Leader In Many Movements To Aid Industry, Public
(Continued from Page 1)
public. He organized the “Ship by Truck”
movement in 1918 to encourage use of
trucks for the transportation of food,
machinery, and other goods; and led the
“Good Roads” movement. He initiated the
now popular one-stop service store pro
gram in 1926; and he inaugurated the
first commercially sponsored network
musical radio program, the “Voice of
Firestone,” in 1928.
In 1922 Mr. Firestone began his cam
paign, “Americans Should Produce Their
Own Rubber,” in protest against the
Stevenson Rubber Restriction Act which
caused a rise in the price of natural
rubber. Carrying out his program.
Firestone began its own plantations
operations in Liberia in 1924. Today the
Liberian plantations cover 87,000 acres,
and Firestone also operates plantations
in Brazil, the Philippines and Guatemala.
* * *
DURING HIS CAREER, Mr. Firestone
successfully fought monopolies on de
mountable rims and tire building machin
ery, and the monopoly on machinery for
building tires by the flat-band process,
a method of applying cord fabric to a
drum in endless bands. These victories
aided the progress of the entire rubber
industry and saved many millions of dol
lars for American motorists.
One of Mr. Firestone’s proudest
achievements was his start of the cam
paign to “Put the Farm on Rubber”
with the development of the first prac
tical low-pressure farm tractor tire.
The successful development of the
farm tire came in 1932 at the depth of
the depression which started with the
stock market crash of 1929. The early
Thirties were disastrous years for
American business. But Firestone had
used the profitable boom years of the
Twenties as a time for expansion, greater
efficiency and organizational strength
ening. When the crash came, the com
pany was solid, substantial and able to
weather the storm.
In 1937, when national economic re
covery suffered another setback, the
company had its greatest sales year up
to that time, a total of $156,800,000.
The Thirties, despite their economic
stresses and strains on business gener
ally, were years of substantial growth for
Firestone. Products were improved and
diversified. Old plants were expanded and
new plants were opened. Sales and profits
increased.
In the early Thirties, Harvey S.
Firestone developed the retail store pro
gram for two reasons: To increase the
number of Firestone outlets for its prod
ucts and, of equal importance, to use the
stores to test the salability of specific
products and methods of merchandising
them. These stores have become a vast
merchandising laboratory. Practices that
are successful in the stores are passed on
to Firestone’s independent dealers.
jH * *
BY 1936 the five sons of the founder of
the company had been graduated from
college and had joined their father in the
management of the business. Harvey S.
Firestone, Jr., now chairman, joined the
company in 1920. The late Russell A.
Firestone followed his brother in 1922
and became head of the Mechanical Rub
ber Goods Division. In 1931 Leonard K.
Firestone became associated with the
firm; he is now president of the Firestone
Tire & Rubber Company of California.
Raymond C. Firestone joined his brothers
in 1933 and is now chairman of the ex
ecutive committee and chief executive
officer of the parent company. The last
to become part of Firestone management
was Roger S. Firestone in 1936. He is
president of the Firestone Plastics Com
pany and the Firestone Synthetic Fibers
Company, divisions of The Firestone Tire
& Rubber Company.
In 1933 the company began research
and experimental work on synthetic rub
ber, which proved of great value during
World War II when Japan cut the United
States off from the natural rubber of the
Far East. By 1939 Firestone was produc
ing the butadiene-styrene type for use in
tires. Because of this background and ex
perience the Government-owned,
Firestone-operated synthetic rubber plant
in Akron was the first in the country to
produce synthetic latex, in April, 1942.
The synthetic rubber produced by the
company, together with the natural rub
ber from the company’s plantations in
Liberia, Brazil and the Philippines makes
Firestone one of the largest producers of
rubber in the world.
Shortly after the outbreak of World
War II in Europe, Harvey S. Firestone,
Jr., then president, did as his father had
done in the first World War; placed every
Firestone facility at the command of the
Government for the manufacture of de
fense products.
On the day after Pearl Harbor, over
the nationwide radio broadcast of the
“Voice of Firestone,” he told the Ameri
can people, “The Firestone organization
pledges anew to the President of the
United States and to the American peo
ple its whole-hearted support and dedi
cates to our nation its resources, its
manufacturing facilities, its engineering
ingenuity and its scientific skill that
more and more defense materials may
flow forth in ever-increasing stream to
assure final victory.”
Before hostilities ended in 1945, the
company was producing hundreds of prod
ucts needed by the armed forces. These
ranged from antiaircraft guns to barrage
balloons, from gas masks to tank tracks.
