Manufacturing1850 - Thomas Day founded Thomas Day Company, cutlery business, on Montgomery Street in San Francisco; expanded into plumbing, gas fittings to meet needs of Gold Rush clientele; changed focus to lighting industry; became designer, supplier of hand-crafted lighting fixtures; provided first fueled street lanterns to San Francisco; 1870s - first to convert gas lamps to electric lamps; 1906 - renamed Phoenix Day Company, operated by Joseph Guglielmo; serviced needs of lighting fixtures, metalworking; 1958 - Pat and Lawrence Fambini (Guglielmo's niece, nephew) took over; 2007 - owned, operated by Tony Brenta (Guglielmo's great grand nephew); 6th oldest operating business in San Francisco.
1868 -
Anthony Zellerbach began selling paper goods (stationary, bags,
wrapping) from horse drawn wagon in San Francisco, CA; 1924
- Isadore Zellerbach (son) founded Zellerbach Corporation; 1928
- merged with Crown Willamette Paper Company (formed in 1914 by merger
of Crown Columbia Paper Company, Willamette Pulp and Paper Company),
formed Crown Zellerbach; 1986 - acquired by James River
Company; 1997 - merged with Fort Howard Paper, formed Fort
James Corporation; 2000 - acquired by Georgia-Pacific
Corp., became leading global producer of tissue products.
1899 - Edward and Leonard
McRoskey ,of St. Louis and Chicago, brought mattress making equipment to
California to sell to manufacturers; became manufacturers; April 12, 1927
- Edward McRoskey Mattress Co. registered "Airflex Quality Mattresses at Factory
Prices Edward McRoskey" trademark first used October 27, 1925 (mattresses, bed
springs, pillows, and couches); 1930s - Leonard and Robert
McCroskey (Leonard's sons) joined company; October 23, 1934 -
Edward L. McRoskey received two patents for a "Mattress Tufting Machine";
2007 - Robin McRoskey Azevedo (granddaughter, Robert's daughter)
President.
June 24, 1900 -
Oliver Lippincott became first motorist in Yosemite National Park; drove
there in his Locomobile steamer.
May 16, 1903 - George Wymann began first
transcontinental motorcycle trip from San Francisco.
August 31, 1903 - Packard automobile completed a 52-day journey from San Francisco to New
York, became first car to cross
U.S. under its own power.
March 7, 1911 - Willis S. Farnsworth and William
H. Reed, of Petaluma, CA, received a patent for a "Magazine Hinge and Conveyer";
coin-operated locker; assigned to Coin Controlled Lock Co.
May 3, 1913 - Edward Hughes (seller of wood, coal, grain
hay), Charles Husband (bookkeeper at paper-bag factory), William Hussey
(miner, only one with any practical knowledge of chemistry), Rufus Myers
(lawyer), Archibald Taft (president of local Harbor Bank) invested $100
apiece to set up Electro-Alkaline Company, America's first
commercial-scale liquid bleach factory in Oakland, CA; plan was to
convert brine available in abundance from nearby salt ponds of San
Francisco Bay into sodium hypochlorite bleach, using a sophisticated and
technologically demanding process of electrolysis; August 13, 1913
- Abel M. Hamblet, engineer for equipment supplier, suggested name
"Clorox" for new product, from words "chlorine" and "sodium hydroxide"
(combination formed bleach's active ingredient); 1914 -
named their product Clorox® bleach; February 16, 1915 -
Electro-Alkaline Company registered
"Clorox Liquid Bleach Cleanser Germicide" trademark first used July 15,
1914 (bleaching, cleansing, and antiseptic compounds);
1916 - distribution
throughout San Francisco Bay Area; sales of $14,237; 1921
- company went public; 1922 -
reincorporated as Clorox
Chemical Corporation; 1928 - name changed to Clorox
Chemical Co.; 1953 - first television commercials
aired; largest share of U.S. household bleach market;
1957
- name changed to The Clorox
Company; annual sales over $40 million; August 1957
- acquired by Procter & Gamble Company; January 2, 1969 -
company gained full, formal autonomy as publicly held corporation (U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Procter & Gamble had to sell The Clorox
Company because of monopoly in production, sale of household liquid
bleaches); 1974 - minority position acquired by Henkel to facilitate production, sale of products for household, bulk
consumers in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico.
February 22, 1920 - First artificial rabbit used at dog
race track in Emeryville, California.
