THE EUBBER INDUSTRY, 1839-1939 ^ 



By W. A. Gibbons 

 United States Rubber Co., Passaic, N. J. 



[With 4 plates] 



The importance of Goodyear's invention is strikingly revealed by a 

 consideration of the changes which it brought about. Before the dis- 

 covery of vulcanization there was a small and struggling rubber 

 industry. Rubber had been used by the Indians as a waterproofing 

 material, and some rubber manufacturing was started in Europe and 

 the United States early in the nineteenth century. Wliile natives 

 worked principally with latex, European and American manufac- 

 turers endeavored to use the dry rubber prepared by the natives from 

 latex. Some experimental work had been done on methods of 

 handling rubber. For example, it was known that rubber could be 

 softened by heat or mechanical action and that it could be dissolved 

 in certain solvents and spread on fabrics. It was observed that rubber 

 so treated had reduced strength, increased tackiness, and shorter life. 

 On this account these processes were suitable only for the manufacture 

 of those articles which did not require a rubber of high strength or 

 elasticity. 



For products requiring a greater strength or stretch, other methods 

 were used. The Brazilian rubber prepared by smoking latex on poles, 

 and known as Para rubber, was relatively tough, hard, and elastic. 

 Hancock used this rubber in the manufacture of rubber thread, bands, 

 and rings. The process consisted of cutting the desired shape from 

 the crude mass or biscuit. Only certain portions of the biscuits were 

 of suitable shape for this cutting operation ; the remainder was used 

 for other purposes. To minimize this disadvantage, Hancock sent 

 sticks of a certain size to Brazil and ordered biscuits of elongated 

 shape, which could be cut more economically. The process of manu- 

 facture was started in Brazil and completed in Europe. Obviously a 

 method which depended so much on obtaining the raw material in 



^ Paper read at the general meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston Septem- 

 ber 13, 1939, in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the 

 vulcanization of rubber. Reprinted by permission from Industrial and Engineering Chem- 

 istry, vol. 31, p. 1199, October 1939. 



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