History

November 20, 2021

Origins of the Container

Less than three minutes of shipping history! Enjoy

November 15, 2021

PFA Fall Meeting Highlights

Polyurethane Foam Association Fall Meeting Provides Forum For
Issues Discussion, Technical Advances


Edge-Sweets Company and James T. McIntyre, Jr. Inducted Into The Flexible Polyurethane
Foam Hall Of Fame


CHARLOTTE, NC (November 12, 2021)—The Polyurethane
Foam Association (PFA) recently concluded its fall meeting,
which spotlighted key regulatory issues and new technical
developments.


PFA’s two-day meeting in early November was attended by
more than 130 executives from foam manufacturers, chemical
suppliers, and other companies supporting the industry. This
marked a return to a full live-meeting format after COVID-19
restrictions required PFA to cancel past meetings or conduct
them primarily online.


Attendees saw presentations on key industry issues including
supply chain challenges, recycling, regulations, and end-user
market forecasting.


Keynote speakers, identical twins Terrence and Lee Resnick of
Resnick Associates, provided attendees with financial advice on
company succession issues and potential tax law changes.
In addition, a Technical Program featured presentations on
innovations and best practices on topics ranging from new mold
release agents and additives to reduce foam compression set, to
plant safety, new equipment, and new additives for improved
foam production.

2021 Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall
of Fame Inductees, James T. McIntyre
(top right), pictured with PFA President
Chip Holton of NCFI Polyurethanes;


and Edge-Sweets Company (ESCO).
Accepting for ESCO were President
Richard Hungerford, Jr.(holding award)
with (L to R) Kelo Waivio, Stephen
Hoffman, and John Slott.

Mark McBride and Willie Wesley III of BASF won the Dr. Herman Stone Technical Excellence
Award, as their presentation, “Recent Advances In Flexible Foam,” was voted best by those
attending the Technical Program. “After four decades in this industry, I am still impressed by the
level of innovation that continues in flexible polyurethane foam,” noted Bill Gollnitz, Past
President of PFA and Moderator for the Technical Program. “Congratulations to Mark and
Wesley—and to our other presenters—for exceptional work.”


As part of its 40 th Anniversary celebration, PFA also recognized one manufacturer and one
individual for induction into the Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall Of Fame. The Hall of Fame
was established to honor the leaders and innovators of the industry. It serves as an information
source for future industry members and researchers regarding the contribution of individuals and
companies who have significantly contributed to the growth and betterment of the flexible
polyurethane foam industry in North America.


The two 2021 inductees were Edge-Sweets Company (ESCO) and James T. McIntyre, Jr.
ESCO produces highly specialized machines for cutting and processing polyurethane foams.
With its engineer-to-order approach, ESCO’s is unique in its abilities to meet customers’
requirements using modern manufacturing technologies, 3D modeling software and finite
element analysis. The company is the product of a merger between The Edge Company of Grand
Rapids, MI and the Martin Sweets Company of Louisville, KY.


The company has manufactured products for industries including furniture and upholstery,
bedding, packaging, industrial insulation, oil and gas, building and construction, automotive,
marine, medical, defense, mining, and aerospace.


“ESCO has long been a supporter of PFA and the flexible foam industry,” said Chip Holton of
NCFI Polyurethanes, PFA’s President. “ESCO’s efforts in innovation, customer service, and
education made the company a more-than-worthy candidate to join other great manufacturers in
the Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame.”


James McIntyre, Jr. of the McIntyre & Lemon Law Firm in Washington, DC, has served as
PFA’s Legal Counsel from the beginning of the association. Prior to his private law practice, he
served in the Cabinet of President Jimmy Carter as the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget. He also served as Director of the Office of Planning and Budget for the State of Georgia.
President Reagan appointed him to his Commission on Privatization.


