The Seiberling Rubber Company was an American tire manufacturer for motor vehicles. Seiberling tires ad

History

In 1898 Frank A. Seiberling acquired an old strawboard factory in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

and founded the

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturer headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for passenger vehicles, aviation, commercial trucks, military and police vehicles, motorcycles, recreati ...

(naming it after

Charles Goodyear Charles Goodyear (December 29, 1800 – July 1, 1860) was an American self-taught chemist and manufacturing engineer who developed vulcanized rubber, for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844 ...

, the inventor of vulcanized rubber). He served as the company's president for 15 years when, in 1921 the company was refinanced and reorganized. Frank A. Seiberling and his brother Charles resigned from the company and founded a rubber and tire company bearing his name. The Seiberling Rubber Company was founded in 1921 in

Barberton, Ohio Barberton is a city in Summit County, Ohio, Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 25,191 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located directly southwest of Akron, Ohio, Akron, it is a suburb of the Akron metropolitan are ...

. In only six years Seiberling rose from 330th to 7th place in the tire industry. During

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 ...

, Seiberling supplied tires for heavy artillery pieces. Seiberling is also credited for inventing the Saw-Tooth Tread and the tire Heat-Vents. Seiberling Tire's advertising in the 1940´s through the 1950´s was famous for the brand's slogan of "A name you can trust in Rubber." In the mid-1960´s, Seiberling launched the SuperWideSport series, a bias-belted tire aimed to the Muscle Car market, booming at the time. The tire featured a whitewall on one side and a redline on the other, also common on the tire market at the time. The tire achieved relatively good sales being that Seiberling's Akron rivals had released good products to compete, including Goodyear's Polyglas, Firestone's Wide-Oval,

Uniroyal Uniroyal, formerly known as the United States Rubber Company, is an American manufacturer of tires and other synthetic rubber-related products, as well as variety of items for military use, such as ammunition, explosives, chemical weapons and op ...

's Tiger Paw, Atlas Plycron 2plus2 and

BFGoodrich BFGoodrich is an American tire brand. Originally part of the industrial conglomerate Goodrich Corporation, it was acquired in 1990 (along with Uniroyal, then The Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company) by the French tire maker Michelin. BFGoodrich wa ...

's Radial T/A. The tire success did not go unnoticed and by the early-1970s the Big Three had some Seiberlings as original equipment fitted on their cars. Despite its commercial success and early achievements, Seiberling failed to adapt and catch up with the market changes, especially with the arrival of foreign companies who were quick to introduce the

radial tire A radial tire (more properly, a radial-ply tire) is a particular design of vehicular tire. In this design, the cord plies are arranged at 90 degrees to the direction of travel, or radially (from the center of the tire). Radial tire constructio ...

. The company was acquired in 1965 by the

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is an American tire company founded by Harvey S. Firestone (18681938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, carriages, and other form ...

, ultimately belonging to

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (18891976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of (), meaning ...

when the latter took over Firestone. Seiberling tires are no longer sold in the US market, but the brand name is still in use in some countries. Manufactured at Firestone's plants, they are aimed to the budget-oriented consumer in selected sizes.

References

{{Reflist * The Goodyear Tire and Rubber website. * Seiberling visual history organization. * Ohio history central organization. * https://web.archive.org/web/20130512142125/http://www.cityofbarberton.com/live/history/1912-1929.shtml

External links

"A Name You Can Trust in Rubber (1947)." Seiberling promotional film from the Hagley Museum and Library
digital archive
"Miracle on Mulberry Street (1948)." The film was used to introduce Seiberling’s "run-flat" tire inner tube. From the Hagley Museum and Library
digital archive Tire manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Akron, Ohio 1921 establishments in Ohio 1921 establishments in the United States 1965 mergers and acquisitions American brands American companies established in 1921 American subsidiaries of foreign companies Automotive companies established in 1921 Automotive companies of the United States Bridgestone Manufacturing companies based in Nashville, Tennessee

History

See also

References

External links