Frederick J. Wythe Papers on Emhart Corporation

Collection

Identifier: MS-0172

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Frederick J. Wythe Papers on Emhart Corporation were collected by Frederick J. Wythe, a research and development engineer at the Hartford-Empire Corporation, which changed its name to Emhart Corporation in 1951. The materials were assembled over the course of his career at the company, which manufactured glass containers and machinery for the glass production industry.

The papers consist of five series:

(1) Technical Publications, 1944-1978

(2) Interoffice Memos, 1944-1978

(3) Photographs, 1956

(4) Reference Materials, 1925-1978

(5) Biographical Materials, Circa 1954-1982

Dates

1925-1982
Majority of material found within 1944-1978

Creator

Wythe, Frederick J. (1914 (date of birth) - 2004 (date of death)) (Person)
Bucher Emhart Glass (Organization)

Language of Materials

Most of the collection materials are in English; some of them are in German.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for public research. Researchers must make an appointment to view the collection.

Conditions Governing Use

The Copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. The user agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Corning Museum of Glass and the Rakow Research Library against all claims, demands, costs and expenses incurred by copyright infringement or any other legal or regulatory cause of action arising from the use of Library materials.

Biographical / Historical

Frederick Joseph Wythe was born in San Francisco, California, in 1914. In 1923, he and his family moved to the New York City borough of Queens. Wythe worked for a variety of manufacturing companies, including the Sperry Gyroscope Company, where he worked on the development of autopilot technology during World War II; he married Barbara Bland in 1942. In 1943 he received a B.S. in Physical Chemistry, and an M.S. in Chemistry in 1946, both from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now the New York University Tandon School of Engineering). He began working for the Emhart Manufacturing Company in Bloomfield, Connecticut, in 1952 as a senior research and development engineer. During his time at Emhart, Wythe was awarded several patents for glass-manufacturing machinery, and worked at the company until his retirement. He died in 2004.

The glass machinery division of Emhart Corporation was founded in 1912 as the Lorenz-Honiss firm, which became the Hartford-Fairmont Company later that same year. It was based in Hartford, Connecticut, with the goal of developing new methods for manufacturing glass containers and new applications for the use of glass as a packaging material. The company created the first glass gob shearing and feeding device, which was the basis for the modern-day method of feeder-fed glass container production, and was instrumental in the automation of the glass industry. In 1922, the company became the Hartford-Empire Company.

An antitrust lawsuit was filed against the company in 1939 with regard to its patents on inventions used for the manufacture of glassware-producing machinery. As part of the settlement of the lawsuit, the Hartford-Empire Company was required to grant royalty-free licenses for its patents covering the I.S. (glass-shaping) machine; after a later appeal, the company was allowed reasonable royalties for licenses under its patents.

In 1951, the company was renamed the Emhart Manufacturing Company, and its glass division was known as Emhart Glass. Emhart Manufacturing Company merged with United Shoe Machinery Company in 1976, creating Emhart Corporation. A merger with Black & Decker in 1989 effectively ended the existence of Emhart Corporation as an independent company. However, today Emhart Glass continues to operate as a subsidiary of Bucher Industries of Neiderweningen, Switzerland.