Page 14 - September1951

284 NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN September, 1951

I85I THE GOODYEAR CENTENNIAL I95I
By JANE F. ADAMS
The Goodyeal patent date. May 6,1851, is known to every button col-
Iector whether he is an enthusiast for or is indifterent to the hald rubber
buttons malked with it. Just norv many of the enthusiasts are recommend.-
ing to the indjlTerent rhat they t'eexamine Goodyears iu this the centennial
year of the patent so that they can discover what attractive opportunities
the type offers as a field fol specialization. As the fans point out, it is still
easy to make a good beginning and progress never comes to a dead halt.
Some of the important reascns for the increasing popularity of Good-
years should be made clear. First of all, they enjoy the none-too-common
distinction of being a true type, unmistakably set apart from all other but-
tons. The collector, from his ve|y first day as an ignorant beginner until
his attainment of advanced status, knows exactly what a Goodyear is. There
are no puzzlei's and no tl.espassers. (It is possible that some genuine Good-
1'ears have been jazzed up since they left the factory. But even in these
cases the button itself is sound).
Next, their history and background can be learned from authentic
sources. Nor should this incentive be undervalued, for nrany people feel
thwarted when they lack knowledge of the 'arhen, the where, the what and
the how.
Beginning with the patent date and going to the record, one gets at
"the what" in Nelson Goodyear's own words,',I do not claim the heating,
or the curing pfocess, as it is termed, that having been patentecl by Chartes
Goodyear'. What I do claim as rny iuvention and desire letters patent on,
is the combining of India Rubberwith sulphur, with or without shellac, for
making a hard and inflexible substance, hitherto unknown.,, This passage
trom the u. s. Patent omce lecolds makes it clear that the rubber used for
buttons has properties beyond those obta,inable by vulcanization alone. VuI-
canization was a part of the process, as rMas acknowleclged by the 1g4g-b1
patent backs, but it rvas not the entire secret of hard mbber. The 1g4g
patent was the reissue of the original chal'les Goodyear patent for vulcaniza-
tion (or "curing," as it was then called). Something new had to be added
to ploduce hald lubbel and this discovely belonged to Nelson Goodyear.
The buttons thernselves provide key info'rnation on where they were
made by giving eithel the name or initials of the Novelty Rubber Company
or the initials I. R. c. co. These initials belong to the rndia Rubber comL
Company of New Yol'k. TIle Novelty Rubber Company of New york and
New Brunswick, New Jersey, .was founded in 185b.
That date establishes the ealliest possible year fol the ploduction of'
Goodyear buttons under the patent. Issued in 1gb1, the pat-ent remained
in force for fourteen yeals and upon reissue lasted seven yea's more, or
until 1872. It is reasonable to suppose (ilrough not proven) that Goodyear-
-the
back-marks continued in use for a few years after patent was dead.
Even though the marks could no ronger give the manuficturers any pro-
tection against infringemenr, they had prestige value and assured the con-
sumer of a "genuiue" alticle.
The buttons also give the clue showing how they were made. It is.
apparent that they were molded. The final processing was accomplished
undel heat and plessure.
Goodyea.s have another quite unusual advartage which adds zest. con-.
sidering that they were made in only two factories and for only a relatively
short span of time, it nust follow that ilre number of patterns iras a clefinitL
limit. And consideling that the factories were in our country and the time
not too long ago, it is reasonable to assume that one has a chance of hunting
down an example of every Goodyear pattern ever made. The incentive to,
complete a series is strong irr all of us and those who thrive on trying to get
one of everything have a good objective here.