Albert Blake Dick

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Albert Blake Dick (born April 16, 1856 in Lake Forest , Illinois , † August 15, 1934 ) was a businessman and founder of the A. B. Dick Company, a large American copy and office equipment company in the 19th century. He coined the word " mimeograph ".

Life

Albert Blake Dick was born on April 16, 1856 to Adam Dick Jr. and Rebecca Wible in Lake Forest, Illinois. Dick attended school in Galesburg , Illinois , after which he worked for Brown Manufacturing Company , Deere & Mansur, and Moline Lumber Company . He founded the A. B. Dick Company in 1883, which was originally based in the wood industry, before switching to the office supplies division.

family

Albert Blake Dick and Mary Henrietta Mathews married on June 1, 1892 and had a son named Albert Blake Dick Jr. (* 1894). He attended Yale University and on August 15, 1934, became the President of the A. B. Dick Company. His son Sheldon relied on his father's fortune to advance his career in publishing, photography and film.

The enterprise

The company is named [AB Dick Company] (or even ABDick Company) in all articles. It was founded in Chicago , Illinois in 1884 . Back then, Albert Blake Dick was considered a man from the wood industry. At that time all texts were written by hand, there was no machine like the mimeograph or the copier.

The invention

In 1876 Thomas Alva Edison patented the Edison Electric Pen . A few years later, while experimenting with paper, Dick discovered the mimeographic process. Until the invention of the first model, called the “0” Flatbed Duplicator, in 1887, a copy had to be copied. The first model was priced at $ 12 . This was the company's first product, later the "ABDick No. 1 Folder “, a device that automatically folds letters.

Ascent

During the turn of the century, the ABDick company flourished. The "75 Rotary Mimeograph" model came onto the market in 1904. It was a copier that could make 50 copies per minute, and the race to improve the capacity of Dick products began. It seems to have been a race against or a cooperation in research and development with Edison and his product range, because in 1909 the Rotary Mimeograph No. 76. The ABDick company brought out the company calculating machine and the “Dermatype Wet Stencil”, thereby revolutionizing the industry. Then came World War I, and the ABDick machines are believed to have made every single copy of orders from the U.S. military.

A hundred copies per minute was high tech for the time, but Dick knew he'd only scratched the surface of the potential. The flatbed mimeograph was replaced by an "oscillating model" and machines with an electric motor followed shortly afterwards (models 77 and 78). The company developed into one of the leading companies in Chicago. In 1924 the stencils were also improved. The (dry) template "hill" was presented. During this time, many products were perfected. After the company's founder died in 1934, his son Albert Blake Dick Jr. took over at the helm of the company. Edison, Dick Sen.'s second son, was named a director. In 1934 the pension fund was introduced for all employees of the company, as thanks and recognition of the work of the employees.

Times of war

In 1939 the company became a manufacturer of military hardware. Economic products, including the portable Rotary No. 72 and Mimeoscope No. 1 and Model 96 Mimeograph and others were still in production. The 100 Chrome Mimeo model was the showpiece of the 1939 World's Fair . Not a single employee was fired during the Depression .

The second World War

During the war, only products were produced that were necessary to support the war. In this case it was “Norden Bombsight”. Other products such as spark plugs and aircraft landing gear were also produced. During this time the company ABDick published the "Mimeographic", a company newspaper that provided the military personnel with information from the "domestic labor front".

post war period

In 1949 the new facility in Niles, Illinois at 5800 W. Touhy Ave. put into operation. After that, the former corporate headquarters was located at 720 W. Jackson Blvd. finally closed. Walter Dorwin Teague was the company's "industrial designer". In 1951 a west wing was added. In 1952 the company began to expand. First the Lithomat Corporation in Massachusetts was acquired, which produced hand-made paper and later produced offset machines. An international division was added to the organization in 1956. In the late 1950s, the first products for inkjet printing and barcode marking were developed.

In 1960, the first non-Dick nominee became president of the company. At that time, the business was focused on the banking industry and MICR check printing. In addition, photocopiers , videographs , offset machines and azographs were made. The ABDick Company entered the art print and graphics industries in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. John Stetson became president of the company in 1971, and soon after, management considered going public. Eventually Stetson left the company in 1978 and Van Tassel retired on April 8, 1979. On April 9, 1979, the General Electric Company of England bought the company. The product range changed again, this time in the prepress area, and color printers and digital color printers were also produced. In 1997 ownership changed again. Paragon Corporate Holding Inc., an investment company, bought an operation in Holland and other changes were made.

literature

  • Thomas E. Ferraro: Niles: The Early Years. Arcadia Publishing 2012, ISBN 0-738-58306-5 .
  • Adria Bernardi: Houses with Names: The Italian Immigrants of Highwood, Illinois. University of Illinois Press 1990, ISBN 0-252-01581-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Adria Bernardi: Houses with Names: The Italian Immigrants of Highwood, Illinois. University of Illinois Press 1990, ISBN 0-252-01581-9 , p. 257.
  2. ↑ a b familytreemaker.genealogy.com Albert Blake Dick is not Albet Dick
  3. ↑ familytreemaker.genealogy.com (English)
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i fundinguniverse.com (English)
  5. ↑ Apparently parts for long-range bombers, which were necessary for national defense.
personal data
SURNAME Dick, Albert Blake
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American businessman and company founder
DATE OF BIRTH April 16, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Lake Forest , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 1934