History

February 18, 2024

Buy a Refrigerator in 1926 (Click on the link to see a short from the silent screen era)

[Theater commercial–electric refrigerators]. Buy an electric refrigerator

Back to Search Results

Video Player

00:00

01:00

No polyethylene food wrap back then! My Grandfather sold appliances to local stores as an employee of the electric company in Iowa. It was a pull through to get more people using electricity. Times have changed!

Enjoy

https://www.loc.gov/item/97516784/#?

January 29, 2024

Who Remembers Company Watches?

The old time way of rewarding years of service. This was from Dow . . . Probably worth $1,000 bucks on Antiques Roadshow!!!

November 14, 2023

Fall PFA Highlights

Polyurethane Foam Association Fall Meeting Addresses
Sustainability, Industry Innovation
Gollnitz and Khalil Inducted Into Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall Of Fame


TORONTO, ONTARIO (November 14, 2023)— Sustainability was at the forefront of the
Polyurethane Foam Association’s Fall
Meeting recently in Toronto.


Top industry executives, EHS specialists,
scientists, marketers, and regulatory analysts
met at the Omni King Edward Hotel for
networking sessions and presentations
covering everything from European end-of-
life requirements to irradiation of
polyurethane foam to yield 3-D printing
resins.


PFA’s Industry Issues Session provided
updates on key markets in the flexible foam
industry, including bedding and carpet
cushion. Additional presentations addressed
legal and regulatory developments,
isocyanate research projects, trade
remedies, and more.


In the Technical Program on the following day, presentations covered foam making equipment
and process controls, biocontent and recycling of automotive foam in Europe, inclusion of lignin
and soy polyols into foam formulations, upcycling of EOL foam into 3-D printing resins, and the
Virginia Tech/Arizona State closed loop recycling project.

Awards: Bill Gollnitz of Plastomer Corporation (L) and Dr. Hamdy
Khalil of Woodbridge Group (R) were inducted into the Flexible
Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame.

Chip Holton of NCFI
Polyurethanes (Center) was presented with PFA’s Lifetime
Achievement Award.

Chip Holton of NCFI Polyurethanes, PFA’s President, recognized new PFA members including
Reticulatus, Ingenieria Del Poliuretano Flexible, S.L., and PCC Rokita. He noted that since the
lifting of pandemic restrictions, 23 new companies have joined PFA.


“PFA continues to be a very effective voice for the flexible polyurethane foam industry,” Holton
noted. “PFA frequently reminds us that industry advocacy is much stronger as a group rather
than as individual companies; PFA also provides an exceptional forum for the exchange of
knowledge and critical industry information.”


As a highlight of the meeting, two long-term veterans of the industry were inducted into the
Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was established to honor the
leaders and innovators. It serves as an information source for future industry members and
researchers regarding the contributions of individuals and companies who have led the growth
and betterment of the flexible polyurethane foam industry in North America.


Bill Gollnitz, Technical Director of Plastomer Corporation, and Dr. Hamdy Khali, Senior
Technology Advisor for Advanced Technologies and Innovation at Woodbridge Foam
Corporation, became the latest inductees, making a total of 35 individuals and companies
honored.


Gollnitz has more than 51 years’ experience in the flexible polyurethane foam industry. For
nearly 30 years, he has been Technical Director at Plastomer Corporation. Prior to that, he held
group management positions at ARCO Chemical Company and Olin Chemical. He began his
career in the foam industry with Firestone Foam, working as a special assistant to Firestone
President Bob Hay, a founding member of PFA and also a member of the Flexible Polyurethane
Foam Hall of Fame.


He has a deep understanding of how chemistry, manufacturing and suppliers can work together
to advance the polyurethanes industry, and developed a reputation for being able to oversee the
construction of flexible foam manufacturing plants from concept to full scale production. He is a
Past President of PFA, and currently serves on PFA’s Executive and Technical Committees.
“Every time there’s a threat to the industry, be it technical or regulatory, PFA has met it head on.
And I’m sure that’s going to continue in the future,” Gollnitz said in his acceptance speech. He
also expressed gratitude for the education tools PFA has developed to attract young professionals
to the industry, and to assist in continuing education of those who have made flexible foam their
careers.


Dr. Khalil pioneered the introduction and commercialization of renewable materials into the
polyurethane chemistry used in interior automotive parts manufacturing. Under his guidance,
Woodbridge became one of the early adopters of green technologies using biobased polyols.
Khalil also played a leading role in ongoing efforts to harmonize OEM specifications for VOC
emissions from plastics in auto interiors.


He served on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Bio Auto Council, and the Center for
Research and Innovation in the Bio Economy (CRiBE). He acted as an advisor to the National

Research Council of Canada on renewable and sustainable materials technology. Dr. Khalil
received the Outstanding Leadership from the Center For the Polyurethane Industry (CPI), and
the Technical Leadership Award from The Nano Division of the Technical Association for the
Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI). He was selected to the Advisory Panel For Arbora Nano for
the Advancement of Lignocellulosic Products. Dr. Khalil received the “Le Sueur Memorial
Award” from the Society of Chemical Industry for Outstanding Industrial Contribution.
His passion is in mentoring a new generation of scientists and engineers.