McIntyre has helped guide the flexible polyurethane foam industry through a variety of
regulatory challenges through his four decades of service, providing PFA members with
consistent, insightful legal representation. “It is safe to say that the flexible foam industry would
look a lot different today without the efforts of Jim McIntyre,” said Holton.


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 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.

#

www.pfa.org

November 12, 2021

Back to the Future

Plastics Industry Hurt by Lack Of Raw Materials Made of Oil

By Gerd Wilcke

  • Nov. 30, 1973

About the ArchiveThis is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.

Randel Plastics, Inc., of Long Island City used to have 95 persons on its payroll. Last week there were only 48.

In Leominster, Mass., the Tucker Manufacturing Company has reduced its labor force by 15 per cent and has cut back from a three‐shift six‐day work week to 2.5 shifts five days a week.

What these two companies and hundreds of others have in common is that they cannot get enough raw materials made from oil to make their products. The products are plastics—in their multitude of variations that go into toys, automobiles, furniture, doorknobs or packaging materials.

The dramatic impact of the shortage was illustrated yesterday when the Chrysler Corporation announced a brief shutdown of four plants that manufacture compact cars. Chrysler said that the plants had experienced a shortage of plastic parts.

According to industry estimates, the average 1973‐model car used 138 pounds of plastics, and each 1974 model is using about 153 pounds.

In the New York area, the Plastics and Metal Producers Manufacturers Association said that its 174 member companies that normally employ 14,000 workers had to put 4,000 of them on short work weeks or on furlough.

PPG Industries, Inc., which is a joint venture partner in the Puerto Olefins Company at Penuelas, Puerto Rico, said it was being forced to shut down the plant for two weeks beginning Monday because of shortages of petrochemical raw materials.

American consumers facing the prospect of a cold winter may, at the moment, be more concerned over a cold home, school or an empty gasoline tank. But if Randel Plastics, Tucker Manufacturing and other fabricators are forced out of business the ripple effect could be enormous.

This is the third of a series of articles on the impact of the energy crisis on United States industries, which will appear at intervals.

Not only would thousands of products become scarce, but many thousands of people would lose their jobs.

Like the rest of the petrochemical industry, makers of plastics have to rely on oil for the hydrocarbons that go into building blocks for their products.

There are large companies such as E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., the Dow Chemical Company, the Monsanto Company, the Union Carbide Corporation, the Allied Chemical Corporation, or the Celanese Corporation that are major suppliers of building blocks such as ethylene, styrene, butadiene or phenol.

Although many of the major companies make their own end products, they are at the same time the key supply sources for companies such as Randel and Tucker Manufacturing.

Is the source drying up?

Executives of major companies do not deny that there is a shortage of key materials that has forced them to use an allocation system, However, they insist that they are attempting to be evenhanded in supplying domestic customers and are not ignoring them in order to make higher profits overseas.

Edward R. Kane, president of du Pont, and Werner C. Braun, the chief executive of Hercules, Inc., said in interviews the other day that there was no overt effort to ship more plastic resins overseas because of price controls in the United States. “The incidence of people taking advantage of the situation is small,” Mr. Kane said.

Mr. Braun said that there was no sudden upsurge in exports during the year and, although the dollar export volume was higher in reflection of monetary realignments, the physical volume of goods shipped showed a “normal” trade growth that was in line with domestic sales growth.

Plastics makers and fabricators, through the Society of the Plastics Industry, have argued for the lifting of price controls and, for the short term, a raw materials allocation plan patterned exactly on the basis of the 1972 distribution of oil and gas and all their derivatives.

Recent Study Cited

Ralph L. Harding Jr., president of the society, in this context cited a recent study by the Arthur D. Little Organization that pointed out that a 15 per cent cutback in feedstocks of raw materials to the petrochemical industry would mean the loss of 1.6 million jobs and a production loss of $65‐billion. The plastics industry accounts for about 25 per cent of the petrochemical industry and employs about 225,000 work ers. A 15 per cent cutback in feedstocks would, because of the domino effect, result in a $22‐billion curtailment in end products and in a loss of employment to 550,000 workers in both the plastic industry and the industries it supplies.

