John Moses Brunswick
John Moses Brunswick (also JM Brunswick) (born October 6, 1819 in Bremgarten / Switzerland ; † July 25, 1886 in the USA) was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Brunswick Corporation , which was the first company to manufacture pool tables in the USA.
Life
Brunswick came from a Jewish-Swiss family. Shortly after his birth, his mother died and the father remarried. From this marriage a half-sister and half-brothers Joseph, Emanuel , David, Hyman and Solomon were born.
John emigrated to the United States in 1834 when he was only 15 years old ; his brothers later followed him. John first settled in New York and worked there for a time as a delivery boy for a German butcher before he found a four-year job as a trainee with a wagon builder in Philadelphia . In 1839 he moved to Harrisburg , Pennsylvania , where he worked as a journeyman wagon builder and married Louisa Greinet; with her he moved to Cincinnati , Ohio in 1840 . Brunswick found work as a wagon builder for several local companies until a major economic downturn in 1841 severely depressed the wagon market. During the Depression he first worked as a steward on a paddle steamer on the Ohio , then as a commercial clerk. Business flourished, but then he got sick; After spending several months in bed, he decided in 1845 to open his own wagon construction business with his trading profits.
Company history
Early years as a wagon builder and cabinet maker
On September 15, 1845, J. M. Brunswick opened the “J. M. Brunswick Manufacturing “for the manufacture of wagons. Later he added the construction of cabinets, chairs and tables to the product line.
By the mid-1840s, the economy had recovered and production activities increased. It was in this environment that Brunswick began to thrive and became active in local political, religious and social circles. Legend has it that in 1845 he was invited to a sumptuous dinner by a friend who took him to another room where his host had a chic, intricately crafted pool table that had been imported from England. He liked the filigree work of the table and he said:
"If it is wood, we can build it, and we can build it better than anyone else!"
"If it's made of wood, we can build it too, and we can build it better than anyone else!"
Brunswick saw the opportunity to expand its product range again and became the first pool table manufacturer in the USA.
So inspired, he managed to finish his first table within a few months. Satisfied customers gave him a good reputation and within two years he was receiving orders from all over the country. He saw the opportunity to expand and so he set up offices, including large billiard parlors, in Chicago in 1848, New Orleans in 1852 and St. Louis in 1859. By that time, Brunswick had given up car manufacturing entirely and focused on the billiards business - not just gaming tables, but also on balls and cues . Most of the billiard equipment of the time was crude and unreliable, and so Brunswick acquired slate quarries and lumber warehouses from its competitors to better control the quality of its raw materials. He also developed a rubber development department to improve the bands, which at that time were often still stuffed with felt and horsehair (darning bands).
Expansion to a billiard table manufacturer
Billiards had long suffered from its bad reputation. Sports in general had limited mass appeal in the US prior to the 1850s. Sports equipment was intricately decorated and designed for sale to the rich. Brunswick's first tables were expensive luxury items and as such only found a limited market.
In 1848 he expanded his business by bringing his half-brothers David and Emanuel Brunswick to Chicago to set up a sales office and factory. Additional sales offices were opened in New Orleans and St. Louis , while half-brothers Josef and Hyman Brunswick worked in the company offices in Cincinnati. In 1858 the company was reorganized as "JM Brunswick & Brother". In 1866 the company was renamed "JM Brunswick & Brothers" when Emanuel Brunswick joined Joseph and John Brunswick rose to head the company.
Brunswick's willingness to diversify was more than a manifestation of his creative pride; it was also an early attempt to expand its range of products to counteract fluctuations in the economy. For many years there was only internal growth, later the company also acquired companies outside of it in order to expand its product range.
During the 1870s, the Brunswick half-brothers left the company; they went to competing companies and opened their own billiards in Chicago and San Francisco . It is not entirely clear under what circumstances each individual left the company, but since 1872 Brunswick's son-in-law Moses Bensinger and two long-time employees had been Vice Presidents of Brunswick .
Company acquisitions
In the late 1860s, the US billiards market was dominated by three companies: Brunswick, Julius Balke's "Great Western Billiard Manufacture" (also in Cincinnati), and the New York- based company "Phelan & Collender" owned by Michael Phelan and his son-in-law HM Collender was operated. In 1873 Brunswick merged with Balge for US $ 250,000 to form the "JM Brunswick & Balge Company". In 1884, after the death of his father-in-law, Collender merged with "Brunswick & Balge" for US $ 1,500,000 to form the "Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company", which has now become the largest billiard equipment manufacturer in the world.
Death of the company founder
During the period of rapid growth, John Brunswick stayed in Cincinnati while Bensinger moved increasingly to day-to-day operations and greatly expanded the company's Chicago facilities. John Brunswick died in July 1886. He was replaced by H. M. Collender as president until his own death in 1890. Julius Balke , who was already too old and ill to take over the line, then made room and Bensinger became President of Brunswick-Balke-Collender .
Expansion to sports equipment manufacturer
Others
Although the exact date is not known; Abraham Lincoln was the first American celebrity to own a Brunswick table. He described the game as
"Health inspiring, scientific game, lending recreation to the otherwise fatigued mind"
"Health-inspiring, scientific game and it gives the otherwise tired mind relaxation."
Other celebrities who owned a Brunswick table include Buffalo Bill , Andrew Carnegie , John D. Rockefeller , William Henry Vanderbilt , Henry Ford , JP Morgan , Theodore Roosevelt , Mark Twain , Babe Ruth , Humphrey Bogart , Nat King Cole , James Dean and Frank Sinatra . The US presidents' retreat, Camp David , is also equipped with four Brunswick tables.
Honors
In 1990 he was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Billiard Congress of America .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Biography on: International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( Memento from May 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Brunswick Corporation History ( Memento from July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Emanuel Brunswick biography. ( Memento from July 18, 2014 on the Internet Archive ) On: Chicago Billiard Museum, accessed January 20, 2015
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Brunswick Corporation (Section: History) ( Memento from January 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at: Answers.com, accessed on January 19, 2015
- ↑ Brunswick - When it comes to the pastimes of bowling and billiards, this company has long defined the games people play. ( January 22, 2015 memento on the Internet Archive ) at: CNN Money.com, April 1, 2003 archive, accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ a b Brunswick Interactive Timeline, 1850 , accessed January 19, 2015
- ^ Hall of Fame Inductees 1985-1991
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Brunswick, John Moses |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Brunswick, JM |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American businessman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 6, 1819 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bremgarten AG , Switzerland |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 25, 1886 |
| Place of death | United States |