#69 Charles Goodyear Rubber Monopoly

In "The Goodyear Story: An Inventor's Obsession and the Struggle for a Rubber Monopoly" by Richard Cormann, the tale of Charles Goodyear is one of relentless pursuit and tragic obsession. Goodyear's fixation on inventing a durable rubber, despite plunging his family into poverty and suffering through debtor's prison, showcases the dark side of entrepreneurial ambition. His eventual success in vulcanizing rubber—a process that revolutionized industries—was overshadowed by his poor business acumen and perpetual debt. Goodyear's life, marked by superhuman perseverance and a belief in his divine mission, ultimately inspired generations, though he never reaped the financial rewards of his groundbreaking invention. Cormann's narrative not only explores Goodyear's personal saga but also paints a vivid social history of early industrial America.

• Charles Goodyear began his quest for the perfect rubber recipe in the 1830s.
• He believed rubber would be transformative for the world.
• His pursuit led to poverty, imprisonment for debt, and legal battles.
• Despite winning a landmark lawsuit argued by Daniel Webster, Goodyear's fixation on rubber caused suffering for him and his family.
• Goodyear's story reflects the industrial evolution of America and serves as a biography of an early American inventor.

"Long before America became an international economic powerhouse in the late 19th century, a generation of visionary inventors gambled on innovations they hoped would bring them riches. Chief among them was Charles Goodyear, who in the 1830s began an obsessive quest to find the recipe for rubber, the material he believed would change the world."

This quote explains Goodyear's early recognition of rubber's potential and his dedication to its development, which was driven by a belief in its world-changing capabilities.

• The book "The Goodyear Story" by Richard Cormann provides a detailed account of Charles Goodyear's life and the rubber industry's beginnings.
• It includes a social history of factory life and debtors' prisons in the 1800s.
• The book describes Goodyear as a pioneer in the new economy.
• The story is a case study in psychopathology and business, and it's inspirational for entrepreneurs.

"The Goodyear story is a fascinating biography that also provides a panoramic view of America at the dawn of its industrial evolution."

This quote summarizes the book's scope, which covers Goodyear's personal biography and the broader context of America's industrial beginnings.

• Goodyear's life before his death is highlighted to show the impact of his invention of vulcanized rubber.
• He was the first child of a Connecticut farmer and button maker.
• Goodyear started in business early but faced financial ruin, returning to his family's trade with significant debt.
• His recklessness in financial matters is contrasted with the prudence of the Wright brothers.

"The precocious first child of a hardworking Connecticut farmer and button maker, Goodyear was groomed for a career in business almost from birth."

This quote provides background on Goodyear's upbringing and early exposure to business, setting the stage for his later endeavors.

• Charles Goodyear participated in the Great Exhibition of 1851 in England to establish his identity as a leading technologist.
• The author discusses the broader definition of "technology," including Goodyear's innovations with vulcanized rubber.
• Goodyear's presence at the exhibition aimed to cement his status as a man of progress.

"One of the most celebrated american exhibitors, notorious was the word his competitors would have used, was a former Philadelphia hardware store owner named Charles Goodyear."

This quote highlights Goodyear's notoriety and ambition during the Great Exhibition, which was a significant event for showcasing innovations.

• Goodyear's obsession with rubber led him to neglect other forms of income, causing hardship for his family.
• He rationalized his financial struggles as a test of his Christian faith.
• Goodyear's story inspired other inventors, like Gail Borden, who admired his perseverance.

"He had the mentality of the wildcatters who would soon populate the Pennsylvania oil fields, his spent thrift, borrowing, and spending."

This quote indicates Goodyear's financial irresponsibility, drawing parallels with the risk-taking attitudes of oil prospectors.

• Despite his personal financial struggles, Goodyear's work laid the foundation for a massive industry.
• His life inspired others, such as Gail Borden, who saw Goodyear's perseverance as motivational.
• Goodyear's name became synonymous with the solitary inventor who risks everything for their ideas.

"The goodyear story, told and retold, held tremendous appeal for Americans who feared his brush with debtors prison but admired his self made success."

This quote captures the duality of Goodyear's reputation, both as a cautionary tale and an emblem of the self-made American inventor.

