4®th ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

PROC€SS€S

AMERICAN CHEMICAL PAINT COMPANY

Vol. 2, No.1 FEBRUARY 1954

JAMES HARVEY GRAVELL1880-1939

Founder and President (1917-1939)AMERICAN CHEMICAL PAINT COMPANY

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JAMES HARVEY GRAVELL

E;£n:o:n[e:3nh:#;::tTLV;:n:Ac¥a¥:;:H;af:%jtra:£rfavE{];aFte;¥;hefr[e:n::yT§:¥:vfnr:ao:;e:possessed this combination and used it with outsta.nding success in manydiverse fields. By his very nature and inclination, he was destined to makea unique and substantial contribution to American Industry.

THE FORMATIVE YEARS

::::::e§:i;:;idsbE!iEe:]§:::[¥b;¥i:iai:e§£n:?ifs:,§!st;iii:;:ir:c¥£i:r';i¥]¥Ae:sepziz::;:d;[a§§at l8th and Diamond.

Minl`:ear|CTor¥i::1;ng,i::egrh#o:cnhdo:Lnwgoernki,a|y::¥aFs::i:igeE::::gs,?.eat:::

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:ia::sit||:a;ri|:ati::I::,r::I:I:is:i;?a:i:R#;o£:t.ir!.nh±:iE::::e:¥;r:1:ier;:;f:i:;gr;:::i;hE::;e;idc:ocau::osn:;:`r£:TOFLgehrstceha:ale,rkaesp:£cno:::[ct:nT££t:rp£;BAr:de:£ucrayna3ge[££c]ag]2gae£¥tp[co::d.

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JHG in work clothes and at the beg.inr.ir.g.of lnany careers.

GRAVELL,THE INDIVIDUALIST

It is quite probable that JamesHarvey Gravell kept his teachers ontheir toes, especially i£. his bent I.or

::i:a:[gsakt:3Fic:;:?]seod:itchht£]Lees:i:dence in his mature years, existeclthen even in embryonic [`orm. Its€:amvse]]]Oi£:g]£:sboet£:v:d:i:toyr:utfi

purpose and forln o[. education aindthat he did not hesitate to presentthese ideas to his teachers as wellas the other students.

At. Sunday School he was (1efi-nitely a non-conformist and woulclask his teachers many embarrassingquestions (i.e. ones that they hacldifficulty in answering) . Gravell'spersonal philosophy even as a boyseems to have consisted of this ap-

2

proach: not to accept passivelystatements made by individuals, re-gardless of their reputation, fame,wealth, etc., without subjectingthese statements to a severe test;

!af°ct:s::p::i::i`:V:;:u°t:::I::knriv:o:r:]a:::dtia::n:thor's prestige.

WORKING DAYSAfter he was graduated from

high school, Gravell went to workas a meter reader with the Phila-delphia Electric Company. Al-though this occupation gave him

:i.teti:ivteiTveorE: hoepgiodrtsue:itrye :: eqx?cellent basic knowledge of elec-tricity and later went with a com-

PhaantymfannuBf:I;ig:gfretiec%:n;:iic£:t;machines. This was his field and hebecame an expert in electric re-sistance welding., developing allkinds of special equipment t'or thiswork.

Strangely enough, Gravell'sknowledge of electric welding ledinclirectly but inevitably to out-standing success in an unrelated

:fi:Cid:=iiFdst(tie:p;r|h:.|if,nck`F:|f:,g|t|:n:;||:|iAmbler.

In ]910, he was engage(I as a one-man experimental department at

Grovell with specially desigr.ed weldingequipment.

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the Hale 8c Kilburn Company,

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:i: Feonr:?yl::ill?adeiEFlliaoasdt.ation ofHale fe Kilburn had installed a

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i:u;§dhwG:r:a*Pg:Od%nEt:1:¥ci:a:tt:::;:t|:i:I:gri

::;e€t%i#:g:0:f:ipf:!£ta:t[reej%Cira=£¥:i[d£Kilburn products.

i!;¥:::etu:;?nf:rE;:;ia`:g:u:;g5iw;?i::oii

:I:aj::£r€nfmfip::°:?a):i:sit:ii::o;¥°odbt¥:C:-bodies ever made. These were built

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BURNING SOME BRIDGES` In this work at Hale 8c Kilburn,Gravell still maintained the indi-

