Firestone balloon tire turned 100 years old this week... so, will Firestone celebrate it's 100th anniversary? Or ignore one of the most important piece of history that put the world on tires, and human kind driving around the world in comfort?

 

from my gallery of that amazing Smith Master Valve Special at the Justice Brothers Museum https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/05/close-up-and-thorough-gallery-of-smith.html

9 years ago, Hemmings did an article on the Firestone Balloon: https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2013/04/05/this-day-in-history-firestone-unveils-the-balloon-tire

https://www.firestonetire.com/about-firestone/heritage/
https://www.invent.org/inductees/harvey-firestone

However, lets stay on the accurate side of history, and keep in mind that Firestone might have been one of many to work on balloon tires at the same time... after all, the pnuematic tire was decades old, and invented for bicycles. 

The United States Rubber Company won a skirmish in a long legal battle to collect damages from the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company for alleged infringements of balloon tire patents when Federal Judge Paul Jones ruled that seven patents of the United States Rubber Company had been infringed upon by the Firestone company in the last six or eight years.  https://www.nytimes.com/1933/12/17/archives/holds-firestone-tire-infringed-on-patents-federal-court-at.html

Harvey Firestone worked two years as a bookkeeper for his uncle, head of the Columbus Buggy Company; by 1892, he was in charge of the entire Michigan district. 

When his uncle’s company went into receivership, Harvey drove a buggy with rubber-tired wheels for the receiver. An idea came to him, as he later put it: “My future was right on the wheels of my buggy.”

He and an acquaintance established a company in Chicago in 1896; after three years it was sold to a competitor, with Firestone receiving $41,666.67 in cash. He relocated to Akron, Ohio, where the big tire-making companies were located. 

On August 3, 1900, he organized the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company; by putting in his own patent and money, he acquired half the shares of the $50,000 corporation. After 1903, when it began to manufacture its own products, the company prospered.

The beginning of a long and important business relationship, which also led to a personal friendship, occurred in 1906 when Henry Ford placed a large order with him. Firestone, Ford, and Thomas Edison later joined in summer camping trips (1915-24) that won national attention.

In 1907, he offered a “dismountable rim” which permitted a spare to be substituted. His tires became popular because of their use by automobile race winners. By 1913, the company’s annual sales were $15,000,000. Firestone, Goodyear, Goodrich, United States Rubber, and Fisk were the “big five.”

The 1920-21 depression left the company with a $43,000,000 debt. Firestone immediately cut prices, increased sales, and paid off the debt by 1924. 

In 1922, Firestone introduced the balloon tire, soon to become standard for most types of motor vehicles. Firestone made it through the 1929 depression without suspending dividend payments and continuing his position in the trade.

One of his retail innovations was the launch of one-stop service stations called Firestone Tire and Service Centers, now named Firestone Complete Auto Care. The service stores began opening in 1926 while Firestone was producing more than 10 million tires a year and accounted for one-fourth of the American tire industry.

In 1937, his company was showing profits of $9,000,000 — and was supplying approximately one-fourth of all the tires in the United States.

https://floridainvents.org/harvey-firestone/?doing_wp_cron=1649458390.7294139862060546875000