September i, 1905.] 



THK INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



401 



THE KLEINERT RUBBER CO. AND ITS HEAD. 



ISAAC B. KLEINERT. 



''T^^ H E celebration of the seventy-fifth birthday of Mr. Isaac 

 I 15. Kleinert, president of the rubber company bearing 



his name, at his summer home at Fleischmanns, Dela- 

 ware county, New York, on April 19, was attended by 

 a most agreeable surprise, in the shape of 

 a tribute from all of the emplo>es of the 

 Kleinert company throughout the world. 

 At 10 A. M. there arrived at Mr. Kleinert's 

 home a delegation of twelve representa- 

 tives of various departments of the com- 

 pany's business in New York and at Col- 

 lege Point, headed by Mr. Wilcox, of the 

 New York office, bearing a massive silver 

 loving cup, suitably inscribed, the cost of 

 which had been defrayed by over 1200 

 persons employed by the company in the 

 United States, Canada, Europe, South 

 Africa, and Australasia. Only Mrs. Klein- 

 ert had been lei in the secret in advance, 

 in order that arrangements might be made 

 for the entertainment of the guests, who, 

 after an informal presentation and the ac- 

 ceptance of the gift by Mr. Kleinert, were 

 taken for a drive amid the beautiful sur- 

 roundings of the Kleinert residence. Later 

 dinner was served, after which the visitors 

 returned to New York city. 



The loving cup, of which an illustration 

 is given herewith, stands 18 inches high, 

 on a base of solid silver ornamented with 

 floral designs, 8 inches high and 15 inches 

 in diameter, but which is not shown in 

 the photograph from which the illustra- 

 tion was made. 



As indicating the pleasant relations 

 which exist between Mr. Kleinert and his 

 employes, it may be said of the committee 

 of twelve charged with the presentation of 

 the loving cup that they had been con- 

 nected with the company for periods of 17 

 to 25 years, with the exception of one 

 man, who had been in his position for only 

 8 years. 



Mr. Kleinert came to the United States 

 from Berlin in 1850, soon becoming a 

 naturalized citizen. He has become a 

 thorough American in sentiment and from 

 the date named his business interests have 

 always been identified with his adopted 

 country. Since his eighteenth year it is 

 stated that Mr. Kleinert has always been 

 an employer, and, it may be added, a suc- 

 cessful one. .'\fter settling in New York 

 he engaged in the hat and cap trade, to 

 which he afterward added on a large scale 

 ear muffs. About 26 years ago he became 

 interested in the manufacture of dress 

 shields, which has grown until it now 

 forms the principal element of his busi- 

 ness. About 15 years ago the business august 19, 1905. 



THE LOVING CUP, WITH THE INSCRIPTIONS ON 

 THREE SIDES. 



A TOKEN OF ESTEEM FROM THE 

 EMPLOYES OF THE I. B. KLEINERT 

 RUBBER CO. THROUGHOUT THE 

 WORLD. 



PRESENTED TO MR. ISAAC B KLEIN- 

 ERT ON HIS SEVENTVKIFTH BIRTH- 

 DAY. 



was incorporated under the laws of West Virginia as The I. B. 

 Kleinert Rubber Co.— a close corporation of which Mr. Klein- 

 ert is president, and the active heads Mr. H. A. Guinzberg 

 treasurer, and Mr. Victor Guinzberg, secretary. 



The business in dress shields was no- 

 where important at the date of Mr. Klein- 

 ert's becoming interested in it, and the 

 sale of such goods in America was largely 

 of French origin. In fact, when he first 

 approached New York dry goods and no- 

 tion houses to find a market for his own 

 product, he found it necessary in order to 

 induce them to take his goods on sale to 

 supply them with French labels — though 

 there was no claim made on the labels 

 that the goods were made abroad. At the 

 end of the first year Mr. Kleinert insisted 

 that he was able to make not only as good 

 shields as were imported from France but 

 better ones, and that he would thereafter 

 label his goods in English and add his own 

 name as the manufacturer. 



From that time the business has grown 

 steadily in volume, until the Kleinert fac- 

 tories not only supply the greater part of 

 the demand in the United States, which 

 meantime has become enormous, but a 

 large export trade has been created. It is 

 understood that the larger part of the de- 

 mand of dress shields in Europe is sup- 

 plied by the Kleinert company, except in 

 France and the German empire, where 

 heavy protective duties exist for the bene- 

 fit of the domestic manufacture, but even 

 in these countries the Kleinert company 

 has an important trade, especially in the 

 finer grades of goods. The business of 

 the company is conducted in its own 

 name in every important center in Europe 

 — there are two selling agencies, for in- 

 stance, in Russia — together with agencies 

 in Cape Town, Australia, and New Zea- 

 land. In the warmer countries of Asia 

 and South America, where the demand 

 for goods of this kind is smaller, the sales 

 are made through agents instead of branch 

 houses bearing the company's name. 



Recurring to the lime when dress shields 

 required a French label to sell them in 

 this country, it may be mentioned that 

 during a recent year only 6 dozen French 

 dress shields were imported into the 

 United States, and these were of chamois 

 skin and consigned to a newly arrived 

 French modiste not acquainted with Amer- 

 ican conditions. 



The Kleinert dress shields are of three 

 classes: (i) the " light weight," made by 

 spreading prepared rubber on muslin ; (2) 

 the "gum shield," made by placing a 