:;deua:!];t¥nthha£:i::eqmrifleni±`:itehqs£;S:Imfideas of how work should be ac-

;:e¥eEii:::dy::i::its:;v¥he;ttpdi:age::i,::ief:i::is:nanp:ryeacs,in.env::sfiffisee|qand others.

i,yE::Eti::`yr:Fiefi:tdroan,gmi.ns:ihv:feu:i.

apteerdf::tj::;S£Th;ia:n:or:::`fl[£c¥e,:£etr£

::r°;:::edcuht:V::o¥£ttEe]ecs;urr±sgefdti::::

#ut%e:v:tns,uiaT|7ef`:aat:t:sup,:::n3:`ing success. He resigned.

This resignation. among other

;heal:nc8i';:rrielfld::a:i:I:?:;#['t;hilt:h3:h%wife, the former Carrie Marguerite

Neus

HOW KEMICK WAS INVENTEDBack in 1921, Her:rvey Gravell received a telegrarr. asking if he could,

swpply a heat-resisting chewical Paint for outormobile exhaust lines thatwould not burn off , even at high terr.Peratures, and,, if so, what the Pricewould, be. This teleg:ra:in ca:me fro'rr. Will,lam C. Ducomb, then in chargeof our sales for the outomotive induct:ry in the Detroit area. He had sentthe inquiry frown the Wintor. Autormobile Company, mchers of the famed„Winton 6.„

Witho'ut arty hesitatioir., Granell replied, that he cchAld nee such aPcriut and, that the Price would be $8.00 a gallon, whereupon the WintonA[utorrobile Company Placed an order for the nonexistent prod:uet.Gran)ell sw'ung into action and, in a ftwrry of activity with his test twhesin the So!uth llth Street Laboratotr)) soo'r. Prodrced a wo'rhing fo'rm:ula.

Now, thirty-three years later, we still sell small qunutities Of that sa:nechemieal under the trade r.a::me Of "Kemi,ck."

Riehl, near 24th and Cambria Streets, within walking distance of theHale 8c Kilburn plant. One thing is certain-security and material com`[`ort did not impede his career at this critical moment in his life.

Fortunately, his interest in and knowledge Of electric welding possessedhigh commercial value. Several manufacturers of electric welding equip-ment about this time were legally disputing the rightful ownership o£some electric welding patents and Gravell ofi`ered his knowledge and ex-perience to one of them. Being an expert, perhaps ffee expert in this field,he testified with great success and was well remunerated because after thetrial he set up a consulting office on electric welding in New York City.

His office functioned as a clearing house and his int.ormation on weldingpatents was made available to manut.acturers of welding machines all overthe country. The early interest in electric welding never diminished andat the time of his death, he had what was probably the most extensivecollection of data on electric welding patents in existence and he undoubt-edly was more familiar with the development of electric welding than any-one else in the country.

"A BROOM, A BUCKET, AND A GOOD IDEA"

In the year 1914, the fateful transition t`rom electric welding to rustproofing occurred. The all-steel body, introduced a few years previously,had revealed a terrible weakness-an irresistible urge to rust. As painfinish after paint finish failed and rejected bodies were returned in everincreasing` numbers to worried manufacturers, the doom of the steel auto-

mobile body appeared certain.

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3

James Harvey Gravell had firstencountered the rust problem atthe Hale 8L' Kilburn plant when theHupmobile steel bodies went intoproduction. With his restless, in-quisiti`.e mind cind his indefatiga-ble search l`or t`acts (and solutionsto i]roblems) , Gravell was not longin finding the answer--it was theprototype ot. the phosijhcn.c acidmetal cleaners and riLis[ removerswhich we now know as "Deoxi-dine." The exact procedure of thediscovery has not been recorded but

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COLD FORMING PIONEER

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1428087.

