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The company formerly known as the United States Rubber Company, now Uniroyal, is an American manufacturer of
tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...
s and other synthetic rubber-related products, as well as variety of items for military use, such as
ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
, explosives, chemical weapons and operations and maintenance activities (O&MA) at the government-owned contractor-operated facilities. It was founded in
Naugatuck, Connecticut Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, whic ...
, in 1892. It was one of the original 12 stocks in the
Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indexe ...
, and became Uniroyal, Inc., as part of creating a unified brand for its products and subsidiaries in 1961. The company's long-lived advertisement slogan was "''United States Tires are Good Tires''." One of Uniroyal's best known tires is the ''Tiger Paw'' introduced in the 1960s and included as original equipment for that decade's muscle cars such as the Pontiac GTO, which itself was promoted as The Tiger during its early years. Today, Uniroyal still uses the Tiger Paw brand name in its tire line. In 1990, Uniroyal was acquired by French tire maker Michelin and ceased to exist as a separate business. Today around 1,000 workers in the U.S. remain employed by Michelin to make its Uniroyal brand products. While in North America, Colombia and Peru, the Uniroyal brand has been owned by Michelin since 1990, outside those regions, the Uniroyal brand has been owned by
Continental AG Continental AG, commonly known as Continental or colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company specializing in tires, brake systems, interior electronics, automotive safety, powertrain and chassis compo ...
since 1979 following their acquisition of Uniroyal Europe, formerly known as Englebert.


Origins

By 1892, there were many rubber manufacturing companies in
Naugatuck, Connecticut Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, whic ...
, as well as elsewhere in Connecticut. Nine companies consolidated their operations in Naugatuck to become the United States Rubber Company. One of the nine, Goodyear's India Rubber Glove Mfg. Co. (named Litchfield Rubber Co. until 1847) – which manufactured rubber gloves for telegraph linemen – was the only company in which
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. ...
, inventor of the rubber vulcanization process, is known to have owned stock. From 1892 to 1913, the rubber footwear divisions of U.S. Rubber manufactured their products under 30 different brand names, including the Wales-Goodyear Shoe Co. The company consolidated these footwear brands under one name,
Keds Keds is an American brand of canvas shoes with rubber soles. Founded in 1916, the company is owned by Wolverine World Wide. The original shoe design, the Champion, was the first mass-marketed canvas-top "sneaker". History Early history In 19 ...
, in 1916, and were mass-marketed as the first flexible rubber-sole with canvas-top "
sneakers Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used fo ...
" in 1917. On May 26, 1896,
Charles Dow Charles Henry Dow (; November 6, 1851 – December 4, 1902) was an American journalist who co-founded Dow Jones & Company with Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser. Dow also co-founded ''The Wall Street Journal'', which has become one of the ...
created the Dow Industrial average of twelve industrial manufacturing stocks, which included among them U.S. Rubber Company. When the average expanded to a list of 20 stocks in 1916, U.S. Rubber remained, however the listing expanded to 30 stocks in 1928 and U.S. Rubber was dropped. In an effort to increase its share of the automobile tire market in 1931, U.S. Rubber Company bought a substantial portion of the Gillette Safety Tire Company. The company was founded in 1916 by Raymond B. Gillette and its primary manufacturing plant was located in
Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the state' ...
. The Gillette plant held large contracts with the General Motors Corporation and with the addition of U.S. Rubber products, became one of the world's largest suppliers of original equipment tires. U.S. Rubber produced tires under the Gillette, Ward, Atlas, U.S. Rubber and U.S. Royal brands. In 1940, U.S. Rubber purchased the remainder of the Gillette Safety Tire Company, and began to expand and modernize the Eau Claire factory, greatly increasing production. During World War II, U.S. Rubber factories were devoted to production of war goods, and produced military truck and airplane tires, as well as the canvas-top, rubber-soled
Jungle boot Jungle boots are a type of combat boot designed for use in jungle warfare or in hot, wet, and humid environments where a standard leather combat boot would be uncomfortable or unsuitable to wear. Jungle boots have vent holes in the instep and someti ...
for soldiers and marines serving in tropical and jungle environments. U.S. Rubber ranked 37th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. In 1942, the United States government restricted the sale of scarce rubber products for civilian use and production at the plant dwindled. The company sold the Eau Claire plant to the government, which then converted it for the manufacture of small caliber ammunition and renamed it the Eau Claire Ordnance plant. By December 31, 1943, the need for tires outweighed the need for ammunition. U.S. Rubber repurchased the plant from the government for more than
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1 million, and converted it back to synthetic rubber tire production. The company began an expansion and modernization program at the plant that lasted through 1951. When it ended, the Eau Claire plant was the fifth largest tire facility in the United States. The company again expanded the plant in 1965 to produce tires for construction machinery, and for many years it was the largest private employer in Eau Claire and the second largest in neighboring Chippewa Falls before it was closed in 1991. In late 1943, U.S. Rubber engineer Dr. Louis Marick developed a propeller de-icing system in which a rubber boot was fitted onto the leading edge of a propeller. The boot contained wires that conducted electricity to heat the edge and break-up ice.


