RUBBERMAID CASSETTE TAPE CARRY CASE vintage media storage box 1988 1980s RARE

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Seller: sidewaysstairsco ✉️ (1,180) 100%, Location: Santa Ana, California, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 195933089993 RUBBERMAID CASSETTE TAPE CARRY CASE vintage media storage box 1988 1980s RARE. Check out our other new and used items>>>>>HERE! (click me) FOR SALE: A protective, portable case for your cassette tapes and more 1988 RUBBERMAID DESIGN-A-SPACE CHECK FILE STORAGE CASE DETAILS: Holds 24 audio cassette tapes! *Does not fit VHS video cassettes.* Has original, vintage Staples retail store sticker attached! Relish the blend of functionality and vintage flair! Elevate your organization game with this iconic vintage 1988 Rubbermaid Design-A-Space Check File portable storage case. A true gem from the past, the Rubbermaid Check File (model# 1097) storage case seamlessly blends functionality and retro charm. Whether you're a collector, a vintage enthusiast, or simply in need of efficient storage, this piece is a must-have addition to your space. Built-In Recessed Flip-Up Handle: Effortlessly transport your belongings wherever you go with the convenient recessed flip-up handle. Designed for ease of use and portability, this feature ensures you can carry your stored items with confidence and style. Latch Lock Closure: Keep your precious items secure and protected with the latch lock closure. No more worries about accidental openings or misplaced contents – your belongings stay safe and organized inside. Divider Spacer Included: Customize your storage space to perfection with the included spacer. Divide the storage area into two sections, allowing you to categorize and separate items with ease. From checks to coupons, envelopes to audio cassette tapes, this storage case caters to your diverse storage needs. Sturdy Plastic: Crafted with durable gray-colored plastic, this storage box not only exudes '80s/'90s vibes but also ensures longevity. It's a perfect blend of vintage aesthetics and reliable construction, making it a valuable addition to any collection. Space-Saving Stackable Design: Optimize your storage solutions by stacking these cases. The clever design allows you to save valuable space while maintaining impeccable organization. Ideal for small spaces, offices, or collectors' showcases. Generous Capacity: With a capacity to hold up to 6 lbs, this model is a versatile workhorse. Safely store your checks, coupons, envelopes, or audio cassette tapes – the possibilities are endless. Made in the USA: Craftsmanship and quality define this vintage Rubbermaid storage case. Proudly made in the USA, it stands as a testament to enduring American manufacturing excellence. Dimensions: Approximately 10-3/4" (L) x 8" (W) x 3-7/8" (H) (inches). CONDITION: In excellent, pre-owned condition. Original Staples sticker tag attached. Please see photos. To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK. *ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.* "Rubbermaid is an American manufacturer and distributor of household items. It is a subsidiary of Newell Brands. It is best known for producing food storage containers and trash cans. Additionally, it produces sheds, step stools, closets and shelving, laundry baskets, bins, air fresheners and other household items.[1][2] History See also: Newell Rubbermaid § History Rubbermaid glass food storage containers. Rubbermaid was founded in 1920[3] in Wooster, Ohio as the Wooster Rubber Company by nine businessmen. Originally, Wooster Rubber Company manufactured toy balloons.[4] In 1933, James R. Caldwell and his wife received a patent for their blue rubber dustpan. They called their line of rubber kitchen products Rubbermaid.[5] In 1934 Horatio Ebert saw Rubbermaid products at a New England department store, and believed such products could help his struggling Wooster Rubber. He engineered a merger of the two enterprises in July 1934. Still named the Wooster Company, the new group began to produce rubber household products under the Rubbermaid brand name. In 1984, Rubbermaid acquired Little Tikes, a toy maker. In 1985, Rubbermaid acquired competitor Gott Corporation.[6] In 1996, Rubbermaid acquired Graco baby products.[7] In 1999, Rubbermaid was purchased by Newell for $6 billion. Then Newell changed its name to Newell Rubbermaid.[8] Newell Rubbermaid changed its name again to the present-day Newell Brands in 2016 as part of a takeover of Jarden in another merger. In 2003, the company announced its move out of Wooster to Atlanta, Georgia; 850 manufacturing and warehouse jobs would be eliminated, and 409 office jobs would move to other locations. A Rubbermaid distribution center remained at the former headquarters for some time, until it was recently purchased by GOJO Industries, Inc.