In addition to millions of tires and tubes
for military vehicles and aircraft, the
company produced bombs, aircraft oxy
gen cylinders, airplane wings, machine
gun clips, life belts and life boats, and
many other rubber, steel and plastic
products.
The enormous problems involved in the
transition to normal peacetime manufac
turing, after several years of all-out pro
duction for war, were actually solved be
fore they arose. Because postwar plan
ning had been started during the war, the
changeover was accomplished quickly and
successfully.
* * *
SIMULTANEOUSLY with the work of
reconversion, research and development
programs were enlarged and intensified;
and the plan for enlarging existing fac
tories and building new ones was put into
effect. The research programs were turn
ing up new products of rubber, plastic and
steel to meet changing civilian needs.
As the uncertain peace of the postwar
era gave way to cold war, Firestone was
again called upon to produce for defense.
By the time of the Korean War in 1950,
the company was a major source of ma
terial for the armed forces, producing
rockets, tank tracks, recoilless rifles, air
craft fuel cells, antiaircraft guns, 90-mm.
tank guns, ammunition and many other
defense products. During the conflict the
company became the largest, privately
owned gun arsenal in the world.
At the same time, Firestone developed
and manufactured the “BAT” armor-
piercing projectile and the “Corporal”
guided missile.
The year 1953 was notable: For the
first time annual sales of Firestone prod
ucts and services topped one billion
dollars.
An intensive research program for the
development of a tubeless tire was put
into effect in the late 1940’s. Firestone
development engineers worked on the
project for several years. In January,
1951, the company announced that a pre
mium priced tubeless tire—blowout-safe
and puncture proof—had been added to
the company’s line.
In the tubeless tire field. Firestone
again fulfilled its historic rubber indus
try role of defending against patents
which are invalid but which have been
used to restrict the industry. In 1957, a
four-year court case ended when a major
competitor withdrew its suit against
Firestone for alleged infringement of
tubeless tire patents, thus saving the
public many millions of dollars in royal
ties which would have had to be added to
the price of tires.
* * *
WHILE TIRES are Firestone’s princi
pal product, the company is also the
world’s largest rubber producer and the
world’s largest manufacturer of rims for
trucks, buses and tractors.
In its metal products division, besides
rims and wheels. Firestone manufactures
such widely diversified metal products as
farm wagons; stainless steel milk cans
and beer barrels; stainless steel contain
ers for soft drink dispensers; aluminum
and steel grilles and decorative trim for
automobiles and trucks; artillery shells
and many other products.
The company is a major producer of
reclaimed rubber which is used in a great
variety of rubber products and in adhe
sives. Firestone makes a rubber additive
to increase the durability of asphalt used
in the paving of highways, a rubber ma
terial that adds resilience to asphalt
playground surfaces, and special coating
materials of various kinds. It makes a
number of specialty rubbers which are
widely used in paints, coatings and in
fabric and paper treatment.
(Continued)
ENCOURAGING Harvey S. Firestone,
right, in his campaign for Americans to
produce their own rubber were two close
friends, Henry Ford, left, and Thomas
Edison.
THE OLD TROLLEY line and the building
which was the entire Firestone Park busi
ness district about 1920. A thousand acres
were developed and a home ownership
plan opened to employees in 1916.
THE FOUR SONS of Harvey S. Firestone still active in the company survey more than 60
years of progress as they examine a large globe pinpointing world-wide installations of the
company. Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., chairman, points out the Coral-Diene plant in Orange, Texas.
Behind him, from left, Leonard K. Firestone, president of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company
of California; Raymond C. Firestone, chairman of the executive committee and chief executive
officer; and Roger S. Firestone, president of the Firestone Plastics Company and Firestone Syn
thetic Fibers Company. Russell A. Firestone, the fifth brother, passed away in 1951.
■ t
•
|i*-
SYMBOLIC of constantly increasing production, expanded warehouse facilities and better
service to the customer is this scene in the Central Warehouse for tires in Akron. Service to the
customer is of utmost importance in these days of stiff competition and need for speed in
delivering the order to the customer when he wants it and where he wants it.
wiM • 'j Vy >
I
DISTRIBUTION OF COMPANY products is ably carried on by more than 870 company stores
in the United States and 75,000 independent dealers and distributors in the United States and
other countries. Modern sales outlets in the U. S. such as the one pictured operate under
sales districts and are served by tire warehouses in districts and by 10 home and auto supply
warehouses at major distribution points throughout the country.