4/17/11

Dad's natural ability and tireless work ethic combined with mom's skills- bookkeeping, steno, dictation, shorthand (and most challenging, keeping up with dad). This made for an unbeatable team. Their timing could not have been better. Plastics, as an economical alternative to leather, was about to hit the big time.

In the early 1950's, a new process was invented in Germany to extrude (calendar) continuous rolls of 54" wide PVC. At that time, in the USA, flexible plastic was available only in sheet form. Leather goods manufacturers had to die-cut their patterns from these small sheets. In Germany, this new machinery and technology to produce plastics in continuous rolls allowed for greater yield (less waste) and lower costs. Furthermore, the quality was better than PVC plastic pressed into sheets in the USA. But there was a hitch.

"You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." - Old proverb

    

Can you count the American-made handbag manufacturers in 1957 listed above? There was once over 500 companies making pocketbooks in the USA! Now? Today, there exists barely a handful of domestic, handbag manufacturers.

In historical context, America had just defeated Germany in WW II. German products were taboo in this country... particularly among Jewish consumers. Dad's business acumen and lack of xenophobia- fear of strangers- led him to Munich, Germany at the turn of the 1950's. At the time, this was where technology and engineering reigned. In Germany, dad met Karl and Dieter Lissman of Alkor Plastics. Alkor, known for Contac™ paper, was the first mill in the world to produce continuous rolls of calendared vinyl. Dad struck up a friendship and business relationship that lasted for over 60 years until Dieter's passing recently. Sommers began importing clear plastic and shiny, patent leather-type material in 54" wide, continuous rolls. The trademarks "Roller Patent®" and "Roller Clear®" are still in use today.

Importing German plastics was a bold move and created major challenges. Dad was a fearless adventurer and one of the first Americans to import a German product of any kind. In the early Fifties,  in the USA, German manufactured products were rare. No Mercedes or Porsches on the roads back then. Dad's newest and best friend, Deiter Lissman, raced Porsches in Stuttgart, Germany. Naturally, dad could not fight the impulse to purchase one of these exotic vehicles each time he visited.  The idea of driving a German automobile was especially anathema to Jews. So was the notion of purchasing German vinyl. But Dad realized the importance of this unique material.

I was growing up on Long Island, NY. As a youngster, we had the coolest cars in the neighborhood (my second car, at nineteen years old, was a gorgeous, dark blue Porsche, allbeit a 912). Cool? Yes. Impractical? Definitely! Dad's Porsches and Mercedes were likely to rust on the boat across the Atlantic. Metric tools were practically nonexistent. Trustworthy mechanics were even harder to find. Imported foreign products, particularly those "Made in Germany" were far from commonplace in the USA. Nikon or Leica cameras? Kodak was the only mass-marketed brand to buy. Dad knew a good thing when he found it (love you, Mom). I recall dad's tiny, Minox spy camera. Hy Schecter was truly an early adopter.

Off topic, but here is an interesting time-line discovered on the Internet: http://corsopolaris.net/supercameras/early/early_135.html

Dad, the Wunderkinder, was quite a salesman. He persevered to enlighten businessmen as to the benefits of using this new imported material. Before long, Hy Schecter overcame their resistance and earned his nickname, "The King of Plastics." (Later, I will tell you how he earned another nickname-"El Contrario," for his famous, (infamous) crap-shooting technique in Puerto Rican casinos).

The prohibition of German goods could no longer be denied. Commerce was becoming international and the world was shrinking. Dad no longer needed to keep the "country of origin" a secret for his new plastics. It was finally unnecessary to strip away any German writing on the rolls and labels. One of the biggest handbag manufacturers in the 50's and 60's was Julius Resnick- a great customer and friend.

This getting boring? Getting sleepy? That's okay. Take a siesta. Check back later. We will get right back on track highlighting the best and worst of times for the Schecters and Sommers Plastics.

But first, let's go back... way, way back..

...to the year 1492. Columbus had sailed a second time to the New World searching for gold. He landed on the island of Haiti and didn't find any gold. But he witnessed a group of young boys playing on the beach with some strange-looking, black balls. Christopher took these curiosities back to Europe where he learned they were made from the hardened juice of a gummy tree. Rubber was about to bounce into play.