[9] On November 16, 2004, Rubbermaid was used as a prime example in the PBS Frontline documentary "Is Walmart Good for America?"[10] Timeline     1920 Wooster Rubber is launched.     1927 Horatio Ebert and Errett Grable took over managing the company from the original 9 founders.[11]     1933 Rubbermaid is launched.     1933 First Rubbermaid dustpan is introduced.     1934 Wooster Rubber and Rubbermaid merge to form Wooster Rubber Company and sell Rubbermaid products.     1942 WW2 eliminated Rubbermaid's housewares business, but the company was able to convert to military manufacturing.     1947 Rubbermaid introduces a line of rubber automotive accessories.     1955 Wooster Rubber Co. offer first public offering.     1956 Rubbermaid ventures into plastic products.     1957 Wooster Rubber Company changes name to Rubbermaid.     1965 Purchases German company Dupol.     1976 1,100 members of the United Rubber Workers union call a strike.     1981 Purchases Con-Tact plastic coverings.     1984 Acquires the Little Tikes Company.     1999 Newell acquires Rubbermaid for $6 billion and changes corporate name to Newell Rubbermaid.     2003 Rubbermaid headquarters move from Wooster, Ohio to Atlanta, GA.     2016 Newell Rubbermaid becomes Newell Brands as part of a takeover of Jarden in a merger.     2017 Newell sells the Rubbermaid totes line to United Solutions.[12] Former Rubbermaid CEOs     1933–1959 James Caldwell     1959–1980 Donald Noble     1980–1991 Stanley C. Gault     1991–1992 Walter W. Williams     1993–1999 Wolfgang Schmitt Companies acquired by Rubbermaid Prior to Rubbermaid merging with Newell Company.     1965 Dupol - German     1981 Carlan     1984 Little Tikes - Sold to MGA Entertainment in 2006.     1985 Gott Corporation     1986 MicroComputer Accessories     1986 Seco Industries     1987 Viking Brush - Canadian     1990 Eldon Industries     1992 Iron Mountain Forge Corporation     1994 Carex Health Care Products     1995 Injectaplastic S.A - French     1996 Graco (baby products)     1997 Curver - Europe - Sold in 2005." (wikipedia.org) "Newell Brands is an American manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products. The company's brands and products include Rubbermaid storage and trash containers; home organization and reusable container products; Contigo and Bubba water bottles; Coleman outdoor products; writing instruments (Berol, Expo Markers, PaperMate, Dymo, Mr. Sketch, Parker Pens, Sharpie, Reynolds, Prismacolor, Rotring, X-acto, Waterman) glue (Elmer's, Krazy Glue); children's products (Aprica, NUK, Tigex, Babysun, Baby Jogger and Graco); cookware and small appliances (Calphalon, Sunbeam, Rival, Crock-Pot; Holmes, FoodSaver, Oster, Osterizer, and Mr. Coffee) and fragrance products (Yankee Candle, Chesapeake Bay Candle, Millefiori Milano, and WoodWick). The company's global headquarters is in Atlanta.[4] History See also: Rubbermaid Newell Company First Newell logo The Newell Manufacturing Company was founded by Edgar Newell in Ogdensburg, New York, in 1903 as a manufacturer of metal curtain rods.[5][6] The F. W. Woolworth retail chain became the first customer for Newell's bronze–plated curtain rods in 1916, making them the first Newell products to be distributed nationally. This marked the beginning of Newell's mass merchandising strategy. As the business grew, the company built a new 15,000-square-foot facility in Ogdensburg, New York. The company purchased Barnwell Mfg. Co. of Freeport, Illinois in 1921, renaming it Western Newell Manufacturing Company. Freeport's access to railroad lines facilitated shipping products west. Kresge, the department store chain (later Kmart) was one of Western Newell's larger accounts.[citation needed] Daniel C. Ferguson was named president in 1965 and developed a growth-by-acquisition strategy, intending to build a strong, multi-product company. The Newell Company went public in 1972, opening on the NASDAQ at $28 per share. In 1974, they acquired EZ Paintr Corporation, then the world's largest maker of paint applicators. Newell was listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol NWL in 1979.[7] In 1979, Newell moved into its first corporate headquarters in a historic former bank building in Freeport, Illinois. In 1983, the company entered the cookware market with the purchase of Mirro. In 1987, the company acquired Anchor Hocking Corporation, a specialty manufacturer of glassware, flatware, cookware and other products. The deal included the purchase of Amerock, a maker of cabinet hardware and window components.