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E. & T. Fairbanks & Co.
| Name | E. & T. Fairbanks & Co. |
| Ortssitz | Saint Johnsbury (USA) |
| Art des Unternehmens | Eisenwarenfabrik |
| Anmerkungen | Namensgeber: Erastus und Thaddeus Fairbanks. This is the celebrated Fairbanks Scale Works, the product of which is to be found in every city and village of the Union, and is also largely exported. The works are very extensive, and combine the manufacture of railroad track, platform, counter, and all kinds of scales and balances. Später (um 1874) unter der Firma "Fairbanks, Morse & Co." (s.d.) in Chicago (mit Teilhaberschaft von Charles Hosmer Morse (1833-1921), der seit ca. 1850 bei Fairbanks arbeitete, er betrieb ein Büro für Fairbanks in Chicago; er brachte nach dem Sezessionskrieg die Firma von L. Wheeler in Beloit und dessen "Eclipse Windmill Pump"-Produktion in die Firma von Fairbanks). |
| Quellenangaben | [Wiley: American iron trade manual (1874) 164] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairbanks-Morse [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 456] |
| Zeit |
Ereignis |
| 1823 |
Der Erfinder Thaddeus Fairbanks gründet ein Eisenwerk in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, um seine Erfindungen, einen Pflug aus Gußeisen und einen Heizofen, zu bauen. |
| 1829 |
Fairbanks beginnt eine Hanfapppretur, für die er Maschinen baut. Er hat keinen Erfolg beim Betrieb von faserverarbeitenden Fabriken. |
| 1830/1831 |
Thaddeus Fairbanks erfindet in diesen Jahren bedeutende Verbesserungen an Tafelwaagen |
| 06.1832 |
Die Plattformwaage der E. & T. Fairbanks & Company wird patentiert. Er wird der führende Hersteller und gewinnt für seine Waagen 63 Medaillen. |
| 1850 |
Charles H. Morse tritt als Lehrling für 50 Dollar im Jahr, zuzüglich Kost und Logis ein. Er steigt bald auf und übernimmt das Büro in Chicago (vor 1871). |
| 1871 |
Beim Großen Feuer in Chicago rettet Charles H. Morse unter großer persönlicher Gefahr die Geschäftspapiere und den Tresor. - Bald danach [vmtl. nach 1874] entsteht die Firma "Fairbanks, Morse & Co.". |
| Produkt |
ab |
Bem. |
bis |
Bem. |
Kommentar |
| Waagen |
1832 |
Beginn (patentiert) |
1874 |
[Wiley: American iron trade (1874)] |
Vorgabe: Scales |
| Windräder |
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vmtl. nach 1874, da nicht bei [Wiley] |
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Produktion der "Eclipse Windmill pumps" von L. Wheeler |
| ZEIT | 1868 |
| THEMA | Firmenbeschreibung |
| TEXT | Previous to 1830, platform scales, though not entirely unknown, were very little used. Transactions by weight were confined to the even balance, the Dearborn balance, and the Roman steelyard. The introduction of platform scales has wrought a revolution in almost every department of business where measurement of quantities is required, whether relating to the sale or exchange of commodities, or the transportation of heavy bodies; so that this instrument, of comparatively modern invention, is now as indispensable in the various transactions of business, as the railroad car or the canal boat. In the year 1830 and 1831, Mr. Thaddeus Fairbanks invented important improvements in platform scales, which were patented, and the manufacture was commenced by Messrs. E. and T. Fairbanks & Co. The most essential improvements claimed by Mr. Fairbanks were the employment of two levers only in the construction of the scale, being the most simple combination in a compound scale, and the use of knife edge bearings, resting upon plain polished steel surfaces. The first manufactures of the Company were confined to hay scales, but additional improvements were from time to time made, and new modifications adopted, with reference to the wants and conveniences of the commercial, manufacturing, and agricultural community. Their operations were for several years limited in amount, and the introduction of platform scales was slow, until the public had time to become assured of their accuracy, and by experimental trials learn their great utility. As public confidence was secured, and the utility of the instrument was more and more demonstrated, a demand was created which has rendered it necessary to increase the manufacture of scales, until at the present time the establishment of the Messrs. Fairbanks employs a force of about three hundred mechanics solely in the manufacture of scales, and their annual production is about $500.000. About 150.000 scales have been made by the firm, including a number of weigh-lock scales, having a capacity of from 200 to 250 tons. The general management of the business of the Company being assumed by the other partners, Mr. Thaddeus Fairbanks, who is a practical inventor and machinist, has from the first devoted his time and attention to the science of weighing as applied to the compound balance, and to perfecting the various modifications of scales, until at the present time more than one hundred different modifications have been introduced, adapted tp all the various departments of business in the civilized world. The works at which these scales are made are composed of about 20 structures of wood or brick, of all periods of erection and of all sizes, and are less noteworthy than the system employed to secure reliable work. The theory of individual responsibility is so fully carried out, that the name or initials of the sealer is stamped on the working parts of each scale, large or small, and thus any derangement or inaccuracy subsequently discovered recurs directly to the workmen, who are frequently so anxious to maintain their reputation, that they go long journeys at their own expense for the purpose of investigating or correcting alleged imperfections. For the manufacture of the smaller varieties, such as druggists' scales, weighing single drachms, the firm have a manufactory in the city of New York. Fairbanks' scales are now extensively used in foreign countries, and it is no exaggeration to say, that they have done more than all other agencies combined to equalize the weight of commodities in commercial transactions. |
| QUELLE | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 456] |
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