Theodore Riky, the president of Randel Plastics, does not think in these dimensions. He wants enough raw materials so he does not have to lay off more workers. He stressed that major resin suppliers had cut him off completely and that secondary suppliers were doing so little by little.

Can he afford going to the “open market,” a polite term used for the gray, or black. market?

‘45 Cents a Pound’

“If I pay cash on the line or by certified check before the supplier unloads a shipment, and paid 45 cents a pound for polypropylene and 53 cents for styrene, I might get the matesaid.

With the list price for both plastics standing at 17 cents a pound, Mr. Riky implied strongly that he could not afford to buy at such prices.

Sheldon Edelman is the president of the Plastics and Metal Producers Association, a group of fabricators in the plastics and metal fields. He complained bitterly that price controls came at a time when plastic resin prices were at a nine‐year low.

He said that companies buying directly from major suppliers were on allocation anywhere” in the 60 to 80 per cent area but that, as of last week, not even these reduced amounts reached the fabricators.

90 Per Cent of Capacity

In a recent study, Mr. Harding’s group said that, although production of plastic resins would increase this year by 10 to 15 per cent, to about 27 billion pounds, industry was operating at only 90 per cent of capacity.

As a result of the underutilization of capacity, the society said that most resin sales were on strict allocation by suppliers, there were significant shortages of formerly plentiful resin formulations, and there were severe shortages of certam formulations where intermediate, chemicals were not available, such as styrene monomer for polyester resin.

Mr. Harding has noted in this context that the plastics industry was facing a paradox. “Having reached the status of full membership in the industrial community,” he said, “the plastics industry finds itself threatened by limitations on its vitally needed raw material feedstocks.”

https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/30/archives/plastics-industry-hurt-by-lack-of-raw-materials-made-of-oil-makers.html

September 15, 2021

Who Remembers?

A blast from the past . . .

August 22, 2021

History of the Pillow

The pillow was once viewed as a mystical implement with roles that extended far beyond providing a comfortable perch for our sleeping heads. (junrong/Shutterstock)

The pillow was once viewed as a mystical implement with roles that extended far beyond providing a comfortable perch for our sleeping heads. (junrong/Shutterstock) Mind & Body

The Mystical Origins of the Pillow

For much of human history, pillows had much grander role than just cradling our sleeping heads By Tatiana Denning August 22, 2021 Updated: August 22, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” – William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”

A good night’s sleep is imperative to both our mental and physical well-being, and allows for the regeneration of both mind and body.

Sleep hygiene, including things such as a regular bedtime and proper sleeping environment, goes a long way toward a good night’s rest. A cool, dark, quiet room, a comfortable bed, and a supportive pillow can all help ensure you get adequate sleep.

While the pillow may seem to be a simple concept, and a common item we take for granted, it hasn’t always been the soft, fluffy nighttime companion we’re accustomed to today. In fact, what ancient societies used for a pillow would give most of us pause.

The First Pillow

The first pillow is believed to have originated in ancient Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq) around the year 7,000 B.C., making the pillow about 9,000 years old (not counting ancient civilizations we may have long forgotten).

This pillow was made of stone, and was used not for comfort or support, but rather for purely utilitarian purposes. It raised the head off the ground to help keep insects and other critters from climbing into a person’s hair, mouth, ears, and nose.

With time, ancient civilizations came to believe that the pillow could also provide support for the head. Stone was thought to be the best way to provide support, and so continued to be used for this reason. Stone was also immune to insects and bugs, unlike various softer materials. But carved stone was expensive, which meant that only the wealthy could afford to own a purpose-built pillow. As such, the pillow came to be viewed as a status symbol in ancient times.

Ancient China

More is probably known about the use of the pillow in ancient China than in any other culture.