• The founder of Goodyear Tires named the company in honor of Charles Goodyear, not because he was the founder.
• The author admits to initially misunderstanding the connection between Charles Goodyear and the tire company.
• The story underscores the value of reading and the potential impact of books on one's life.

"I was like, oh, this sounds interesting, thinking that I was ordering the book for the person that started the know. Why do I know his name? I know his name because there's a massive american corporation called Goodyear tires."

This quote reveals the author's initial confusion about the relationship between Charles Goodyear and the tire company, highlighting the importance of delving into history to uncover the truth.

• The book delves into Goodyear's early life and his path toward becoming an inventor.
• His initial business ventures and subsequent financial troubles are detailed.
• Goodyear's lack of formal education in chemistry is emphasized, noting his reliance on trial and error.

"He never fully understood that what he eventually accomplished by adding chemicals and heat to the pastry, raw rubber was one of the auspicious early milestones of the new age of synthetics."

This quote underscores Goodyear's lack of scientific understanding despite his significant contribution to the development of synthetic materials.

• The early American economy was underdeveloped with little infrastructure and technology.
• Businessmen could become wealthy or suffer significant losses quickly due to the rapidly changing economy.
• Amassa, Charles Goodyear's father, was a typical entrepreneur of the time, engaging in various ventures as a farmer, artisan, and store owner.
• The economy's nature forced individuals to be versatile and adaptable in their business endeavors.
• Making things was a common activity and provided relief from the monotony of farm life.
• The podcast host reflects on the transition from widespread self-employment to the current trend of employment by large companies, which he finds distressing.
• He advocates for the importance of creating new businesses and the role of technology in reducing the optimal size of companies.

"It was a time when hardworking businessmen of humble birth could vault into the class of the newly wealthy, but could also take breathtaking falls."

The quote describes the volatile economic conditions of early America, where rapid success and failure were common for entrepreneurs.

"Making things silenced the murmurings of discontent caused by the exhausting repetitions of farm life."

This quote highlights the therapeutic and economic value of craft and invention during a time when most people were self-employed and engaged in manual labor.

• Charles Goodyear was influenced by his father Amassa's work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit.
• The podcast host admires Amassa's dedication to his workshop and the creativity it fostered.
• Charles possessed a wealth of ideas and a charismatic personality that distinguished him from his father.
• His tutor, DeForest, found him boastful yet was impressed by his precocity and the ease with which he articulated his thoughts.
• Goodyear's salesmanship and charisma were notable, but they also led to his financial downfall due to excessive borrowing.

"His father lacks some of the worldly knowledge and the never ending stream of new ideas his son seemed to possess."

This quote indicates the generational difference in ambition and knowledge between Charles and his father, with Charles being the more innovative of the two.

"DeForest found Goodyear ridiculous, boastful and unrealistic."

Despite the criticism, this quote reveals Charles Goodyear's confidence and the impression he made on those around him, including his ability to influence and persuade others.

• Charles Goodyear was drawn to the wider business world and moved to Philadelphia to learn more about retailing and importing.
• He completed a five-year apprenticeship but had to return home due to illness.
• Goodyear's family was deeply involved in business, and his wife Clarissa supported his passion for ideas.
• He capitalized on anti-British sentiment by opening a hardware store that sold only domestically made products.
• Over-leveraging and debt led to financial instability and eventually the collapse of his business.
• The podcast host compares Goodyear's approach unfavorably to the Wright brothers, who were more conservative with their finances.

"Charles worked ten to 12 hours a day, six days a week, learning the basics of retailing and importing."

This quote outlines the rigorous work ethic and dedication to learning that Charles Goodyear exhibited during his apprenticeship in Philadelphia.

"The inventor was known in our commercial cities to be the pioneer in domestic hardware."

Written in third person about himself, this quote from Goodyear's autobiography demonstrates his self-perception as an innovator in the hardware industry.

• Goodyear's expansion and credit extension to southern farmers were unsustainable business practices.
• A financial panic caused his debtors to default, leading to the collapse of his business.
• The podcast host expresses concern about the modern economy's reliance on debt, drawing parallels to Goodyear's situation.
• Goodyear and his family faced debtors' prison and the dismantling of their prosperity.
• The host criticizes Goodyear's decision to invest in speculative ventures and extend credit instead of saving for economic downturns.

