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George F. Nesbitt
| Name | George F. Nesbitt |
| Ortssitz | New York City |
| Art des Unternehmens | Druckerei |
| Quellenangaben | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 1 (1868) 666] |
| Zeit |
Ereignis |
| 1809 |
Geburt von George F. Nesbitt in New York |
| 1813 |
Nesbitt macht als Junge eine Lehre bei Joseph C. Spear, um die Druckkunst zu erlernen, und bevor er fünfzehn Jahre alt ist, wird er von seinem Arbeitgeber mit der Verantwortung für das Geschäft betraut. |
| 1830 |
Nesbitt wird nach seiner Volljährigkeit Partner von Spear. - Die Partnerschaft währt nur wenige Jahre. |
| 1835 |
Nesbitt beginnt mit der Einführung von maschinengemachten Holz-Lettern. |
| 1835 |
James White wird Partner von Nesbitt. |
| 1840 |
Nesbitt erfindet eine Druckmaschine zur Kombination von Farben bei einem Druckvorgang. Sie ersetzt die langsame Methode des Druckens jeder Farbe für sich und erweist sich als vollkommener Erfolg. |
| 1852 |
Nesbitt erhält seinen ersten Auftrag vom Generalpostmeister der Vereinigten Staaten für eine große Menge von Briefumschlägen, die mit vorausbezahlten Briefmarken versehen sind. |
| Produkt |
ab |
Bem. |
bis |
Bem. |
Kommentar |
| Druckerzeugnisse |
1868 |
[Bishop: Hist. of Amer. manuf. I (1868)] |
1868 |
[Bishop: Hist. of Amer. manuf. I (1868)] |
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| ZEIT | 1868 |
| THEMA | Firmenbeschreibung |
| TEXT | Whose establishment for printing, and the kindred arts, is one of the industrial attractions of New York, and among the largest in the United States, was born in that city in the year 1809. Like most others who have risen to eminence in the various departments of practical life, he has achieved success by the force of natural talents unaided by early advantages. While a mere boy, he was apprenticed to Joseph C. Spear, to learn the art of printing, and before he was fifteen he was entrusted by his employer with the responsibility of the business. With Mr. Spear he remained until he had attained his majority, and subsequently became his partner, a relation however, that was maintained only for a few years. Early in his business career Mr. Nesbitt gave evidence of possessing that progressive spirit which has made the United States the marvel of the world, and manifested an aptitude for adapting machines to accomplish heretofore unknown results. His disposition to depart from the routine of his profession was manifested in 1835, when he began the introduction of the machine made Wood Type, and originated styles superior in novelty and beauty to any that had before been known. The printing of a combination of colors at one impression next engaged his attention, and about 1840 he devised and projected a machine for the purpose, which superseded the old and slow method of printing one color at a time, and proved an entire success. But his most valuable achievements in this direction have been in the improvement and adaptation of machinery for the manufacture of envelopes for the Government. In 1852 Mr. Nesbitt received his first order from the Postmaster General of the United States, for a large quantity of envelopes with a prepaid stamp combined, for the use of the public. Previous to that time, various attempts had been made in England, to introduce and popularize such envelopes, but owing to the want of proper machinery to manufacture them economically, had not been successful. Mr. Nesbitt undertook the task of overcoming the obstacles, and so far succeeded that these envelopes are now sold at but a small advance on the cost of the stamp. He has made every prepaid envelope that the Post Office Department has issued up to the present time, and has fulfilled his responsible engagements with such fidelity as to elicit numerous commendatory noticeb from successive heads of the Post Office Department, in their official reports to Congress. As the manufacture of these envelopes is a novelty in this country, it may be interesting to give an account of the processes adopted in an establishment where a quarter of a million are made daily. The paper is manufactured expressly for the purpose, and bears the water mark P. 0. D. U. S., which is so arranged, that these initials appear on each envelope after the paper is cut to sizes. This paper is brought in large sheets from the mills, packed in cases, and carefully counted in divisions of fifty sheets each. After being again counted on its arrival at the envelope manufactory, and carefully compared with the invoice, it is taken to the cutting room, and cut by an ingenious machine driven by steam power. The knife, which is made of the exact size of the envelope before it is folded, is placed upon a pile of four hundred sheets, and being set under the lever of the press, is made to pass easily through the whole thickness of the paper, producing four hundred envelopes in about three seconds. After this, the envelopes are handed over to a number of young women, whose business it is to place the adhesive self-sealing preparation on the outer flap. So rapidly is this done, that one person is able to prepare and dry many thousand per day. After this the envelopes are passed to the stamping and folding department, where there are about sixty of the most ingenious and perfect machines. A self-feeder is employed, by which the flat envelope is carried forward to an apparatus which embosses it, places the adhesive gum on the side flaps, folds the envelope, fastens and drops it into a tin box, which quietly counts off its contents into layers of twenty-five each, and hands them over to be counted again, banded, and packed subject to the order of the Post Office Department. The manufacture of envelopes however, extensive as it is, is but a secondary item in the general business of the firm of Nesbitt & Co. No less than eight adjacent buildings are occupied in the various operations carried on under their direction, but these are so arranged and communicating as to seem but one building. The printing department is the most extensive in the country. In the press room there are some fifty-six presses of different sizes and kinds, and all, with the exception of four, worked by steam. Among them is an immense cylinder Napier press, standing eight feet high - a giant among pigmies - and by its side are the so-called lightning presses, for printing cards and circulars. The composing rooms are stocked with copious fonts of type, which are arranged in the most admirable order and precision. This department, which presents a scene of unusual attraction for a printing office, is provided with apparently every variety of facilities for plain or display printing, from a card to a poster, from a bill head to a book, and we believe even newspapers are set up here. The fourth floor is appropriated to the manufacture of Blank Books. In this branch, which is ordinarily a speciality, this firm do a very large business, supplying merchants, banks, and incorporated companies with all styles of blank work. Here are machines for ruling paper with great expedition. The attics are utilized as drying rooms, and fitted up with racks, and properly ventilated for the purpose of drying the printed sheets as they come from the press room. This firm are not only Printers, Lithographers, Blank-book and Envelope Manufacturers, but Card Manufacturers and Stationers. They make not merely the cards consumed in their printing establishment, but also a large amount for sale in the market and for exportation, while the store on the lower floor, in the rear of which are the counting rooms, is well filled with every variety of stationery. There are also capacious rooms for the storage of paper and other stock, and a machine shop for the repair of machinery on the premises. It would be superfluous to eulogize one, who by his energy and practical intelligence has built up an establishment so important and comprehensive as this, and which is now justly regarded as an important constituent in the industrial reputation of America. His best eulogy is the simple story of his achievements, his best monument the record of his success. We pass to say a word of his coadjutors and partners. Mr. James White, who is chief manager of the printing department, has been associated with Mr. Nesbitt since 1835, and possesses extraordinary capacity for the dispatch of business. Mr. Edward P. Martin, who superintends the Stationery and Lithographic departments, has also been a member of the firm for many years with Frederick A. Harter and George F. Nesbitt, Jr., who have recently become partners, are not without experience in the details of the business. This firm furnishes employment to over three hundred persons, and have in active use a capital exceeding three hundred thousand dollars. |
| QUELLE | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 1 (1868) 666] |
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