of the company, with a controlling share of stock, and it once went to work to make rubber shoes and other articles, rubber cement, and other supplies.

Later the United States Rubber Company was organized in New York City by the name of the company and companies that were organized and sponsored by Christopher Meyer and its officers: Francis B. Davis, president; W. H. Blackwell, treasurer; and Eric Brockman, secretary. Here are the following out the methods of the founder or others that are an improvement upon them, and more suitable for today’s needs.

In 1892, the name of the old New Jersey Rubber Shoe Company was changed to its present name, the United States Rubber Company, with which James Deshler has been connected since 1874. Mr. Deshler is too well and favorably known to need more of him here. He is one of the best citizens of New Brunswick.

Christopher Meyer died in 1888, but does he still live? This brief sketch is submitted for readers promoting rubber men of later years, his efficient, energetic, and notable business man of the present, as well as of the former, New Brunswick. Mr. Deshler was born in this city on May 9, 1850. In his youth, he became interested in the religion of Pennsylvania, where he spent ten years in his youth, returning to New Brunswick in 1870 on account of disastrous floods there. At once, he became associated with the New Jersey Rubber Company, as it was then called, and has remained with the company ever since, throughout his life and career.

Meyer Died in 1888
Christopher Meyer spent his last years at his home on Fifth Avenue, New York, where he died on July 23, 1888, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery, where his remains lie today. His son, J. Christopher Meyer, lives in New York City, but New Brunswick may still claim an interest in him, as his two granddaughters, Mrs. J. K. Rice and Mrs. S. N. Rice, live in Highland Park on Adelaide Avenue.

Business Paid Millions Annually
Mr. Meyer became interested in the rubber business when it was in the beginning of America’s largest industries. He developed here a business whose earnings amounted to the millions every year from a modest investment of only a few thousand dollars. Rubber accounted in New Brunswick through the business of Christopher Meyer’s time had far-reaching ways upon the industry throughout the country and had no small effect in making it become what it is today, one of America’s largest, most prosperous commercial enterprises.

In addition to his share in developing the rubber industry in this area and the United States, Mr. Meyer was interested in many other things here in New Brunswick, the gas light company, banking companies, railroad companies, and other enterprises. Indeed, he was a prominent man who contributed his energy and ambition to whatever he went into, he inspired men everywhere.

The businesses Mr. Meyer organized, in association with others, were among the oldest and strongest names in old New Brunswick, the Novelty Rubber Company for the manufacture of hard rubber goods, such as buttons, smokers’ supplies, crochet and knitting needles, match boxes, and tubing rubbed in the turn but made rubber canes in great variety and many other kinds of articles. Their goods were in demand and were shipped to all parts of this country and to various parts of the world, to South Africa, South America, and Australia.

Married New Jersey Girl
Christopher Meyer gave the strongest proof of his love for New Jersey by marrying a New Jersey girl. His wife’s name was Margaret Evans, and she lived in Belleville, New Jersey. He married her in 1864, and they lived in New Jersey, leaving seven children – five daughters and two sons.

An old book in Rutgers Library has this to say of Christopher Meyer, and who would not be proud to have such words said or written of him:

“Mr. Meyer may be safely classed among the self-made business men of the century and an example of what properly directed ambition and a will to succeed under adverse circumstances may achieve.”

This brief sketch of one of the most important industries and its organizer in the New Brunswick of nearly a century ago tells but very little of what may be done. The old-time business men of those days and the business men of the same general subject may today look over a century ago, New Brunswick’s part in this great commercial enterprise, the rubber industry, is very interesting.

Jan 19 1930 – The Daily Home News – Pg. 35 Download

This Day in History: August 27th, 1907

August 27, 2024August 26, 2024 Milltown Historical Society 0 Comment Historic Sites, Michelin Site aka Ford Ave, Misc. Historic Sites, News, People of Milltown, Resources, This Day in Hisotry INTERNATIONAL A. & V. TIRE CO., Michelin, Middlesex County New Jersey, Milltown, Rubber, Talk of the Town, this day in history

MILLIONS BEING SPENT ON NEW TIRE INDUSTRY

WORK BEING RUSHED ON THE MICHELIN TIRE PLANT DAY AND NIGHT—THE BOROUGH’S BIGGEST BOOM IS NOW ON.

