This collection, digitized here in its entirely, consists of photographs of the laboratory apparatus and facilities used in the manufacture of dyes at the Althouse, Bates, and Crompton Chemical Companies. The photographs span 1946 to 1974, but primarily document operations at the Althouse facilities in Reading, Pennsylvania in the 1950s and the Crompton & Knowles Research Laboratories in Gibraltar, Pennsylvania in the 1960s and 1970s. The photographs mainly depict various steps in the manufacturing and quality control process and key apparatus used, including autoclaves, blenders, spectrophotometers, and portable pH meters. The photographs were collected by Dr. James F. Feeman during his career as a research chemist with the companies.
-
Addition of chemical intermediate at Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1946
View of Martin C. Eby, Plant Manager, at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania adding a chemical intermediate to a steel autoclave. At right, a barrel of intermediate sits on a portable scale.
…- Contributor Feeman, James
- Subject Dye industry, Employees, Dyes and dyeing, Dyes and dyeing--Equipment and supplies, Althouse Chemical Company
-
Control panel at the Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1946
View of a control panel used to regulate the air pressure in the blow cases at the Althouse Chemical Company manufacturing plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. Housed in the Press Room, blow cases were used for blowing dye…
-
Coupling tubs at the Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1946
General view of the coupling tubs used for the manufacture of azo dyes at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. In a typical manufacturing process for azo dyes, coupling tubs are recessed in the…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Creator Of Work Tenschert Commercial Photo Studio
- Subject Dye industry, Dyes and dyeing, Dyes and dyeing--Equipment and supplies, Althouse Chemical Company
-
Double conical blenders at Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1946
View of the double conical blenders at the Althouse Chemical Company manufacturing plant located in Reading, Pennsylvania. Employees Howard Myers (left) and Warren Kalbach are seen filling drums with dye powder from the…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Creator Of Work Tenschert, John A.
- Subject Dye industry, Employees, Dyes and dyeing, Dyes and dyeing--Equipment and supplies, Althouse Chemical Company
-
Heating tubs at the Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1946
General view of the heating tubs at the Althouse Chemical Company manufacturing plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. At left, an unidentified employee is seen using a Hastelloy pipe and jet to pump high-pressure steam into…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Creator Of Work Tenschert Commercial Photo Studio
- Subject Dye industry, Scientific apparatus and instruments, Dyes and dyeing, Dyes and dyeing--Equipment and supplies, Althouse Chemical Company
-
Loading dye paste onto dryer trays at Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1946
View of employees loading dye paste onto dryer trays at the Althouse Chemical Company manufacturing plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. As part of the manufacturing process, the trays were later inserted into the…
-
Portable pH meter in use at Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1946
General view of Martin Eby (left) using a portable pH meter at the Althouse Chemical Company manufacturing plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. The photograph also shows several pieces of equipment used in the manufacture of…
-
Press Room at the Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1946
General view of the Press Room at the Althouse Chemical Company manufacturing plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. Employees are seen removing press cake from the filter presses to transfer them to the buggies at the center…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Creator Of Work Tenschert Commercial Photo Studio
- Subject Dye industry, Dyes and dyeing, Dyes and dyeing--Equipment and supplies, Althouse Chemical Company
-
Press Room at the Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1946
General view of the Press Room at the Althouse Chemical Company manufacturing plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. Employees are seen removing press cake from the filter presses to transfer them to the buggies at the center…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Subject Dye industry, Dyes and dyeing, Dyes and dyeing--Equipment and supplies, Althouse Chemical Company
-
Production Department at the Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1946
General view of the Production Department at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania showing various equipment used in the production of azo dyes. Assorted equipment and apparatus visible in the…
-
Portrait of Dr. C. Scott Althouse
- 1950s