Englebert Company

In 1958, Uniroyal entered into a partnership with the Englebert tire company of Liège, Belgium, which became known as Uniroyal Englebert Deutschland AG. In 1963, the name was shortened to Uniroyal-Englebert, and in 1967 it became Uniroyal along with all company divisions. Uniroyal sold this division with its four factories in Belgium, Germany, France and Scotland to
Continental AG Continental AG, commonly known as Continental or colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company specializing in tires, brake systems, interior electronics, automotive safety, powertrain and chassis compo ...
in 1979. Continental continues to market tires under the Uniroyal brand outside NAFTA, Colombia and Peru.


Dominion Rubber

Uniroyal operations in Canada were carried out under the name Dominion Rubber Company for a number of decades. Dominion started operations as Brown, Hibbard and Bourne, established in 1854. In 1866, the company registered as the Canadian Rubber Company of Montreal Limited and became prosperous manufacturing waterproof cloth, rubber footwear and machinery belts. It began to produce auto tires in 1906 in its Montreal factory and through a series of mergers with other companies in Ontario and Quebec became the Canadian Consolidated Rubber Company Limited. After another series of mergers, the company became the Dominion Rubber Company Limited in 1926. It produced footwear under a variety of brand names, coated upholstery fabrics, mechanical parts, industrial chemicals and vehicle tires. In 1966, after four decades as Dominion, the company was renamed Uniroyal Ltd., along with all other company holdings, and in 1981, it was sold to Waterville Ltd.


S.A. Rubber

In 1939, Mark Lodge and Harold Hill established S. A. Rubber Mills Pty. Ltd. in
Edwardstown, South Australia Edwardstown is an inner southern-western suburb located 6 km southwest of Adelaide in the City of Marion. In 1989 the suburb of Edwardstown was split, with the portion east of South Road becoming Melrose Park. This occurred as the subur ...
. The company grew until 1963 when U.S. Rubber purchased 25% of the business. By 1980, Uniroyal owned sixty percent of what was now Uniroyal Brazil which it sold to
Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...
. The subsidiary which operated Australian plants under the name Uniroyal Tyre Company became Bridgestone Australia Ltd. and was traded on the Australian stock exchange as a majority-owned subsidiary of Japan's tire company. On 20 March 2007 stockholders of Bridgestone Australia Ltd. voted to make the company a wholly owned subsidiary of
Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...
Corporation of Japan.()


Isochem

A joint venture, Isochem, Inc., was established in June, 1965 together with
Martin Marietta Corporation The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Marie ...
and chaired by the Martin's vice president Malcolm A. MacIntyre to operate
Hanford nuclear site The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. The site has been known by many names, including SiteW ...
under the auspices of AEC, thus assuming duties, previously performed by the General Electric Co.


Uniroyal

In 1961, the company became Uniroyal, Inc. The Uniroyal name was applied to all its operating components and products by 1967, creating a unified brand. As Uniroyal in 1974, the company became defendant in a landmark gender discrimination case, '' Chrapliwy v. Uniroyal'', under Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requi ...
. The class action lawsuit was settled in favor of the plaintiffs, but the issue of attorney fees was decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 1982.