[8] In 1992, they acquired Sanford, a manufacturer and marketer of writing instruments, including the Sharpie and Expo brands. A year later, they acquired Levolor, a manufacturer and marketer of window treatments. They also entered the beauty and style category by acquiring Goody hair care accessories,[9] including Ace men's grooming accessories.They also acquired Stuart Hall a Kansas City stationary company which they held until 1998.[10][11] In 1997, Newell acquired Cooper Industries' Kirsch, a company specializing in drapery hardware, and custom window coverings.[12] In 1998, the company expanded in cookware with the purchase of Calphalon Corporation,[13] a manufacturer of cookware marketed primarily to upscale retailers and department stores. The company also purchased Panex, a cookware maker in South America. In 2016, Newell moved its corporate headquarters from Atlanta to Hoboken, New Jersey. In 2019 it returned to Atlanta....Mergers Rubbermaid Newell Rubbermaid logo used from 1999 to 2016 In 1999, Newell acquired the Rubbermaid and Graco brand names in a megamerger worth $5.8 billion, and later renamed the combined firm Newell Rubbermaid. This was an acquisition ten times larger than the last biggest acquisition Newell had made, nearly doubled the company's size, and significantly increased Newell's portfolio of brands.[citation needed] In 2003, the merger was dubbed the "merger from hell" by Businessweek magazine.[18] Newell shareholders lost 50% of their value in the two years following the closing and Rubbermaid shareholders lost 35%. In 2002, Newell wrote off $500 million in goodwill.[citation needed] Other mergers In 2000, Newell Rubbermaid acquired Gillette's stationery products business, including the Paper Mate, Parker, Waterman and Liquid Paper brands. In 2002, they acquired American Tool Companies, adding the Irwin, Vise-Grip, and Marathon brands to their portfolio. In 2003, Newell Rubbermaid acquired American Saw and Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of linear-edge power tool accessories, hand tools, and band saw blades marketed under the Lenox brand. In 2005, the company acquired DYMO, designing, manufacturing, and marketing on-demand labeling solutions. The company expanded its presence in this market with the 2006 purchases of CardScan business card scanners and Mimio interactive whiteboard products along with the 2007 acquisition of postage company Endicia and its Picture-it-Postage brand. In 2005, Mark Ketchum was named president and CEO. The company added the slogan of "Brands That Matter" to their logo to emphasize the change.[citation needed] In February 2008, Newell Rubbermaid acquired Aprica Kassai, a Japanese maker of strollers, car seats, and other children's products and Technical Concepts, in the away-from-home restroom[clarification needed] market. The company created a global headquarters in the Atlanta metropolitan area to consolidate numerous brands and functions under one roof. In July 2011, Michael B. Polk joined the company as president and CEO.[19] On July 21, 2014, Newell Rubbermaid announced a $308 million acquisition of Ignite Holdings, a Chicago-based maker of reusable water bottles and thermal mugs.[20] Ignite sold its products under two brand names: Avex and Contigo, also acquiring Ignite's proprietary closing mechanism, Autoseal.[21] On October 5, 2015, Newell Rubbermaid announced that it would acquire Elmer's Products, the makers of Elmer's glue, Krazy Glue, and X-Acto, among other brands, for $600 million. The company also announced plans to divest its window covering brands Levolor and Kirsch.[22] On December 14, 2015, Newell Rubbermaid announced that it would acquire Jarden for over $15 billion of cash and stock. The combined company would be known as Newell Brands, and 55% would be owned by Newell's shareholders. The combined company would have estimated annual sales of $16 billion." (wikipedia.org) "Rubbermaid Company History Rubbermaid Company History From a Small Ohio Town to a Consumer and Commercial Giant   The Rubbermaid name has been around since the 1930s, but the roots of the popular housewares manufacturer can be traced back even further. That tale goes back to Wooster Rubber Company in Ohio and leads to today's organization that is part of the Newell corporation.   