Portrait of Dr. C. Scott Althouse (1880-1970), founder of the Althouse Chemical Company. A graduate of the Philadelphia Textile Institute (1900), Dr. Althouse worked with his father dyeing textiles before founding the…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Subject Althouse, C. Scott, 1880-1970, Dye industry, Dyes and dyeing, Althouse Chemical Company, Industrialists
-
Althouse Chemical Company Semiworks
- 1951
View of assorted machinery at the Althouse Chemical Company Semiworks or pilot plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. Identified machinery includes (from left to right) a filter press, blow case, portable centrifugal pump, and…
-
Beckman Model DU Spectrophotometer in use at Althouse Research Laboratory
- 1951
View of chemist James Feeman using a Beckman Model DU (Ultraviolet/Visible) Spectrophotometer in the Research Laboratory at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. Other laboratory apparatus…
-
Dyeing equipment in use at Althouse Customer Service Laboratory
- 1951
View of Thomas Manzolillo examining a roller used to hold fabric in place for the application of dyestuffs. In this typical dye process, fabric is rolled through a trough of dye and then pressed between two heavy…
-
Dyeing equipment in use at Althouse Customer Service Laboratory
- Circa 1951
View of James Feeman (left) and George Garcelon (right) operating assorted equipment for the application of dyestuffs. This photograph was taken at the Althouse Chemical Company Customer Service and Quality Control…
-
Fabric evaluation at the Althouse Customer Service Laboratory
- 1951
General view of the Customer Service and Quality Control Laboratory at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. At left, plant manager Martin C. Eby is seen using a MacBeth light to evaluate color…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Subject Dye industry, Employees, Dyes and dyeing, Althouse Chemical Company, Research, Industrial--Laboratories
-
Library at Althouse Chemical Company facility
- 1951
General view of the library at the Althouse Chemical Company Research facility in Reading, Pennsylvania. The two employees visible in the photograph are identified as George Garcelon and Norma Bodey.
Based in Reading,…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Subject Dye industry, Employees, Dyes and dyeing, Research libraries, Althouse Chemical Company
-
Portable Beckman pH Meter in use at Althouse Research Laboratory
- 1951
View of George Garcelon using a portable Beckman pH Meter in the Research Laboratory at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Based in Reading, Pennsylvania, the Althouse Chemical Company was…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Creator Of Work Tenschert, John A.
- Subject Dye industry, Employees, Scientific apparatus and instruments, Dyes and dyeing, Althouse Chemical Company, Research, Industrial--Laboratories
-
Printing Department at the Althouse Customer Service Laboratory
- 1951
General view of the Printing Department at the Althouse Chemical Company Customer Service and Quality Control Laboratory in Reading, Pennsylvania. Omer Bixler (left) is seen cutting fabric samples while technicians near…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Subject Dye industry, Employees, Dyes and dyeing, Althouse Chemical Company, Women employees
-
Printing Department at the Althouse Customer Service Laboratory
- 1951
General view of the Printing Department at the Althouse Chemical Company Customer Service and Quality Control Laboratory in Reading, Pennsylvania. Omer Bixler (left) is seen cutting fabric samples while technicians near…
- Contributor Feeman, James
- Creator Of Work Tenschert Commercial Photo Studio
- Subject Dye industry, Employees, Dyes and dyeing, Althouse Chemical Company, Women employees
-
Research Laboratory at Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1951
General view of the Research Laboratory at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania showing various equipment and apparatus used for the production and testing of dyestuffs. At left, George Garcelon…
-
Research Laboratory at Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1951
General view of the Research Laboratory at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania showing various equipment and apparatus used for the production and testing of dyestuffs.
Based in Reading,…
-
Research Laboratory at Althouse Chemical Company plant
- 1951
General view of the Research Laboratory at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania showing various equipment and apparatus used for the production and testing of dyestuffs.
Based in Reading,…
-
Althouse Customer Service and Quality Control Laboratory
- 1952
General view of assorted machinery in the Customer Service and Quality Control Laboratory at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. At center, employees Robert Wither (left) and Carroll Dick…
-
Dyeing technicians at Althouse Customer Service Laboratory
- 1952
View of dyeing technicians working in the Customer Service and Quality Control Laboratory at the Althouse Chemical Company plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. The technicians are engaged in a skein dyeing process whereby…