May 4, 1920 - Harry
A. Miller, of Los Angeles, CA, received a design patent for a "Design
for an Automobile"; race car design (many features
incorporated into race cars in following decades: aluminum pistons and
engine blocks, off-beat carburetors, inter-cooled superchargers,
front-wheel drive; first man to concentrate exclusively on building race
cars for sale;
Miller 91 -
ultimate achievement; built for the 1926 Indy 500
(produced a minimum of 230hp at 7,000rpm, could be boosted to 300hp at
8,500rpm, 3.3hp per cubic inch vs. today's super-charged Indy cars,
which produce 4.5hp per cubic inch).
December 30, 1940 -
California's first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway connecting Los
Angeles and Pasadena, was officially opened.
HTML clipboard HTML clipboard 1948 - Edith Heath founded
Heath Ceramics, American potter, in Sausalito, CA, to produce ceramic products
that resist trends, be loved and functional over lifetime and to make process,
people, values of products tangible to buyers; used proprietary clay body
development (one firing at lower temperature than customarily used to reach same
levels of durability); Gump’s of San Francisco bought her tile and dinnerware
for sale at its store, following one-woman show at San Francisco's Palace of the
Legion of Honor; 2003 - acquired by Robin Petravic, Catherine
Bailey.HTML clipboard 1948 - Arthur "Spud" Melin and Richard Knerr founded Wham-O as leading designer/distributor of innovative, high-quality recreational
activity products;
introduced Slingshot, original product from which the company derived
its name
(sound a slingshot made when
its projectile struck a target);1955 - bought design
rights to "Pluto Platter", plastic
flying disc created in 1948 byLos Angeles building inspector Walter Frederick Morrison, partner
WarrenFranscioni (watched Yale
University students toss pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Company of
Bridgeport, CT founded in 1895 by William Russell
Frisbie); January 13, 1957 -
began production of "Pluto Platter"; August 1958 - Frisbie Pie
Company closed; modified saucer, renamed Frisbee;
introduced Hula Hoop (after a
bamboo ring used by Australian
children for exercise).
Arthur "Spud" Melin, Richard Knerr
- Wham-O
(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/ images/2008/01/18/business/
18knerr.span.jpg)
1949 - Frank J. Zamboni, inventor and mechanic, received
patent for "Model A Zamboni Ice Resurfacer"; 1939 -
Zamboni and brother, Lawrence, built 20,000-square-foot enclosed ice
skating rink in Paramount, CA; 1942 - transformed tractor
to scrape and smooth ice in a single pass; May 4, 1965 - Frank J. Zamboni & Company, Inc.
registered "Zamboni" trademark first used in July 1962 (resurfacing machines
machines and dump attachments therefor).
March 14, 1950 - Permanente
Metals Corporation registered "Kaiser" trademark first used November 23, 1946
(aluminum products-namely. pig, ingot, strip, coil, [general utility sheet and
plate, aircraft ] sheet and plate [and sheet] including flat corrugated and
coiled sheet).
March 20, 1956 - Candido Jacuzzi, of Lafayette, CA,
received a patent for a "Hydrotherapy Apparatus" ("improved circulator pump
assembly adapted to be employed in both tanks and tubs for the treatment of
patients and to be used by non-patients for the therapeutic effects to be
derived from hydro-massage"); assigned to Jacuzzi Bros., Inc.; J-300, portable
pump, sold to hospitals and schools for treatment of arthritis symptoms;
March 15, 1966 - Jacuzzi Bros., Incorporated registered "Jacuzzi"
trademark first used in October 1958 (skimmers and fittings, pumps, filters);
April 19, 1966 - Jacuzzi Research, Inc. registered "Jacuzzi Whirlpool
Bath" trademark first used November 1, 1957 (whirlpool bath equipment and
associated items-namely, carrying cases, filter pads, and bath essence).
October 31, 1957 - Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. founded in California (Shotaro Kamiya as the first president); by the
end of 1958 - 287 Toyopet Crowns and one Land Cruiser had
been sold; 1997 - Toyota Camry became the best-selling car
in America, surpassed Honda's popular Accord model.
January 9, 1958 -
Toyota, Datsun (later Nissan) brand names made first
appearances in United States at Imported Motor Car Show in Los
Angeles, CA.
September 30, 1958 -
Walter Frederick Morrison, of La Puente, CA, received a design patent for a "Flying Toy", frisbee.
March 9, 1959 - Barbie doll debuted (3-dimensional doll little girls could play
with; created by Ruth Handler, founder of Mattel; used her daughter's
nickname; December 1, 1959 - Mattel Incorporated
registered "Barbie" trademark first used May 9, 1958 (doll).
