Eveready Battery Company, Inc. is an American manufacturer of

electric battery An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices. When a battery is supplying power, its positive Terminal (electronics), terminal is the ...

brands ''Eveready'' and ''Energizer'', owned by Energizer Holdings. Its headquarters are located in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. The predecessor company began in 1890 in New York and was renamed in 1905. Today, the company makes batteries in the United States and China and has production facilities around the world.

History

In 1896,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

immigrant Conrad Hubert founded the American Electrical Novelty and Manufacturing Company to market battery powered devices. On January 10, 1899, the company obtained U.S. Patent No. 617,592 (filed March 12, 1898) from David Misell, an inventor. This "electric device" designed by Misell was powered by "D" batteries laid front-to-back in a paper tube with the light bulb and a rough brass reflector at the end. Misell, the inventor of the tubular hand-held "electric device" (

flashlight A flashlight (US English) or electric torch (Commonwealth English), usually shortened to torch, is a portable hand-held electric lamp. Formerly, the light source typically was a miniature incandescent light bulb, but these have been displaced ...

), assigned his invention over to the American Electrical Novelty and Manufacturing Company owned by Conrad Hubert. In 1905, Hubert changed the name again to ''The American Ever Ready Company'', selling flashlights and batteries under the trademark ''Ever Ready''. In 1906 the British Ever Ready Electrical Company (BEREC) was formed for export of batteries; it became independent in 1914. In 1907, Ever Ready announced AA dry cell, and in 1911 it developed AAA dry cell. In 1914, The American Ever Ready Company became part of

National Carbon Company The National Carbon Company was a dominant American manufacturer of batteries and lighting products in the early 20th century. It was the first company to successfully manufacture and distribute sealed dry cell batteries on a large scale. It was fo ...

. Hubert stayed on as the president. The trademark was shortened to ''Eveready''. Under National Carbon, the company continued to market various tubular flashlights, flask-shaped pocket lights, fountainpen flashlights, lighted clocks, lanterns, electric candles, cap and lapel lights, search lights, pistol lights, gas and range lighters, and tungsten batteries. In 1917, National Carbon Company merged with

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is an American chemical company headquartered in Seadrift, Texas. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company since 2001. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more f ...

to form the Union Carbide and Carbon Company. From 1917 until 1921, Eveready used the trademark "DAYLO" for their

s and on their batteries. Into the 1930s, it sold "A," "B," and "C" radio batteries, Columbia Dry Batteries, and flashlight batteries. B batteries were sold under the Layerbilt name. In 1937, a South African operation was established in Port Elizabeth. By 1949, BEREC acquired the concern. In 1957, employees Lewis Urry, Paul Marsal, and

Karl Kordesch Karl Kordesch (18 March 1922 – 12 January 2011) was an Austrian chemist and inventor, most notable for jointly inventing the alkaline battery. In 1953 he moved to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip. Life Kordesch was born in ...

invented a long-lasting

alkaline battery An alkaline battery (IEC code: L) is a type of primary battery where the electrolyte (most commonly potassium hydroxide) has a pH value above 7. Typically, these batteries derive energy from the reaction between zinc metal and manganese diox ...

using a

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

manganese dioxide Manganese dioxide is the inorganic compound with the formula . This blackish or brown solid occurs naturally as the mineral pyrolusite, which is the main ore of manganese and a component of manganese nodules. The principal use for is for dry-cel ...

chemistry while working for Union Carbide's

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

plant. The company did not aggressively market the invention, however, and instead continued to market the zinc–carbon battery. As a result, the company lost significant market share to

Duracell Duracell Inc. is an American manufacturer of alkaline batteries, specialty cells, and rechargeables; it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 2016. The company has its origins in the 1920s, through the work of Samuel Ruben a ...

. Union Carbide Kenya Limited., based in Kenya, was established in 1967 to manufacturer and market Eveready batteries in Africa. It was renamed to Eveready Batteries Kenya Limited in 1986 and to Eveready East Africa Limited in 2004. Prior to March 1, 1980, the company's alkaline battery had been called the Eveready Alkaline Battery (1959–1968), Eveready Alkaline Energizer (1968–1974) and Eveready Alkaline Power Cell (1974–February 29, 1980). On March 1, 1980, it was rebadged under its current name, Energizer. In 1986,

sold its Battery Products Division to Ralston Purina Company for $1.4 billion. After the transfer, the division was named Eveready Battery Company, Inc., becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Ralston Purina. By the end of 1987, Eveready held 58-60% percent market share, but that number had fallen to 40-45% by 1989 thanks to competition from

. In December 1988, Eveready's European unit acquired Cofinea, a French company that made Wonder and Mazda batteries. Eveready announced its first lithium AA battery in 1988 and began selling it in December 1992. The company introduced its first mercury-free Battery in 1990. In 1992, it bought the British Ever Ready Electrical Company (manufacturer of Gold Seal and Silver Seal batteries) from Hanson Trust, bringing its former subsidiary back under common ownership. Hanson retained its South African division at the time but ultimately sold it to Duracell in 1996. By December 1998, Eveready's market share had fallen to 30% against Duracell's 50%. In June 1999, Ralston Purina announced it would spin off the Eveready business. By September, it was announced that Eveready would sell its

rechargeable battery A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or prima ...

division, though it retained a minority stake. Ralston completed its spin off Eveready in April 2000. The business unit was renamed Energizer Holdings, Inc., with Eveready Battery Company, Inc continuing as a subsidiary.