Table of Contents     Rubbermaid Early History     The War Effort and the Victory Years     The Roaring ‘50s and ‘60s     Rubbermaid Calling     The ‘80s and ‘90s: Trials and Triumphs     Changes in the Company in the 1990s     The Newell Acquisition     The Wooster Factory Goes Dark     Major Acquisitions, Alliances, and Mergers     The Company of Today   Rubbermaid Early History Nine men pooled their resources in tiny Wooster, Ohio, in 1920 to plant the company's roots in the form of a factory producing toy balloons. The (Wooster) Daily Record documented the official incorporation of the company on a Saturday. The group – including two men, T.E. Rice and A.L. Ebert, who merited named mentions in the brief article – intended to call the enterprise The Good Rubber Company. Unfortunately, "... this name conflicted with another concern elsewhere in Ohio," The Daily Record reported. On the spot in the state capital of Columbus, the men opted for The Wooster Rubber Company. Wooster Clipping Wooster Rubber plugged along quietly for its first few years, producing those balloons under the brand name Sunshine Balloons in a small factory and office building the company built. Horatio Ebert and Errett Grable took over the operation in 1927 from the group of nine. The two men were reportedly looking to try their hands at something new. As for what they were doing before they got into the rubber business, that's a bit unclear. Various sources indicate they worked as executives of the Aluminum Cooking Utensil Company, the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA), or the WearEver cookware division of ALCOA. Whatever the case, they found success in Wooster, with the company generating at least modest profits through the 1920s. Like much of the world, though, Wooster Rubber would take a huge hit as a result of the stock market crash of 1929 and the resulting Great Depression. With millions of Americans forced to choose which necessity was most important to them, there was little money left over for frivolous things like balloons. The company faltered, and the owners knew it likely wouldn't last much longer if the country's economic struggles didn't end soon. It was during this period that the company took the turn that would produce the Rubbermaid we know today. On a trip to New England, Ebert found a red rubber dustpan in a department store. The product was one of the first rubber pieces on the market that wasn’t the boring white that is the natural color of rubber. The earliest variation was black, made by the Goodrich Tire Company with a carbon black chemical produced by Binney & Smith, the company that would eventually produce Crayola Crayons. They found the mixture produced an especially durable and long-lasting tire, so Binney & Smith began working on dyes in other colors. Meanwhile, in New Haven, Conn., Seamless Rubber Company employee James Caldwell was daydreaming with his wife Madeline about improving some of the day-to-day tasks of keeping the house clean. Inspired by the new colors in rubber, they conceived 29 products that could do just that in bright hues. Their first product was a red rubber dustpan, and its first salesman was Caldwell. Though the first rubber version cost $1, considerably more than the metal versions of the time, Caldwell told The New York Times in a 1973 interview that he, "... rang ten doorbells and sold nine dustpans," with a sales pitch that his dustpan was far superior to the metal ones because it would not bend and warp. That meant it would always make full contact with the floor, eliminating the issue of dirt sliding under dents in the edges of metal pans and frustrating homemakers. Caldwell dubbed the business Rubbermaid, to reflect the material the products were made of and the jobs they were meant to do – those of a maid. Their operation merged with that of Wooster Rubber in 1934, with Caldwell becoming the leader of the new company and Rubbermaid becoming its primary line with the retirement of Sunshine Balloons. Over the next six years, sales would grow from $80,000 to more than $450,000 as the company further developed all but two of the products the Caldwells dreamed up around the dinner table more than a decade prior. That included soap dishes, rubber gloves, rubber-coated dish racks, and dish pans. Resources on the Founding     Company history blog article     Company history from Reference for Business     Etsy listing for early red dustpan     Wikipedia entry about Wooster, Ohio     Invention of rubber dyes     Wikipedia article about WearEver Cookware   The War Effort & the Victory Years With the onset of World War II, the company found itself struggling again. Though there was still demand for its products, procuring the raw materials to produce them became impossible in May 1942 as the government demanded the end of production of rubber items for domestic uses. The public was urged to turn in its private rubber items, from