The greatest boom that the borough of Milltown has seen is on foot at the present time with the completion of a part of the new Michelin Tire factory. People are hurrying about and the current gossip is, “What’s going to happen next?” About five hundred men are busy on the job, divided into a day shift and a night shift, hence the work never ceases. The first four sections of the factory, which were begun on June 2 last, and which were specified to be finished about September 1, are well under way and will be in readiness by that date.

People are rushing to Milltown daily in quest of rooms, and these are only to be had at a very high rental.

The new sections will be adjacent to the present structure used by the International A. & V. Tire Co. They are designated as sections Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7, and their dimensions are: 276 feet by 104 feet; 109 feet by 69 feet; 51 feet by 137 feet; and 81 feet by 104 feet, respectively. Two other buildings, which are to be used in the manufacture of the company’s tires, are known as sections No. 12 and 13. Their dimensions are 82 feet by 104 feet and 124 feet by 104 feet, respectively.
Section No. 8 is a small brick structure used for storage purposes; section No. 9 is to be the engine room; section No. 10 will be the power house of the plant, in which there will be four 500-horsepower boilers and two powerful turbine engines. Section No. 11 will be a repository for benzine.

Machinery from France.

Five large presses and five lathes have been shipped from France to the scene of activity, and the machinery that has been received is being erected with the same rapidity as has characterized the erection of the buildings.

The new additions will give about 80,000 square feet of floor space, and buildings will be erected from time to time as more room is required.

The work is being done by the John W. Ferguson Contracting Co. of Paterson, and George L. Kyle, the company’s superintendent, is supervising the work.

With the completion of the work after the merger with the French company is consummated, the offices of the firm will be moved from Ford Avenue, where they are now located, to the second floor at the corner of Ford Avenue and Main Street.

In all, nine sections have been added to the present plant, whereas only four sections were contemplated when ground was broken on June 2 last. The factory will be run night and day, and will be illuminated at night by 8,000 powerful lamps.

Branch offices of the company will be established in all the leading cities throughout the United States.

Houses will be erected by the firm for employees that they will bring here and every advantage will be offered to those who will make Milltown their future home and engage in work at the factory. Some 2,500 hands will be required when the factory is completed.

The cost of the factory and machinery included will run well up in the millions, but as yet no definite figure will be given out.

The-Daily-Times-New-Brunswick-NJ-Tues-August-27-1907 pg.-1 Download

This day in History: Feb. 17, 1916

February 17, 2022February 17, 2022 Milltown Historical Society 0 Comment Historic Sites, Michelin Site aka Ford Ave, News, This Day in Hisotry Automobile, History, Hub City, industry, Michelin, Milltown, New Brunswick, Rubber, Talk of the Town, this day in history, tire

The Interesting History of The Pneumatic Tire, Which Dates Way Back to 1845

(By R. B. Bramwell.)

In reply to the request of the Home News the writer takes pleasure In writing an authoritative sketch of the pneumatic tire, going away back to 1846 when the pneumatic principle was first adapted experimentally to the wheels of road vehicles, and taking up the story again forty-three, years later, when the development of the safety bicycle revived an interest in a tire more resilient than the ordinary solid rubber tire of that period, and contributing to a later era when the pneumatic was first applied to automobiles.

The story is a romantic tale, like so many stories of the early struggles of the pioneers, whether they be adventurers for adventure’s sake, or pioneers cast In the more practical mold of Industrial discovery and Invention.

Furthermore the story of the pneumatic tire is of particular interest to New Brunswick readers, as one of the pioneers in this field whose visiou many years ago foresaw the great Importance of the pneumatic tire, and who after many reverses founded In Prance the great Industry that bears his name, has for eight years been quietly building up another great tire making factory In Milltown, our thriving neighbor to the south.

In the summer of 1913 the writer made a careful study of the early history of the pneumatic tire, and lotted down much Interesting data taken from many works of reference’, and from old flies of foreign newspapers and magazines, besides running across certain interesting exhibits in the South Kensington museum in London.