The hard pillow maintained its popularity in ancient China. While the people of ancient China had the knowledge and ability to create a soft pillow, most looked down on it, believing a soft pillow robbed the body of its essential energy and vitality.

The ancient Chinese believed the proper pillow, as well as the proper furniture, could also rectify a person’s behavior and personality. While people today desire comfort, the ancient Chinese valued improving one’s moral character over a life of ease. This is one reason ancient Chinese pillows and furniture were made of hard materials.

The hard pillow was believed to have a variety of other benefits. It served to not only support the head and neck, but helped maintain the complex hairstyles of the time while sleeping, increase blood circulation, and improve one’s intellect. According to renowned auction house Christie’s, the ancient Chinese pillow also was used to keep one cool while sleeping, “Poet Zhang Lei of the Northern Song dynasty wrote: ‘Pillow made by Gong is strong and blue; an old friend gave it to me to beat the heat; it cools down the room like a breeze; keeping my head cool while I sleep’.”

A variety of materials were used to make pillows in ancient China, including porcelain, jade, pottery, bamboo, wood, and bronze. It was said that the material a person rested their head upon would influence their health, therefore, one should choose wisely.

Perhaps no material was more popular for pillow making in ancient China than ceramic. According to Christie’s, ceramic reached the height of its popularity during the Tang (618–907 A.D) and Song (960–1279 A.D) dynasties, before eventually being replaced by Western-style stuffed pillows. These pillows were often ornately shaped and decorated, and just like in Mesopotamia, were reserved for the wealthy and viewed as a symbol of status and prosperity. Butterflies, flowers, and children at play were just a few of the auspicious images commonly used on pillows, while inscriptions of Buddhist, Daoist, or Confucius teachings were often put on pillows to help improve one’s moral character.

The hard pillow was also said to ward off evil spirits, something the soft pillow couldn’t do. The lion, tiger, and Chinese dragon, in particular, were said to be effective at keeping evil spirits away.

“Lions were regarded as auspicious creatures with sufficient ferocity, strength, and spiritual energy to ward off evil spirits,” according to Christie’s. Many pillows were either made in the shape of these animals, or bore images of them.

While the hard pillow was viewed most favorably, there were pillows made of other materials for use in special circumstances. One such pillow was the medicinal pillow. According to Taiwan Today, this pillow was made of various herbs wrapped in silk cloth; it was used to improve hearing, keep the eyes sharp, return gray hair to its original color, regrow lost teeth, and cure a variety of diseases.

Due to its close proximity to the head, the pillow was also said to help promote and guide dreams. The ancient Chinese believed dreams had significant meaning, and they were taken as omens of what was to come.

“There was no sharp dichotomy in the division between the two states of spirit and matter in Chinese popular thought,” according to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. “Ghosts, spirits, and visions in dreams were part of the material world and deemed to be interchangeable with life. Thus the pillow could be a material object of great importance, which mediated between the conscious and unconscious, between reality and the illusionary.”

Today, these beautifully created ancient pillows are sought by collectors, fetching prices in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Ancient Egypt

While less is known about the pillow, or headrest, of ancient Egypt, we do know it served more than just a pragmatic purpose for the ancient Egyptians as well. Most of what is known comes from the discovery of headrests in ancient tombs.

The people of ancient Egypt considered the head to be the spiritual and life center, and as such, they viewed the head as the most sacred part of the body. The pillow served to both support and, perhaps more importantly, protect the head in both life and death.

Like in Mesopotamia, pillows were typically made of stone, but blocks of wood, ceramic, and ivory were sometimes used as well. They were more narrow than ancient Chinese pillows, which supported both the head and the neck, and typically offered support only to the head—thus the name “headrest.”

Religious and magical beliefs were woven throughout ancient Egyptian society, and pillows, as well as other objects, were decorated with images meant to serve as both protection and decoration. One commonly engraved image, according to Pennsylvania’s Glencairn Museum, was that of Bes, “a protective deity whose role involved the protection of the home, mothers and children, and sleeping people.”