Three-hundred and fifty years later, another genius, Charles Goodyear, made an amazing discovery. Charles loved to experiment and tinker. He mixed the same sticky tree sap Columbus had found with sulfur and lead. Accidentally, he dropped a blob on his stove top. When it cooled, Goodyear discovered a new material. A material being nothing less than "elastic metal." RUBBER

Fact: In 1852, Daniel Webster represented Goodyear in a patent infringement suit over who was the true discoverer of this invention. They won the case. Charles Goodyear- became "Sole Inventor of Vulcanized Rubber." BTW, the English word rubber came from artists who used this miracle material as erasers, to "rub out" their drawings.

Download a free copy of "The Romance of Rubber," by the US Rubber Co. It's not very sexy, but has many interesting facts. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4759

Sommers' first import Alkor Gmbh Kunststoffe D-8000 Munchen 71 Morgensternstr. 9 DE Alkor-Werk Karl Lissmann Munich-Solln DE

Sommers' reputation as a supplier of advanced, popular materials began to grow. Distribution spread to other industries throughout the United States. Unsupported (with no backing) polyvinyl chloride- "PVC"- could be radio-frequency welded. This was an ideal method for making book covers, looseleaf ring binders, advertising specialties and the like. Though PVC was typically stiff and not very pliable, it could be made somewhat softer and flexible with the addition of plasticizers known as phthalates (more to come on this chemistry, later. Google Prop 65 in California if you can't wait). Back then, vinyl plastic, also known as leatherette, was not nearly as supple and luxurious as leather. The greatest potential at that time was using it to produce low-priced handbags, shoes, belts, luggage and briefcases for the masses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic

A few years later, rubber companies revolutionized man-made, synthetic leather by creating a more supple PVC. The United States Rubber Company, later known as US Rubber and then Uniroyal, worked along with Goodyear, General Tire and others companies to improve PVC plastic. They came up with a major improvement. The basic idea was simple; as simple as baking bread. Literally. They discovered that by adding a chemical blowing agent to raw PVC pellets and passing the material through an oven it would expand and rise. Much like yeast, this ingredient created air bubbles that expanded the PVC making it sponge-like. "Sponge Leather" was another early name for this novel material. Other names, like vinyl, PVC-leather soon became part of our lexicon. "Pleather," another recognizable name was coined by a buyer for a department store chain  to describe plastic leather.

Ever see a Nauga? That's the (mythical) animal that gives us Naugahyde®. Uniroyal's iconic trademark is as recognizable as Kleenex and Q-Tips. In the early 50's, Uniroyal's advertising "madmen" created one highly successful ad campaign to promote their new expanded vinyl.  http://www.hgtv.com/video/naugahyde-video/index.html

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Naugahyde

Read how the first sneaker, "Keds®," was born in Naugatuck, Connecticut, in 1916. Through the cooperation of nine seperate and individual rubber companies (imagine competitors working together to develop a better product!) a mass-marketing miracle was hatched. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Rubber_Company

Expanded vinyl was born and the rubber barons knew the perfect spot to sell it-Detroit. Car upholstery was a perfect application for synthetic leather made of polyvinyl chloride,. Automobile manufacturers used truckloads (and truck makers used boatloads. Don't even ask how much boat makers used).

But Uniroyal and General Tire needed  distribution channels into the fashion trades - luggage, leather goods, ladies handbags, footwear and accessories. That's where Hy Schecter and Sommers Plastics came in. Dad was invited to the Midwest to meet the top brass of U S Rubber and General Tire. They asked dad to become their exclusive distributor of expanded vinyl. Sommers registered the name "Marshmallow®" to describe this soft, leathery plastic-a name still in use today (if slightly less known than the term, Naugahyde®.)

        Sommers' first Marshmallow hangtag

The success of "Marshmallow®" launched Sommers into the bigtime. I recall dad telling us how easy his salesmen had it. All they had to do everyday was answer the phones and write orders. No need to pound the pavement calling on the trade; they came to Sommers.

"Pioneer Dad" packed up his stagecoaches and hitched a ride from his small, Manhattan operation across the Hudson river. Sommers broke ground in a new frontier; a vast wilderness just a few miles west of NYC. Dad erected a large, modern warehouse/office building on Rte 17 in East Rutherford, at the edge of the New Jersey Meadowlands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhVlpAEHbAM  An early video of a Sommers' Marshmallow® pool party on Route 17 in E Rutherford.

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