The pneumatic tire had Its origin In England, and Its birth certificate will be found in the patent registered on December 10, 1845, by R. W. Thomson. He describes it as a means of “perfecting the wheels of carriages and other rolling bodies.” Turning to the actual text of the patent we find a fuller description as follows: “The nature of my said invention consists in the application of elastic bearings round the tires of the wheels of carriages for the purpose of lessening the power required to draw the carriages, rendering their motion easier, and diminishing the noise they make then in motion.

I prefer employing for the purpose a hollow belt composed of some air and water-tight material, such as caoutchouc or gutta percha, and inflating it with air, whereby the wheels will in every part of their revolution present a cushion of air to the ground or rail or track on which they run.”

First Tried on Carriages

The invention was naturally first tried on carriages, and in the “Mechanics’ Magazine,” Nos. 1,235 and 1,239 of April and May, 147 Nearly seventy years ago we find the following announcement.

“Messrs. Whltohurst & Co., coach builders, have acquired from Mr. Thomson, the patentee of aerial wheels, the rights for applying them to all kinds of vehicles. These wheels give to carriages a gentleness of motion absolutely impossible to obtain by any sort of spring; they effectually deaden all noise from the wheels; they prevent bumping and shaking, and render traction considerably more easily than with ordinary wheels, especially on bad roads.”

We have seen that Thomson invented the pneumatic tire in 145, but we find that it fell into such complete oblivion that the Irish veterinarian, Dunlop, might well have thought that he discovered the Pneumatic principal when in 1888 he first applied his single tube tire to a bicycle.

Early Tires Not Detachable.

But the early pneumatic bicycle tire introduced by Dunlop was far from being perfect; its worst fault was that It was not detachable, so that with the first puncture it was done for and had to be torn from the rim and replaced. Numerous experiments were made by different makers, but the first practical pneumatic tire put on the market, a tire that was easily detached on the road by the rider, was made by Michelin, a large rubber goods manufacturer of France who had been in business since 1832. It was thus that Michelin earned the tittle in France of “Pere des Demintables” – father of

In 1894, Michelin tires reached their definitive and final form, the same as are used today by both bicycles and cars.

Michelin not only perfected the bicycle tire but was also the pioneer in the application of the pneumatic to horse vehicles and automobiles. He felt that having proved its worth in the service of bicycles, his tire was capable of bigger things and believed he might succeed where Thomson had failed.

His first attack was made on the Paris cabs. On February 10, 1896, the first cab to be fitted with pneumatic tires was sent out, and so great was the added comfort, that by 1903 there were as many as 4,500 cabs in Paris using pneumatic tires, and today it is a rare thing to see one without them.

Auto Makers Shy at First.

Still Michelin was not satisfied; he sought still other conquests, and his greatest victory was in widening the scope of the pneumatic tire by applying it to motor care. But wonderful as was his conception, certain as seemed the advancement it was bound to give to the growing industry of motor car building, it shared the lot of all great discoveries— discouragement and apparent failure.

No manufacturer would risk his car by fitting it with such apparently frail tires, but Michelin did not lose confidence: he was certain of ultimate success, and in order to give a public demonstration as to what his tires could do be had to build a car for himself. The occasion was the historic Paris-Bordeaux race of 1896 when Michelin was represented by a rough sort of motor car made at his own works at Clermont-Ferrand. His triumph was complete.

From that day the progress of the pneumatic tire was coincident with the development of the motor car Itself. The story Is too well known to need repeating. Inventors the world over have worked for years to improve the old Paris-Bordeaux type of tires, and while many Improvements In details have been made, the principles laid down in 1895 remain unchanged.

One of the most recent advances In tire design has been the new rubber nonskid Just being introduced by the Michelin Company at Milltown. The French Michelin factory brought out the first pneumatic tire for automobile, but It remained for the Milltown organization to produce the latest type of tire, the new Universal Tread. This fact Is surely well calculated to develop a feeling of local pride in the minds of New Brunswick citizens.

The-Daily-Home-News-Thursday-Feb-17-1916 Download