It was believed that a sleeping person was particularly vulnerable to evil spirits, and the fearsome image of Bes provided protection from nighttime evils.

The ancient Egyptians placed tremendous importance on the afterlife, so much so that Tutankhamun, the boy king, was buried with eight headrests. Funerary texts contained hundreds of magical spells meant to help guide the dead safely into the afterlife.

“A handful of these spells make explicit reference to the headrest and compare it with the sun’s rising in the horizon. Coffin Text 232 reads: “A spell for the head-rest. May your head be raised, may your brow be made to live, may you speak for your own body, may you be a god, may you always be a god,” the Glencairn Museum states.

While beliefs may have changed, some parts of Africa still use these ancient-style headrests in their daily lives and find them quite enjoyable.

Ancient Greece and Rome

Even less is known about the pillows of ancient Greece and Rome.

What we do know is that the ancient Greeks and Romans eventually developed a penchant for luxury, comfort, and self-indulgence, abandoning the idea that the hard pillow had any physical or mental benefits. With their focus on comfort, they created the predecessor to today’s soft pillow.

The pillow used by everyday citizens of this time period was made of materials such as cotton, straw, or reeds, with pillows made of soft down and feathers being reserved for the wealthy. The pillow was viewed as a symbol of decadence, and people of this era are often pictured reclining on four or five luxurious pillows, even as they dined, often overindulging in food and wine.

According to Jason Linn in his UC–Santa Barbara dissertation on nighttime in ancient Rome, “Luxury pampered these people so greatly that even under dire circumstances they permitted their guards not only to sleep, but also to do so comfortably.”

The Spartans, however, held a different philosophy, and led austere lives without seeking comfort. Linn asks, “How could anyone sleep under such uncomfortable conditions?” The answer, “Doing so led to obedience, perseverance, and victories.” Linn goes on to quote William Arrowsmith, saying “luxury makes a man lose his specific function.”

As time marched on, reaching Europe’s Middle Ages, the soft pillow fell out of common use, and it was seen only as a status symbol. Men viewed the pillow as a sign of weakness, and at one point, only the king and pregnant women were allowed to lay their heads on a pillow at night.

By the 16th century, the pillow had come back into favor, but due to regular infestation by things such as mold, insects, and vermin, it was cumbersome to care for, with the contents of the pillow having to be changed regularly in order to maintain its cleanliness. Later on, pillows came to be used for kneeling in church, or as a place to rest holy texts. In some places, this is still done.

Modern Day

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, people’s way of life began to change across much of the world.

As technology continued to evolve, so did the story of the pillow. With the mass production capabilities of the Industrial Revolution, and the increase in the availability of cotton, the pillow was no longer only for the elite. The average person could now afford to own one, and the pillow gradually became common in every home.

As the Industrial Revolution brought material prosperity, society followed the pattern of the ancient Greeks and Romans: People sought out more comfort, ultimately ushering in a revolution of the soft pillow.

Today, pillows come in a variety of shapes, sizes, material types, and firmness levels. The types of pillows seem to be endless, with everything from gel, memory foam, down, feathers, down-alternative, cotton, innerspring, wool, latex, microbeads, kapok, buckwheat, and water available. That’s quite a list! Pillows can even be customized and personalized according to a person’s preference.

While the comforts of modern-day pillows may make our nights more comfortable, perhaps the ancients were onto something. I’m not inclined toward a return to a stone or ceramic pillow (though you can make your own version), but perhaps we should remember that sometimes a little discomfort in life isn’t such a bad thing.

From the perspective of the ancient Chinese, seeking comfort is rarely the best path. After all, when we endure a little hardship, we become more resilient. And amid life’s turmoils, if we can look within for the lesson, we’ll come out the better for having gone through it.

It seems even the pillow has a lesson to teach.Tatiana Denning Tatiana DenningD.O.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-mystical-origins-of-the-pillow_3949673.html