garden hoses to kitchen gloves, for items to be used by the troops, including gas masks and life rafts. Wooster Rubber shut down its housewares production lines, which meant a roughly three-year pause of the Rubbermaid brand. Caldwell secured a contract to produce items for the war effort, a move that meant the now-quiet lines were revamped and the factory would become busier than it had ever been. Wooster specialized in parts for warplanes, the construction of which took hundreds and even thousands of pounds of rubber. Its focus was initially a self-sealing top for fuel tanks for those planes, though it also eventually produced life jackets and tourniquets. A pre-war payroll of a few dozen ballooned to more than 500 in two years, and the income of that bustling period would carry the company far into the middle of the century. With the end of the conflict, Wooster moved back into the production of consumer goods, though now without the coloring agents that were still in short supply thanks to the needs of war. Their rubber made it into cars across the country in the form of floormats and cup holders, though sales of those items were quickly eclipsed when the company was able to start producing its rubber housewares in color again. For the housewife of the post-war era, Rubbermaid became a hot commodity. Advertisements the company took out in magazines aimed at women proclaimed the suburban home that was becoming so popular could be cleaned in half the time with their products. They also sought to make the products part of fashion, showing their colorful products in the hands of smiling women in nice clothes and beautiful houses. Those efforts apparently worked, with the company's profits doubling to more than $5 million in the latter half of the 1940s. Army Navy E Award Resources on the War Effort     Wooster Digital History Project section on the war years     Wikipedia entry on the company     Encyclopedia.com entry on the company     U.S. Navy article on the E Award   The Roaring ‘50s and ‘60s If the after-war years put the company on a skyward trajectory, the decades that would follow gave it rocket boosters. Some of the biggest changes in the identity of Wooster Rubber and its well-known brand came during this time, as new facilities, new materials, a stock offering, and even a new name forever altered its direction. To begin with, it took its first international step when it purchased a factory about an hour northwest of Niagara Falls in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It maintains a presence there today. That facility would introduce one of the innovations of the decade: vinyl-coated wire products. This gave the company the ability to produce everything from wire dish racks to corrosion-resistant kitchen shelving. The factory was continually upgraded, until it was producing a full line of products for both the American and Canadian markets by the middle of the decade. Despite the long-ago start in international marketing, the company struggled to grow that side of its business, with it providing only about 11 percent of its profits through the 1990s. About a decade after it introduced an employee profit-sharing incentive, the company made its first official move at going public. Wooster Rubber stock was offered on the over-the-counter market, meaning it wasn't listed on any public exchange. That option is usually taken by smaller companies that can’t meet the benchmarks required for listing, and many investment advisors recommend making heavy investments in these. However, those who picked up a piece of Wooster Rubber back in those days could have made a tidy profit in just a few decades, as the company not only earned listing on the New York Stock Exchange by 1959, but continued remarkable profit growth. Money raised through that initial stock offering enabled Caldwell to explore possibilities in a material that had recently become quite popular in the American home: plastic. While synthetic plastics had been around since the 1800s, they had only recently been accepted as durable and relatively cheap materials for consumer goods. The manufacture of plastic items is quite different from the processes involved in forming rubber products, so expanding into this area meant new equipment purchases, retooling of lines, and, eventually, a large expansion of the company's facilities as the new products proved wildly popular. Caldwell spent the first infusion of stock cash on machines that could produce the first plastic item, a dishpan of a type that still remains a popular item. Sold on the pitch that it would expand the versatility of sinks for everything from washing dishes to