“Polyurethane is the most versatile polymeric system, and it has been serving humanity in more
applications than any other material known to mankind,” Khalil noted. “However, we have many
challenges. Our industry needs to be aggressive in innovation and building partnerships with
institutions and universities. There is much yet to discover about the potential of polyurethanes.”
After the Hall of Fame inductions, outgoing PFA President Holton was presented with PFA’s
Lifetime Achievement Award.


“All of us in the association appreciate Chip’s leadership over the last seven years,” said Russ
Batson, PFA Executive Director. “Chip has the unique ability to analyze a challenge and focus
everyone on the critical elements, so that we can decide on the most sensible pathways forward.”
Dr. Mojgan Nejad won the Dr. Herman Stone Technical Excellence Award. Her presentation,
“Sustainable PU Flexible Foams: Utilizing Renewable Materials from Biomass and Soy,” was
voted best by those attending the Technical Program. The award is named for Dr. Herman T.
Stone, who served as PFA’s first Technical Director. In 2007, Dr. Stone was inducted into the
Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame.


The Polyurethane Foam Association is a trade association founded in 1980 to help educate foam
users, allied industries and other stakeholders. PFA provides facts on environmental, health and
safety issues and technical information on the performance of flexible polyurethane foam (FPF)
in consumer and industrial products. FPF is used as a key comfort component in most
upholstered furniture and mattress products, along with automotive seating, carpet cushion,
packaging, and numerous other applications.


To learn more, visit www.pfa.org.

May 5, 2023

Stockmeier Urethanes USA Celebrates 20 Years

STOCKMEIER Urethanes USA, Inc. Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary


Clarksburg, WV – May 4, 2023 – STOCKMEIER Urethanes USA, Inc announces
its 20 th anniversary this month as a specialty polyurethane systems
manufacturer in the United States.


The STOCKMEIER Urethanes USA site in Clarksburg, West Virginia was
purchased in 2003. In 2005, the development and production of
polyurethane coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers for the
industrial and sports & leisure industries began. At that time, there were
just eight employees: today, the Clarksburg site employees over 75
consisting of researchers, laboratory technicians, production operators, a
sales force and other important team members.


CEO and President Christian Martinkat states, “STOCKMEIER Urethanes
USA has experienced phenomenal growth in its 20-years of existence here
in Clarksburg.”


Choosing Clarksburg for the new site was the right decision, said Martinkat.
“The West Virginia Economic Development Authority, the West Virginia
Manufactures Association, local government and many others with whom
we work with have always listened to our concerns, needs and visions.
Then and now, we know we made the right decision being here in the
Mountain State.”


When the company opened the site in America, it was a brand-new
company and they only brought with them a couple customers they were
previously selling to in Germany. “We literally started from scratch,” stated
Martinkat. “Since our inception here, we have expanded our product
portfolio, entered new markets, installed numerous production and lab
equipment, streamlined processes, improved IT technology and completed
many renovations to our facilities.

All these continuous improvement projects have allowed us to be even better at what we do and provide, and
we are not done yet.”


Melissa Martinkat, US Chief of Staff, added that beyond those
improvements, the company puts a large focus on supporting local
communities by participating in fundraisers, donating to charities and
scholarships, sponsoring events and participating in educational programs
in schools.


STOCKMEIER Urethanes USA has also been on their journey to continue
being an environmental steward by being members of and participating in
the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care ® program.

In this program, there are set standards which must be met that
demonstrates the company’s commitment to the health and safety of their
employees, the communities in which they operate, and the environment.
Over the last 20 years, the company’s dedication to quality, innovation and
superior customer service has allowed them to become a trusted supplier
of polyurethane products. Martinkat states the company will continue to be
a family owned and operated company with a strong commitment to their
customers, employees and partners for many years to come.

April 6, 2023

Anniversary of the Cellphone

More Phones Than People

by Tyler Durden

Thursday, Apr 06, 2023 – 04:15 AM

This week marked the 50th anniversary of a momentous phone call.

A big call on a big phone – Cooper in 1973

As Statista’s Felix Richter reports, on April 3, 1973, Motorola engineer Martin Cooper was standing in a street of New York when he made the first ever call on a true mobile phone, calling his chief rival at Bell Labs, Joel Engel, presumably to gloat.

The call, made on a prototype of what later became the Motorola DynaTAC, was brief, as Cooper later recalled.

“I said ‘Joel, this is Marty. I’m calling you from a cellphone, a real, handheld, portable cellphone.’ There was a silence at the other end. I suspect he was grinding his teeth.”

Cooper’s call was a pivotal moment in the history of mobile communication, as it marked the beginning of a new era.

Today, mobile phones are ubiquitous, with over 5.4 billion people worldwide having at least one mobile subscription, according to GSMA.

In fact, there are now more mobile subscriptions than people on the planet, as the former overtook the latter in 2016.

Infographic: More Phones Than People | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), there were more than 8.58 billion mobile subscriptions in use worldwide in 2022, compared to a global population of 7.95 billion halfway through the year.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/more-phones-people