Uniroyal Goodrich Tire

In 1985, Uniroyal was taken private by its management and the New York investment firm of
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is an American private equity company. It is one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the world. Founded in 1978, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in approximately 90 businesses, repre ...
to prevent a hostile takeover by financier Carl C. Icahn. At the time, Uniroyal was the fifth-largest tire company in the country. To help pay the nearly $1 billion in debt incurred in the leveraged buyout, the company sold its Uniroyal's Chemical subsidiary to Avery Inc. – a producer of agricultural chemicals, industrial chemical additives and specialized rubber and plastic products – for $760 million in May 1986. The remaining tire operation was merged with that of B.F. Goodrich Company (), a
S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of ...
-listed tire and rubber fabricator that made high-performance replacement tires. The joint venture partnership became the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company and B.F. Goodrich Company held a 50% stake in the new tire company. The new Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company established its headquarters at the former B. F. Goodrich corporate headquarters, within its 27-building downtown complex in
Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city pro ...
, which contained Goodrich's original factory. In the fall of 1987, the B.F. Goodrich Company closed several manufacturing operations at the site, and most of the complex remained vacant until February 1988, when B.F. Goodrich announced plans to sell the vacant portions of the complex to the Covington Capital Corporation, a New York developer. In 1987, its first full year of operation, the new Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company generated almost US$2 billion in sales revenue, with profit of about US$35 million. However, the merger soon proved to be difficult. In June 1988, B.F. Goodrich sold its 50% stake to a group of investors led by
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is an American private equity company. It is one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the world. Founded in 1978, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in approximately 90 businesses, repre ...
for US$225 million. At the same time, B.F. Goodrich also received a warrant to purchase indirectly up to 7% of the equity in Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company. Also in June 1988 as part of the sale deal, the new privately held tire company acquired publicly held debt of $415 million. The Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company offered the debt securities in two parts through
underwriter Underwriting (UW) services are provided by some large financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment houses, whereby they guarantee payment in case of damage or financial loss and accept the financial risk for liabilit ...
s led by Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. The two instruments were a US$250 million issue of 14 ⅛% notes due in 1998, and a US$165 million issue of 14 ½% subordinated debentures due in 2000. For the year 1988, Uniroyal Goodrich Tire posted sales revenue of US$2.2 billion, while profit declined to about a third of the prior year, less than US$12 million, which included an extraordinary credit of nearly US$2 million from the purchase of Canadian annuity pension obligations, and also a charge of over US$16 million from the June 1988 recapitalization resulting from the selloff by B.F. Goodrich. Also in 1988, Michelin Group, a subsidiary of the French tire company Michelin et Cie () proposed to acquire the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company, and began acquiring a stake. In 1989, Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company posted sales revenue that was up to almost US$2.3 billion, but profit was down by 90% to just over US$1 million, but included over US$9 million extraordinary credit that year for the ongoing Canadian annuity pension obligation purchase. 1989 year-end net income results were also hurt by increased interest expense of nearly US$31 million on the June 1988 debt recapitalization, and a US$29 million charge for deferred employee compensation related to the proposed purchase of the company by Michelin Group.


Michelin Group

By May 1990, Michelin Group completed its purchase of Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company from Clayton & Dubilier of New York. The deal was valued at about US$1.5 billion. B.F. Goodrich surrendered its 7% warrant to Michelin Group for US$32.5 million. With the sale, B.F. Goodrich then exited the tire business and became the Goodrich Corporation to focus on building its chemicals and aerospace businesses through reinvestment and acquisitions. Michelin Group continued to operate the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company as its tire manufacturing unit in the United States and Canada. In January 1991, Michelin Group closed the historic Eau Claire, Wisconsin, plant, eliminating 1,350 positions. Later in 1991 it closed the tire-cord manufacturing plant in Lindsay, Ontario, with 74 workers on August 30, 1991, due to high cost and two tire factories with 1,000 jobs in Kitchener, Ontario, citing overcapacity. Also in 1991, the Uniroyal tiger returned to national television after a 10-year hiatus, featured in a new 30-second spot created by Wyse Advertising of
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. The animated Uniroyal tiger had been a television advertising icon for the company through the 1970s. The new commercial appeared on ESPN and CNN sports-related programming, and also was run by Uniroyal dealers in local markets. By 1993, Michelin North America employed 28,000 people at 18 plants, in South Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma, Indiana, Nova Scotia and Ontario. In mid-1993, Michelin North America cut 2,500 of those jobs, which represented about 9% of its work force in the United States and Canada, because of softening demand for tires. As of 2010, the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire unit continued to operate with about 1,000 workers at its tire plant in
Woodburn, Indiana Woodburn is a city in Maumee Township, Allen County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,520 at the 2010 census, making it the smallest in state as Cannelton had a population of 1,563 in the 2010 Census. Geography Woodburn is located a ...
, and another plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Citing overcapacity in the North American tire market, the plant in Opelika, Alabama, closed in 2009.


Archival material

The ''Uniroyal, Inc Records'' are held the Special Collections and Archives Department at
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
. Comprising contract negotiation and grievance case files, meeting minutes, memos, correspondence, photos and audio visual material, the records document numerous activities including: the collective bargaining activities of Local 19 of the United Rubber Workers of America, the impact on plant operations by the introduction of synthetic rubber production, and work modernization after World War II. The Department is also home to the ''Uniroyal Collection'', which includes news clippings and photos, and well as the ''United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum, and Plastic Workers of America. Local 19: Records'', which reflect the work of the labour union that represented the employees at the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company's Eau Claire plant. Records and photographs pertaining to the Rubber Machinery Shops of the Dominion Tire Co. Ltd, in Kitchener, Ontario are housed in Special Collections & Archives at the University of Waterloo Library. Included are photographs, newsletters, equipment lists, press releases and news clippings regarding employees and company operations.
United States Rubber Company records
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.


Notes


References

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External links

* * * * {{Authority control Tire manufacturers of the United States Rubber industry Michelin Continental AG Shoe companies of the United States U.S. Synthetic Rubber Program American companies established in 1892 Automotive companies established in 1892 Clothing companies established in 1892 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1990 1892 establishments in Connecticut Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Defunct manufacturing companies based in Connecticut Defunct manufacturing companies based in South Carolina