1950s Bear Brand Electrical Tape Tin

1950s Bear Brand Electrical Tape Tin

My father was into Ham radio & electronics for about 60+ years. Although I have gotten rid of a lot stuff, there is still a lot left. Some things I purposely kept. I have several large parts bins and one of those cubby holes is full of electrical tape.

I found this great tin that contained a roll of electrical tape. The tape inside was unfortunately another brand...I'll take a closer look tomorrow and see if there's a roll of Bear Brand.

Not sure what the no 507 means, probably certain type of tape?

The little tin has a lot of history. It's Bear Brand Electrical Tape made by Behr-Manning company, a division of Norton Abrasives.

A vinyl electrical tape with a plasticizer system and non-sulfur-based rubber adhesive was patented in 1946 by 3M.

There is 3 major companies represented here. I tried to rewrite and condense the interesting history, but there's some reading. Everything from pottery to hat making to Henry Ford himself...so read on.

HERMAN BEHR
At the age of 3, Herman Behr and his family arrived from Hamburg, Germany in Brooklyn, New York. He worked at his father's hardware company and then became interested in "pouncing paper" involved in the finishing of hats.

In 1872 he started the Herman Behr & Company. Several of his brothers joined him, the firm did very well, and became incorporated in 1911.

"Behr made the first perfect pouncing paper in this country; introduced the first garnet or red sand abrasive paper in the world; made the first flexible cloth belts of abrasive and followed this with the first successful aluminum oxide coated cloth discs for metal grinding. In the early 1920's they developed their "Openkote" sandpaper. This was an accidental discovery, resulting from a shipment of paper which was mistakenly coated sparsely with grain. It proved very effective for sanding soft materials like wood and leather, and was less likely to clog when used on materials coated with oils or varnishes. Behr refused to patent the process, and it was quickly adopted by his competitors."

In 1928, the founder was getting old and none of his heirs cared about the company. So a decision was made.

"H. Behr & Co. merged with the Manning Abrasive Company of Troy, N. Y., to form the Behr-Manning Co."

"In 1931, the firm was purchased by Norton. This Behr-Manning products were very profitable for the parent firm and by 1951 the division was manufacturing more than 30,000 items, with sales close to $30 million. By the late 1950's or early 1960's, Behr-Manning was completely absorbed into Norton and the name disappeared."

MANNING ABRASIVE COMPANY
"Founded in 1912 by John A. Manning in Watervliet, New York. Its industry was abrasive materials and its headquarters was in Troy, New York. It merged with the Herman Behr & Company in 1928, forming the Behr-Manning Company."

NORTON COMPANY
Franklin Norton and his older cousin Frederick Hancock opened a small pottery shop in 1858. The shop specialized in redware and stoneware pottery.

"In 1873, an employee of the shop, Sven Pulson, invented a Grinding wheel that was superior to most on the market at that time."

"Frank Norton patented Pulson's invention and began manufacturing it. By 1885, Frank Norton's discouraging health and Frederick Hancock's lack of interest in the new product resulted in the need to sell the wheel manufacturing business.

Pulson left the pottery shop in 1880, replaced by his brother-in-law John Jeppson. When Frank Norton's business came on the market, he was quick to purchase it."

The new partners did very well with the business and by the mid-1890s, Norton stocked the largest inventory of grinding wheels in the world.

"One of the largest keys to the growth of the company was Norton's 1900 expansion into the machine tools industry. Through partnership with Charles H. Norton, the company founded the Norton Grinding Company division."

Even with all the new products and marketing, the business was slow and not doing very good.
But this didn't last long, as the needs of World War I and the American automobile industry were quickly growing.

"In 1904, Norton employee Aldus Higgins invented a water-cooled furnace, which was crucial to the company's success at the time."

"In 1914, Henry Ford's purchase of thirty-five Norton Grinders prompted Ford to remark that "the abrasive processes are basically responsible for our ability to produce cars to sell for less than a thousand dollars. Were it not for these processes these same cars would cost at least five thousand dollars, if indeed they could be made at all." With 95 percent of an automobile's moving parts requiring grinding, the automotive industry soon became Norton's biggest customer."

"In 1931, Norton completed its first acquisition, when it purchased the Behr-Manning company of Watervliet, New York. This purchase added coated abrasives and sandpaper to Norton's line, which, going forward, would be two of Norton's more successful products. In the mid-1950s, with sales over $30 million, Behr-Manning was fully absorbed into Norton."

**For more on the history of these companies

http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2015/09/vanished-tool-makers-behr-manning.html?m=1

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Abrasives

https://mycompanies.fandom.com/wiki/Manning_Abrasive_Company