"By expanding, granting credit to southern farmers and investing in real estate, inventions, Goodyear tied up the cash generated by his hardware store."

This quote explains how Goodyear's business decisions ultimately led to financial ruin when the economy turned sour.

"Step by step, creditors dismantled all signs of their earlier prosperity."

The quote poignantly captures the consequences of Goodyear's over-leveraging, which led to the loss of his and his family's wealth and stability.

• Charles Goodyear was not originally a professional inventor; he came from a background dealing with metals in hardware.
• He accidentally discovered his life's work in the rubber business, an industry that had bankrupted many before him.
• Goodyear's ignorance about the rubber industry's past failures allowed him to approach the field with fresh eyes and no preconceived notions.

"No ordinary trader profession could overcome so heavy a debt. So Charles decided he would make a profession of invention. Striking it rich by inventing was a wild form of speculation as any that existed at the time."

This quote explains Charles Goodyear's transition from a trader to an inventor, highlighting the high-risk nature of invention at the time.

• The rubber industry experienced a bubble due to the initial excitement over rubber's potential uses.
• Early rubber products had issues with decay and odor because they were not properly vulcanized.
• Goodyear discovered that heating rubber with sulfur and lead at higher temperatures than previously attempted could prevent decay.

"The rubber business had pretty much ruined anyone who had hitched its hopes to it."

This quote emphasizes the challenges and failures that plagued the rubber industry prior to Goodyear's innovations.

• Goodyear was in a period of experimentation and struggle, known as the "trough of sorrow," when he entered the rubber industry.
• He discovered the vulcanization process by accident, realizing that higher temperatures could strengthen rubber.
• Historical experimentation with rubber by different cultures showed that the potential of rubber was a recurring discovery.

"So Charles Goodyear, what he discovered was they were trying to heat rubber with other materials, like sulfur and lead and all this other stuff, but they were doing it like, 200, 215 degrees. You'd have to get up to, like, 275."

This quote details the critical temperature discovery that led to the vulcanization process, which was the key to stabilizing rubber.

• Goodyear was motivated by the belief that his work with rubber could save lives, as he aimed to create rubber life preservers.
• Despite financial struggles and time spent in debtors' prison, Goodyear continued his experiments with rubber, seeking to make it durable in all climates.

"He immediately began to experiment, applying substances to the rubber, searching for a way to cure it and make it insensible to climatic extremes."

This quote captures Goodyear's dedication to improving rubber, even under dire personal circumstances.

• Goodyear faced repeated financial difficulties, with his business being affected by economic downturns and his benefactors withdrawing support.
• His family suffered alongside him, with his brother's family and parents moving in to share living expenses.

"The Goodyear's once again lapsed into wretched subsistence."

This quote illustrates the severe financial and living conditions the Goodyear family endured due to Charles's commitment to his work with rubber.

• Goodyear's optimism and perseverance were remarkable, even as he aged and faced criticism for his persistent failures with rubber.
• His worn appearance and shabby clothing contrasted with his optimistic outlook and belief in his eventual success.

"William, here is something that will pay all my debts and make us comfortable."

This quote exemplifies Goodyear's undying optimism that his work would eventually lead to financial stability and success.

• Goodyear's business experienced moments of success, such as when he and a partner opened a shop selling rubber goods.
• However, these successes were often followed by setbacks, such as the realization that his patented process did not solve the vulcanization problem.

"But patent licenses still paid more bills in the Goodyear home than did retail sales."

This quote indicates that despite retail challenges, Goodyear's patents were a significant source of income.

• Goodyear's life was dedicated to the rubber industry, which took a toll on his health due to lead poisoning from his experiments.
• His work ultimately led to the modern rubber industry, which has a profound impact on daily life with products like car tires and shoe soles.

"Goodyear basically gave his life for this industry, if you really think about it, because he was one of the few people that were mixing lead in with sulfur and rubber, and he thought lead was a key."

This quote reflects on the sacrifices Goodyear made for his work, including his health and personal well-being, for the advancement of the rubber industry.