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:nmli:eFh:eu:;i:.bio:Te4:id:i:v,e:yn::?1.t:h:sig!utes::t;`e;£s.s;::1,atie:

::c:t:Ci:::!r:tL:ty:c::i:¥;a;n:t:ot|i;¥e;±ft:oc:lr;:t:;:::':a)i§d:lit:thi:e:i;¥:metal industries. Thus the American Chemical Paint-:-:--:---I--:----------------:--_-------=---------::--i---:---=--

coming back with orders to make more "Deoxidine,"

;::y:;ge:a€:rda:p::dlvyat]:u#:dt:¥i:x:I:91t5:3ei'[:i:v:e)v::dTuth§:rwyc?°r'#;"Deoxidine" really cleaned steel, removing oil,

grease, rust, and rust stimulators such as solderinLr

:£sefdpuaets:nhtasnodmmearyts:r:n]€t:rn,g;:Erg£:tfiuLnn:gjtt:gatj±non[hoe:

James Harvey Gi-avell and ACP made

g:I:tihp|f tt)hfins8trehet::°Ty tn this bwildiiig on

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;V::£t`£E:s:]XfadjEe:'hedfadut:itotf::ei]:£usrt¥;tt:onkdearnteh;lease on life.

There was no doubt by now that Gravell was an

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;::I:ii:::i!:§L:itp;;¥a§n;¥::¥:§soi::i:li::;iij:eL::;I;:i!:i:c:e::::£:;i:A NEW ERA IN PICKLING

§h::;i:i§°:r:±§:e:i§°;±§:jj:d;ii;:ne:ii:iti:;:o;S§:;s;a:;:[§C;§i;;§a:seijj::ig::a:s§:was all he needed. The idea was a challenge and heproceeded to find the answer to it.

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i|ie5b;5ira::i.:r:;£inii::ei:d:ja;a:tjje:lil;ii:;ii;:ee::ic;ijis::#i:aar¥£iwie;i::a=i::::|d,ti:ga:;E:et,.syLuapr.ve`;,|smao,s,te:Fi:nvefeatsa?i:clucled in the test.

Most of the additions had no effect and this was

:#:ia:t.e|s:||un:|a:.;ri:I;lan:,to;;:E:e:ra¥sst:bea:SVE;:ni;eu:o;::eeEr|i|aE]!actually increased the rate of attack

ACP Office aboiit 19 .....

but a few of them seemed to retard

L§:n§:::;,ftttih;e£;i§j::::i:]i:::::oSS¥bfs::ij:8;y;family. These, of course, have been

ix:i:(y::::;:ii:ae;dE.;s;gn;c:efne:;::|Tn;fts.:P:.:nit::8unpj:k]£n8 Practice the world

In his recent book, "Steel Wirein America," Kenneth 8. Lewisstates that "for solid excellence of`

Aboard the cabin cruiser`

TP Noun

TRIAL BY WATERG:avelrs mastery of himself , as well as events, is revealed, in ike fol-

lowing stony:

Ir. *.i.s lat.e t.eens`, Grqiiell and Russell Nalsby (who later marriedGra?)e.lps only. sister) made a sea voyage fro`m Boston to Mad,ne aboard, aGs°afi}e.ab%!%engt*.`tt:£kpfagk°%ota;,Ct.rtvh°%p°!wbe:;ugfs;ugTb%t%°:%#:£

of the procession.

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product backed by ceaseless experiment and researchthe crown goes to the American Chemical Paint Com-pany for its `Rodine' . . . an impression lingers thatany other inhibitor mentioned was usually referredto in some such terms as: practically the same as`Rodine,' as good as `Rodine,' cheaper than .Rodine,'

and so forth, `Rodine' being seemingly the norm towhich everything of the class was referred. That's atribute of a high order."

CREATIVECONTRIBUTIONS

Years of hard intensive workWent into the making of the Amer-ican Chemical Paint Company, butonce it was established, Gravell,never content to rest on his laurels,began to look for other fields inwhich he could exercise his ingenu-ity.. His objective approach re-mained with him all ot. his life. Inhis own mind he very clearly dif-ferentiated the real from the un-real. One of his favored expressionswas that something was either afact or a fancy. A fact wzis soine-

Lhuitngtfi:I.yYaisndhei:nitee!Xipir.onv,apvlae:something disguised as a fact buteither not proved or not capable ofPr°w°::h this attitude as a guide, he

began to investigate the financialconditions throughout the world,analyzing them from the factual

:Fdcapr:?VS:kes{gfet¥£ethfraug[rse%[f(:izi!study were published in a small

book in which he analyzed the causes and cures ofdepressions. This work received a great deal of veryfavorable comment, in spite of the fact that he belittledthe opinions of bankers and financial students.

