5 for 50: 5 stories from RPN's first issue

Perhaps it's fitting that the first issue of Rubber & Plastics News launched just in time to report the opening of a new tire plant. The industry, after all, was a dynamic one, evolving and growing with new technologies, investments and discoveries. And as "The Rubber Industry's Fortnightly Newspaper," the publication was committed to covering it all and keeping industry professionals informed.

Sure, it may have had the wrong date on the cover—August 16, 1961, rather than 1971—but that didn't take away from the news that was packed on to every page of the brand new publication, proving that a subscription was worth the investment.

In fact, a subscription form was available on page 11, offering one year of Rubber & Plastics News for $4, two years for $8 or three years for $12.

You can still subscribe to Rubber News, by the way. We offer digital packages now, proof of how dynamic the industry really is and how much we're changing with it.

1. New tires

It had been half a century since Louisville, Ky., saw a new tire plant open in the city limits, but in July 1971, that changed.

International Rubber Inc. opened its tire manufacturing facility several days before Rubber & Plastics News launched its inaugural issue. The company was set to make radial tires in a compact plant for Sonic Distributors Inc., a private buying group in Southfield, Mich.

The first tire out of the mold at the new facility, which was "brought to fruition" by George R. Edwards, was described as "a typical wire radial tread design with five 'zig-zag' ribs and horizontal shoulder grooves.

"In addition to the all-steel belt," RPN wrote, "the tire has three plies of rayon fabric in the larger sizes and two in the smaller sizes."

2. 'Tragedy strikes' Dayco
Within a matter of days, two of Dayco Corp.'s top managers died, according to a page 10 story.

A.L. Freelander, 82, former chairman and then executive committee chairman and director, died Aug. 4. Two days later, on Aug. 6, Chairman and CEO Robert Jacob, 54, died of a heart attack while on a business trip in New York City.

On Aug. 10, Richard Jacob, brother of the late Robert Jacob, was appointed the company's new board chairman and CEO.

3. Goodyear resin fights fires
When Goodyear's Chemical Division set fire to two small structures, it did so to prove a point. Simply: Goodyear's Pliolite resins give paint superior fire resistant properties, and that can save you money.

According to Goodyear, more than $2 billion was lost annually to fires in the U.S., but structures coated in paint containing the Pliolite resin would put up a fight.

"Division chemists showed how intumescent paint based on Pliolite resin will foam and bubble when subjected to heat, thereby forming an insulative barrier which protects the combustible materials underneath from burning," RPN reported.

4. Natural rubber gets a boost

The Natural Rubber Producers Association's laboratories in London unveiled a new chemical additive it claimed could prolong the life of tires.

Dubbed a "urethane crosslinker" the chemical was intended to replace conventional sulfur vulcanizing chemicals that had been used in tire production for more than a century. The chemical, the association said, will "help strengthen natural rubber's competitive edge over the synthetics."

5. Rubber Division ready for 100th Meeting
Plans were coming together for the 100th Meeting of the Division of Rubber Chemistry, American Chemical Society, according to Chairman John H. Gifford of Witco Chemical Co.

Plans were to host the event at the Sheraton-Cleveland Hotel, Oct. 12-15, and the program was said to be the largest in the organization's history with 79 papers, three symposia and one course in tire technology.

Ben Kastein, of Firestone Synthetic Rubber & Latex Co., said 66 booths were reserved for 37 companies. In all, 75 booths were available for the expo. "The fact that equipment, products and services will be on display has heightened the excitement of the meeting," RPN reported.

Getting a hotel room for the anticipated event was not going to be easy, though.

Ralph F. Anderson—of B.F. Goodrich—chairman of the Local Arrangements Committee, said a fire at the Pick-Carter Hotel "eliminated 400 rooms reserved for the Division."