June 4, 1959 - Kihachiro Kawashima
selected as Executive Vice President, General Manager of American Honda
Motor Company (seven employees,
operating capital of
$250,000.); opened shop in small storefront
office on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles to serve consumers wanting
small, light, easy to handle and maintain two-wheeled vehicles.
October 16, 1962 - Wham-O Mfg. Co. (San Gabriel, CA) registered "Hula-Hoop" trademark
first used May 21, 1958 (plastic toy hoops).
December 26, 1967 - Edward E. Headrick, of La Canada, CA, received a patent for a "Flying
Saucer" ("related to aerodynamic toys to be thrown through the air and
in particular to flying saucers for use in throwing games"); frisbee; assigned to
Wham-O Manufacturing Co.
May 26, 1969- Wham-O
Mfg. Co. registered "Frisbee" trademark fist used July, 8,
1957 ("toy flying saucers for toss games").
October 23, 1973 - Toyota U.S.A. held its first
(three-day) national news conference in Los Angeles, CA to discuss the
fuel efficiency of its automobiles (5 days after 11 Arab oil producers
increased oil prices and cut back production in response to the support
of the United States and other nations for Israel in the Yom Kippur
War); American consumers suffered gasoline rationing, a quadrupling of
prices, huge lines at gas stations - foreign auto manufacturers
flourished in the large American market.
1982 -
Kransco Group Companies bought Wham-O for $12 million; 1994
- Mattel bought
WHAM-O from Kransco; 1997 - Mattel sold assets of Wham-O
(sales of $18 million) at auction to group including Charterhouse Group
and Seven Hills Partners; 2006 - Charterhouse Group sold
Wham-O (sales of $80 million) to an affiliate of Cornerstone Overseas
Investments Ltd. (Hong Kong).
August 19, 1993 - Mattel, Fisher Price toys merged.
(Caspar Lumber Company), Ted Wurm (1986).
Mallets on the Mendocino Coast: Caspar Lumber Company, Railroads and
Steamships. (Glendale, CA: Trans-Anglo Books, 134 p.). Caspar
Lumber Company--History; Lumber trade--California--History;
Railroads--California--History; Steamboat lines--California--History.
(Crown Zellerbach), Leib-Keyston and Co., (1927).
Zellerbach, The House of Paper. (San Francisco, CA: Leib-Keyston
and Co.,, 52 p.). Zellerbach, Anthony, 1831-1911; Zellerbach Paper
Company; Zellerbach Corporation, San Francisco.
(Crown Zellerbach), George S. Armstrong & Co., Inc. (1937). Crown
Zellerbach Corporation. (San Francisco, CA, 148 p.). Zellerbach
Paper Company; Zellerbach Corporation, San Francisco.
(Frisbee), Fred Morrison, Phil Kennedy (2006). Flat Flip Flies
Straight: True Origins of the Frisbee. (Wethersfield, CT: Wormhole
Publishers, 436 p.). Creator of Frisbee. Frisbee; Flying toy.
HTML clipboard(Heath Ceramics), Amos Klausner; introduction, Catherine Bailey &
Robin Petravic; contributions, Yves Behar ... [et al.] (2006).
Heath Ceramics: The Complexity of Simplicity. (San Francisco,
CA: Chronicle Books, 189 p.). Director of the San Francisco Chapter of
the AIGA. Heath, Edith, 1911-2005; Heath Ceramics; Ceramic tableware
--California --Sausalito --History --20th century.
Signature
tableware, tiles still made according to artisanal tradition conceived
by Edith Heath in mid-1940s in Sausalito, CA; one of few remaining
mid-century American potteries; history, legacy, craft, woman who created them.
Edith Heath
- Heath Ceramics (http://www.heathceramics. com/
tasks/ sites/heath/assets/ Image/History_and_Values/ history-values_history.jpg)
(Jacuzzi), Ken Jacuzzi (2005).
Jacuzzi: A Father's Invention to Ease a Son's Pain. (Lincoln,
NE: iUniverse, 534 p.). Jacuzzi, Inc.; hydro-therapy' whirlppl baths.
Memoir of growing up disabled in family of Italian
inventors (from first enclosed cabin monoplane to world’s most recognized brand
of whirlpool baths).
(Jacuzzi), Remo Jacuzzi (2007).
Spirit, Wind and Water: The Untold
Story of the Jacuzzi Family. (New York, NY: Welcome Rain, 227 p.).
Jacuzzi, Inc.; hydro-therapy; whirlpool baths. Family of prolific
innovators in several industries (wineries, olive groves, restaurants, successor company in field of hydrotherapy).