The last years of his life were spent in extendinghis theories of economics and in writing a book em-bodying these ideas.

His definition of a dollar, for example, was a fac.tual one, namely that it was a receipt for a given

]FIG at work on one of his books.

never put into production and probably would never

Ea:vi:o¥::,t:tto:fa:,::,:i::ad::¥:'Tl::eo?:e¥::1:ti#::i:::Suet:t°arr±;£e;a;ngfc::eduocft°5Sfa%#seefanri;::%Sitevce°mmepn[t£;in the harmo-chart line.

sj:a:a:lv:eii2%b,;h:e::iaei:ua:;gJ£.:k:e:EoaEe:ae|:srefaa:Ti:::;5.:u|,::

ill;:tr£;a:s:r:::i::Se;i:§v¥¥:tia;tit?:Si¥a::ahJji*ie!c¥ii::n;:e:gan which came to his attention in the Thirties.

3+:=n:.e£Efitcr:hteasa¥0:o]:a[£g?:i::;e¥::;:£:egcitEegdefFf:efett£?not:i:

;#s:.:inaEvd;tf:LT:1S?:Cgo:mafi:!i#:eEb:eltp.#:ea:tge:;uts:t:Sadbao:u::ryenmaemn]€oruasng:arsa:oS£=:]raer]ruxi:s:-±]£eti:n¥.azuf:i°iFy

it:ails::);:i::g¥:c::j¥|::tde:!fpti:;sii-d¥aitLii::1:°€:Liti:;n:en::Gravell spent his later years in a lovely residence

dy dear t4r. Cravell:

I bave hea.rd Wit,h 9iiicero iAtoregt. oryo`ir gotiet.ou8 rencobrance of your onlploye®9 atthe holld.y se..oa. I a[a .riling this I.tter toCol`gTtitulat® you upoii the adoption of 3uch all en-1l€hteiied policy eLiid to orpre8s tJ`. hope t.hat youa&ve found r..1 heppL]i®96 ill the A.pplneaa irLlchyou- have broti6ht go ab`indeiitly late the 11ve8 ol`otiierg. ¥oLir ac`1on 19 Lndood .ortny Of th. bi6h®9tccmendatlon.

NitJi all goer vistLes for- a Hop?`y »el Year,Ion

V.r]r 8inc.rely yo`irg ,

-A"":.Jfe~./_;tr. J. HarTey Cravell,A.abler,Pomaylvonla.

on the Delaware River at Toriesdale, Pennsylvania, where he erected aSt#:me¥t]enr¥aE::I;ntth°o#£sh:r]Peenvdesr::3mguaens:sca°nu:d::t£:im;g|eh£:¥ea£]f::

i;:as,uartefiff:y.£i.£n:: Was Ilere that he resided until he died December 8th,James Harvey Gravell will be remembered by his friends and associates

:::::£a::s:eo%:nffr:e:fl:enc:t::ifyc°?¥3r:s:S;gr:i::Sr'LE;tsphLLrsLte#iir:;#s°geuTheen:::dpat:;

•¥s:i:e;aeo±l,a:::r3;:ic;f:Io¥s!:;.it:a:in:

g:[t]a:i :2:y6oo:k:o::sea, ::rfitT£:at£:r:e|E::::o:tan:Eat:t|F:;:Its:a:S:F:d:d%:,:I:

was, after all, much more realistic.One of the books that impressed

him more than any other was onewritten by George Dorsey, entitled

§s:§{nEakg:s:::fekTefih:jt:e::;ve:fioE:1;#::cs£Hfs:oi=¥:.ideas about religion.

Another hobby of Gravell's wasmusic. He was one of the mostinteresting and enjoyable piano

:§a;:d;osii§t::S;I:§L:ji::§uiij;i:i:¥£::i;r::i:8ur:::I.i¥itghT¥:[rctafew::husfie:.anie€concentrated on the mathematicsbehind music and began, for hisown information, to tabulate thiswith the result that he developed

:a:i:gear?.]fiatz£:ngaatgg?tt¥|ficshwha:

Growell's interest in education glenerally and Penusyivania Military Cotlege specificallywas reciprocated in 1935 when the College ouiarded, bin an honorary Doctor of Sciencedegree. The groap show'n here includes (I. to r.): |udson Tirrrm; Grcaiell; Col. ||yatt,Pies. of PMC; Cordeu H®ill, Secretary of State; Bishap Francis Tailt; George Cann;Generac Win. Price; Cor.gressman Daniid L. Powers.