• Charles Goodyear experienced a breakthrough in his work with rubber, which he believed was a real probability after a long period of eluding him.
• Despite being penniless, Goodyear's belief in his future wealth and success remained strong, exemplifying a key attribute of self-belief and resilience.
• Goodyear's optimism and self-confidence sustained him throughout his life, even though he never achieved the wealth he envisioned.

"This is the beginning of realizing, oh, I've actually made a breakthrough here." "I am meant to be a wealthy person. I'm just temporarily poor." "The one thing that sustains Charles throughout his life is this rabid and unrelenting belief in himself."

The quotes highlight Goodyear's moment of realization regarding his breakthrough, his enduring self-belief despite financial struggles, and the importance of his unwavering confidence in his abilities.

• The Goodyear family faced extreme poverty in 1940, having to scrounge for basic necessities and relying on charity.
• William Beers, a family friend, provides insight into the depth of the family's poverty and the emotional toll it took on Goodyear's father.
• Goodyear's perseverance during tough times had a mesmerizing effect on others, winning him support and assistance despite the odds.

"Goodyear's manic optimism evaporated. All the money had gone into experiments." "Charity alone can tell." "Goodyear's perseverance in the face of disaster had a mesmerizing effect on those around him."

These quotes describe the harsh financial conditions Goodyear endured, the reliance on charity for survival, and the inspirational effect of his determination on his community.

• Goodyear's family faced significant tragedy, with multiple deaths due to malaria after a venture into the pineapple trade.
• The loss of his father, brother, brother's wife, and nephew left Goodyear responsible for his mother and other family members.
• Despite personal tragedies, including the death of his own children, Goodyear's perseverance never wavered.

"They all die. And then he's left to take care of his mother, who just lost her husband and her son and her daughter in law and her grandchild."

The quote details the devastating impact of the family's loss on Goodyear, underscoring his resilience in the face of personal tragedy.

• Goodyear's debt grew to a staggering $59,000, leading to multiple imprisonments until the passage of bankruptcy law allowed him to claim bankruptcy.
• The decision to file for bankruptcy was ultimately beneficial, as it enabled Goodyear to secure his famous patent number 3633 and begin to appreciate his venture.

"His avalanche of debt had grown to $59,000... He claims bankruptcy for around that amount." "He never had cause to regret his decision to file for bankruptcy protection because soon his adventure began to be appreciated."

The quotes reflect Goodyear's financial struggles and the strategic decision to file for bankruptcy, which allowed him to focus on securing and benefiting from his patent.

• Goodyear's understanding of patents was speculative, seeing them as milestones in a marathon toward creating a sellable process.
• Patent number 3633 allowed Goodyear to license his technology and pursue infringers, opening up new revenue streams.
• Goodyear's poor business acumen led to lost opportunities and financial mismanagement, as seen in his agreements with Attorney Judson.

"A patent was just another milestone in a sharp elbowed marathon heading toward the ultimate goal." "Goodyear executed the first of a series of agreements with Judson, making the attorney a 5% partner in patent number 3633."

These quotes explain Goodyear's approach to patents as part of a broader business strategy and highlight a significant business mistake that compromised his financial position.

• Goodyear was driven by a vision of a world transformed by rubber, which he meticulously recorded in his journal.
• His commitment to his inventions was so strong that it led him to neglect practical financial management, resulting in ongoing poverty and debt.
• Goodyear's dedication to his work was fueled by the belief that his inventions would benefit society, even if he did not personally reap the rewards.

"He worked to record his vision so that these benefits would outlive him." "The bad thing was because of his carelessness, it impoverished himself and his family and caused heartache and trouble for himself and those around him."

The quotes illustrate Goodyear's dedication to documenting his rubber-related inventions and the consequences of his single-minded focus on innovation at the expense of his and his family's financial stability.

• Goodyear's health suffered due to his work, with symptoms suggesting lead poisoning, which was common among inventors of the time.
• Despite his health issues, Goodyear's resolve to continue his work was unshaken, driven by a desire to leave a legacy of beneficial inventions.

"His experience had put him in possession, he believed, of much information that would otherwise be lost in the event of his death." "Goodyear resolved to carry on."

These quotes convey Goodyear's awareness of the importance of his work for future generations and his determination to persevere despite health challenges.