Jacuzzi Brothers
(http://www.jacuzzi.com/images/nav/ aboutNav/header_history.jpg)
(Kaiser Steel), Mark S. Foster; foreword by William H. Goetzman (1989).Henry
J. Kaiser Builder in the Modern American West. (Austin, TX:
University of Texas Press, 358 p.). Kaiser, Henry J., 1882- ;
Businessmen--United States--Biography.
(Kaiser Steel), Albert P. Heiner (1991).Henry J. Kaiser, Western
Colossus: An Insider's View. (San Francisco, CA: Halo Books, 434
p.). Kaiser, Henry J., 1882- ; Businessmen--United States--Biography.
(Kaiser Steel), Stephen B. Adams (1997).Mr. Kaiser Goes to
Washington: The Rise of a Government Entrepreneur. (Chapel Hill,
NC: University of North Carolina Press, 239 p.). Kaiser, Henry J.,
1882- ; Businessmen--United States--Biography; Industrial
policy--United States--History.
(Kaiser Steel), John Charles Anicic, Jr. (2006).
Kaiser Steel Fontana. (San Francisco, CA: Arcadia Pub., 127
p.). Past President and Past Board Member of the Fontana Historical
Society. Kaiser Steel Corporation; Steel industry and
trade--California--Fontana--Pictorial works; Historic
buildings--California--Fontana--Pictorial works; Fontana
(Calif.).--History--Pictorial works. For two generations, Kaiser Steel Corporation at Fontana was
among California’s, nation’s industrial giants.
Henry J. Kaiser(http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
images/lectures2.jpgG)
(Mattel), M. G. Lord (1994). Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized
Biography of a Real Doll. (New York, NY: Morrow, 326 p.). Barbie
dolls. Barbie doll conceived in 1959 as a teenage fashion model.
(Mattel), Ruth Handler, with Jacqueline Shannon (1994). Dream
Doll: The Ruth Handler Story. (Stamford, CT: Longmeadow Press, 230
p.). Founder of Mattel & Creator of the Barbie Doll in 1959. Handler,
Ruth; Mattel, Inc.; Dollmakers--United States--Biography; Barbie dolls.
Ruth Handler- Mattel
(http://www.cnn.com/STYLE/9903/09/ barbie.at.40/link.handler.jpg)
(Pacific Lumber Company), Hugh Wilkerson and John van der Zee (1971).
Life in the Peace Zone; An American Company Town. (New York, NY:
Macmillan, 158 p.). Pacific Lumber Company; Scotia, Calif.
(Pacific Lumber), David Harris (1995).The Last Stand: The War Between
Wall Street and Main Street over California's Ancient Redwoods. (New
York, NY: Times Books, 373 p.). Pacific Lumber Company; Earth First!
(Organization) Consolidation and merger of corporations--United States;
Redwood industry--California--Humboldt County;
Environmentalists--California--Humboldt County; Scotia (Calif.).
(Red River Lumber Company), Robert M. Hanft (1980). Red
River: Paul Bunyan’s Own Lumber Company and Its Railroads. (Chico, CA:
Center for Business and Economic Research, California State University, Chico,
304 p.). Professor of Business Administration (California State University,
Chico). Red River Lumber Company; Logging railroads--California; Logging
railroads--Minnesota.
(Whittier, Fuller & Co.), Marjorie G. January, Elmer E. Simmons
(1939).
Ninety Years; The Story of William Parmer Fuller. (San
Francisco, CA: Privately Printed, 144 p.). Fuller, William Parmer,
1827-1890; Fuller, W.P. & Co. (San Francisco). Contributors to this
volume: Marjorie G. January, Elmer E. Simmons, W.P. Fuller, Jr., Mary
Louise O’Brien.
(Whittier, Fuller & Co.), Mary E. Whitney (2000).
Whittier, Fuller & Company. (Hemet, CA: Hemet Area Museum
Association, 82 p.). Fuller, William Parmer, 1827-1890; Whittier,
William F.; Whittier, Fuller & Co.;
Businessmen--California--Sacramento--Biography;
Businessmen--California--San Francisco--Biography; Glass
trade--California--History; Paint industry and
trade--California--History; California--History--1850-1950.
Michael Wallis and Michael S.
Williamson (2007).
The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate.
(New York, NY: Norton, 293 p.). Journalist; Photographer (Washington
Post). Automobile travel--United States; Lincoln Highway--History;
United States--Description and travel; Lincoln Highway--Pictorial works.
Completed in 1913 - 3,389 miles, 13
states, from bright lights of Broadway to shores of San Francisco.
Business History Links
California Foundry History Institute
http://www.foundryhistory.com/
Dedicated to the collection and preservation of historical records pertaining to
the history of the foundry industry in California.
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