Facilities

The company's initial factory opened in the 1890s and was located near Edgewater Park in Cleveland, Ohio. The manufacturing plant was closed in 1978 and all operations shut down in 1997. The site was put up for sale in 1999 and later turned into the Battery Park housing development. Eveready inherited its

Fremont, Ohio Fremont is a city in Sandusky County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Sandusky River about southeast of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo and west of Sandusky, Ohio, Sandusky. The population was 15,930 at the 2020 United St ...

plant when National Carbon Company acquired the company in 1914. The facility produced hearing aid batteries, aluminum-air batteries, C and D zinc-carbon batteries, and six-inch dry cell batteries at various times. It was closed in March 1998 following the decline in demand for zinc-carbon batteries. Eveready opened a plant in

Bennington, Vermont Bennington is a New England town, town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester (town), Vermont, Manchester. As of the 2020 United States Census, US Cens ...

in 1942 and a facility in St. Albans in 1947. The St. Albans plant closed in 2013. After nearly 80 years of operation, it was announced in October 2019 that the Bennington facility would close. Production operations moved to a new facility in

Portage, Wisconsin Portage is a city in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 10,581 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Columbia County. It is part of the Madison metropolitan area. Portage was named for ...

. In 1967, Union Carbide opened an electrolytic manganese dioxide plant in Marietta, Ohio. Three ferromanganese-alloy furnace departments were sold in 1981. A fire in April 1987 kept the facility closed for over a year. In 1971, Eveready opened a facility in Maryville, Missouri. It was underwent five expansions from 1973 to 1997 before ultimately closing in 2013 due to a drop in demand of disposable batteries. The company also maintained facilities in

Asheboro, North Carolina Asheboro is a city in and the county seat of Randolph County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 27,156 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greensboro- High Point Metropolitan Area of the Piedmont Triad and is home of the st ...

;

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in Appalachian Ohio, southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum River, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia ...

; and

Westlake, Ohio Westlake is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb located west of downtown Cleveland. The population was 34,228 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The area now known as the city of Westlake was first ...

. The majority of batteries are made in China. There are also numerous production facilities outside the US.

Advertising

In the 1920s, the company sponsored '' The Eveready Hour'' on radio. In 1941, after the United States entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the slogan changed to "Change your batteries, get a nickel!" to encourage economic growth. In the 1970s, actor

Robert Conrad Robert Conrad (born Conrad Robert Falk; March 1, 1935 – February 8, 2020) was an American film and television actor, singer, and stuntman. He is best known for his role in the 1965–1969 television series ''The Wild Wild West'', playin ...

was the spokesman for Eveready Alkaline Power Cells, in which he compared his tough physique to the performance of the battery placed on his shoulder, and daring someone to knock it off. In the early 1980s, it utilized the slogan, "Energized, for life!", showing people using Energizers in everyday situations. In 1985, the company highlighted an advertising campaign best known for

Mary Lou Retton Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Retton's per ...

averring: "It's supercharged!" In the late 1980s, there was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

advertising campaign featuring Mark 'Jacko' Jackson and his pitch line "Energizer! It'll surprise you! Oi!". Since 1988, the well-known Energizer Bunny has been featured in its television ads. The bunny was based on the similar Duracell Bunny. Initially, ads had the Energizer Bunny interrupting what seemed like other brands' commercials. Later, the bunny would appear in competition with inferior rival battery Supervolt, which was based on Duracell. In 1991, it made the jump to print advertising. Outside the United States and Canada, the company uses an anthropomorphic AA battery named Mr. Energizer as its mascot. Both the Eveready and Energizer marks are used under license by auto parts magnate Pep Boys for their in-house car batteries. The Energizer logo used by Pep Boys is similar to the 1980s-era logo first used with the consumer dry cell batteries. Both Eveready and Energizer are marketed as different brands in some markets in Asia. This has led to the availability of both "Eveready Gold" Alkaline batteries and Energizer Alkaline batteries on store shelves. However, both target different market segments and Eveready batteries tend to be marketed for lower end devices, while Energizer batteries are marketed for power-hungry devices and are priced accordingly.

Gallery

File:Patent 617,592.png, File:1899 Eveready flashlight.jpg, 1899 Eveready flashlight File:Everady 9 Lives logo.jpg, "9 Lives" logo, used in various forms since the 1940s File:A battery (Eveready -742).jpg, Eveready #742 1½ volt "A" battery with Fahnestock clip terminals for

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

radios (1920s logo) File:Eveready number 460 battery.jpg, Eveready #460 battery, 45 Volts

References

External links