Re: MtMan-List: Re:rubber ponchos

["Glenn Darilek" <llsi@texas.net>]

Rubber facts from the Collier's 1998 Encyclopedia:

Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, coined the word "rubber" because
it could be used to erase pencil marks.  "India rubber" was not from India,
but from the the West Indies, which Columbus thought was India.

Thomas Hancock established the first English rubber factory in 1820.  In
1823 Charles Macintosh of Scotland patented a process in which benzene was
used to dissolve rubber to apply it to fabric.  The rubber was then covered
with another layer of fabric.

In 1833 the Roxbury India Rubber firm in Roxbury, Mass was the first
American firm to produce waterproof cloth and shoes.  The rubber was badly
affected by temperature extremes.

In January 1839, Charles Goodyear discovered the vulcanization process in
Woburn, Massachussets.


From Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, 1979:

In 1791 Samuel Peal of England patented a method of waterproofing cloth by
applying rubber disolved in turpentine.

In the United States rubber products became popular by the 1830's, and
bottles and shoes made by South American Indians were imported in large
quantities.

The rubber oducts produced by the Roxbury India Rubber firm and were brittle
in cold weather and tacky and stinky in warm weather.

In 1834, German chemist Ludersdorf and American chemist Hayward discovered
that sulfur made the rubber goods lessened the tackiness.

YMHAOS
Iron Burner