6

IEBi

\-,

Vol. 2, N®. I February 1954

Published I)y theAmerica,n CherrLical Paint Co.

in the Interestof ACP Employees and

Their Formilies

Reporters

Barbara Davis . .Dorothy DiLauroAndy Ducsik. . .Nellie Niblock. .Jean Rowan ....Charles Morris. .

....... ACD Research

. . . ` ...... ACD Sales

........ Ambler PlantGen. Accounting Office.... Internatiorial Dto......... Maintenance

Nelson Newhard Mefcll Working ResearcftAnne Lucas ....... itfelaJ Workl.~g SalesToni MCBreen ............. Packagt~gHarry Croll ............... Pi!o£ P!ancBlanche VanBuren ..... Detror.t Teuttoft/Franoes Ad€`mac ............. W..ndso7Marie Ackerman ................ Ivj!es

Normt]n P. GendjeuEditor

LIFE IN KOREA

In a recent letter home George.Intonacio jr. wrote that "you oughtto see this country over here. It's`|`i`jeb!:kT:natnoi|E;::,es|iavTigtT:3::g|:

th:it they can put up themselves.They don't ha`'e many clothes andthe clothes they have are nothingl]ut rags. You have to be over hereand see some of the things [o be-lieve them. I finished eating my

fcifn,nienr[ohnee,f:y,a|nFhpeaf::Tne,.in,eha:

Neus

ACROSS THE PRESIDENT'S DESKA lot of water has "gone over the dam" since Harvey Gravell and his

associates founded ACP in 1914-forty years ago. During that period, theAmerican people have suffered through two World Wars and the greatestdepression in our history, and our country is greater than ever. ACP, too,has managed to survive these conditions-and prosper. One man was mostlyresponsible for bringing the Company successfully through those tryingtimes-Harvey Gravell. Now, on this 40th Anniversary of our Company,I think it is fitting to dedicate this issue of the ACP News to him and thusrefresh memories of those of us who knew Harvey Gravell and, at the sametime, give our newer employees some of his history and accomplishments.

:--i <=i--Fred S(hoefer Returns lo Work

Frydesacrfaveef:¥hhaaEP?e::vreerpe°drtfrthoa=

:tfsA8jL;rf es and fs on the job againFred, who works in the Machine

::io:i3owbaEe.sf:1::eEr;1:y:;:n:::e:drsei:n:.e:r!know, you can't keep a g.ood mandown-not for long. Welcome back,Fred.

garbage can. There were a coupleot. Koreans standing there and they

Laena,o.v::,.fp:fiEegdarEEg:hceanpi:cdea::it. nJlost of these Koreans arestarved . . . I feel sorry for the little

ie££:e[asne£.bFghef:rc:amnedyupantd°:]Pg:arettes. I try to leave a little foodon my tray ``'hen I get through eat-ing, so one of them can get a littleto eat . . . You don't know what youhave at home until you're awayfrom it."

George, a fomier employee ofACP, is the son of George Antonacio

Sic:::tsaEidprE:?:g Department. HisPvt. George Antonacio,

US 52247998,SV. Btry. 159th FA. Bn.APO 358-Unit I`/'o Postmaster San Francisco,

Calif.

7

25-Year Man

On November I lth,1953, RobertRadcliff Montgomery Brown, better

i:¥e%r:]€;%:t:h:e;;cpn;.:t|gtreefer2rjn;etahr:Robert, who is a very amiable an(I

•E:ioesro.puEi::ilef::;obn:tin;.#nhgoahnadold throughout the plant, is occa-sionally overcome with nostalgia.

Robert remembers the good olddays when Flosols and Ridolineswere made in buckets and mixed

:eL£;ien¥s:::aeb:og¥Pt8a,tdhd:ise;ic¥o:ne]#:ais:)i§plant was in Building No. I, and

:::¥egdhttso:iee¥da:;i:snwa:rtkhs:twL£,¥£was located across the street andwhich is now our present BuildingNo. 4.

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i :,?Tj`' 1JE.iE? ji}iB DE``JEL,OP?,;1E;`]T.. ,

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