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 a reaction tub set with paddle stirrer and motors. The room also includes an acid-proof brick floor constructed by Atlas Mineral Products of Mertztown, Pennsylvania.

Based in Reading, Pennsylvania, the Althouse Chemical Company was founded in 1915 by C. Scott Althouse (1880-1970) as a small, family-owned firm specializing in fabric dyes of a superior quality and class. In 1954, the Crompton & Knowles Corporation of Worcester, Massachusetts acquired Althouse, which continued to operate as a division of Crompton & Knowles and a leader in the specialty dyes industry.