Formica
of USA
of Norham Road, West Chirton, Northumberland.(1962)
1913 The Formica Insulation Company was listed on the Cincinnati stock exchange by two researchers who had discovered a better way to make insulation materials for the growing electrical industry. Herbert A. Faber and Daniel J. O’Conor found that good quality insulators could be readily manufactured using plastic resins and high pressure. Until then, other manufacturers had been making these products out of the mineral mica. So Faber and O’Conor named their innovation Formica, as it was a substitute for mica.
1927 The decorative potential of the product was discovered when the company began lithographing images on to sheets of laminate. Thus a new product was introduced - one that would change the future of the company.
By the 1930s, a wear-resistant melamine layer was added, giving Formica® laminates their legendary durability and ease of maintenance. World-renowned artists and architects had also begun to recognise the design potential of these decorative laminates, specifying them for Modernist and Art Deco interiors.
Post-WWII. The aftermath of the Second World War greatly increased the demand for decorative laminates. In the USA the baby boom caused a housing wave; in Europe, post-war rebuilding and rising social expectations both created a need for modern, cost-effective interior design materials.
1946 Formica Corporation began producing laminates in a variety of colours and patterns, and entered the European market in 1946. Thomas De La Rue and Co entered into an agreement to make Formica board in the UK.
The product was so successful that the Formica laminate brand name soon became universally recognised throughout the USA and Europe.
1950 Name changed from the Formica Insulation Company to the Formica Company
1956 Formica Co. was bought by American Cyanamid; its name was changed to Formica Corporation as it became a subsidiary of the conglomerate.
1959 Formation of Formica International as a subsidiary, 40 percent owned by American Cynamid; it would be the holding company for the various Formica subsidiaries manufacturing Formica in Britain, Europe and Australasia[1]
1977 De La Rue sold Formica International to American Cyanamid.
1982 Formica products entered the Asian market, when the first high pressure laminate press was installed in Taiwan. From this manufacturing base, Formica Corporation has expanded geographically to become one of the largest producers of high pressure laminate in Asia.
1985 Management buy-out of Formica Corporation
1994 American Home Products Corporation purchased American Cyanamid Company.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times Apr. 9, 1959
- [1] Formica UK Website