soaking laundry, the item proved to Caldwell there was a future in plastic housewares. The move also enabled the business, which officially replaced the Wooster Rubber Company name with Rubbermaid in 1957, to expand into commercial products. That started with an innovation in the hospitality industry crafted by the company, which was the first to introduce a rubber bathmat with small suction cups on the bottom of it to hold it in place. This safety innovation is commonplace now and seems like a fairly simple innovation, but there's a good reason it hadn't been done before. Creating the piece required hours of research and development, which led to the realization that it would take a three-layer mold. The success of that product led to continued growth into the commercial area with everything from housekeeping carts to ingredient bins. The commercial division established a headquarters in Winchester, Va., in 1967 and has since become a major part of the business. Meanwhile, the portion of the company dedicated to the development and production of items for use in foodservice and healthcare established a home office in Huntersville, N.C. The company furthered its international efforts in 1965, when the purchase of West Germany manufacturer Dupol provided its first expansion outside North America. The move came at a time when the original Wooster plant on Bowman Street had been expanded as much as it could. By the early 1960s, the firm had more than 1,000 employees in Wooster alone and needed more room. That led to a 1960 groundbreaking on a massive new facility on Akron Road in Wooster. According to the College of Wooster’s digital history project, CEO Donald Noble made it clear then that the company was committed to the town that held its roots. "This groundbreaking ceremony is symbolic of our faith in Wooster and the people of this community, and of our desire to continue to be a part of Wooster," the online archive quotes Noble as saying. Resources on the 1950s & 1960s     Ohio History Central piece on Wooster     Investopedia definition of "over-the-counter stock"     Commercial history from company's European website     Commercial operation locations     Patent using Dupol and the company’s name   Rubbermaid Calling Two of the company's biggest competitors in housewares and kitchen items for the consumer had one thing in common by the end of the 1960s: the house party. Both Amway and Tupperware built booming businesses around the idea of turning average people into their sales networks, while saving money on professional staff. The incredible growth and profits the two companies were achieving made the model hard to ignore, particularly for their competitors. The older firm first stuck its foot into the door of home sales in 1969 with the founding of Rubbermaid Party Plan Inc., which not only became a separate division of the company, but also established its own production facility in Chillicothe. There, workers made the items that filled the pages of the expansive catalog offered by local demonstrators, who were supervised by district managers. A classified ad placed in the Dec. 4, 1975, issue of the St. Marys (W.Va.) Oracle-Pleasants County Leader by one of those managers offers demonstrators, "No collecting! No packing! No Delivery! Top commissions!" The catalog offered items like food storage items, avocado-green tumblers, plates, a unique lazy susan canister set, and a host of other kitchen products. None of them were available through normal retail streams, and nearly all of them were made of the plastic that the company was building much of its success with. As with Tupperware and Amway, demonstrators would invite friends, family, neighbors, and anyone else they could convince to come to house parties. An advertisement placed in the March 31, 1974, issue of The Kansas City Star declares the operation "the fastest growing party plan in the country and [it] actually doubled in size last year." It quotes General Manager Richard D. Haggart as saying he intends to continue that trend for the current year. His hope was buoyed by new distribution centers in Los Angeles and Chicago, in addition to the one at the plant in Chillicothe. Within five years of its introduction, the party plan operation was bringing in about 10 percent of the company's overall income. Despite that seemingly promising number, the operation wasn't profitable for most of its existence. It took nearly seven years to get into the black, but it quickly turned back to the red after that. That fact kept the division on the chopping block for most of its life, and the axe finally fell in January 1981. A death notice for it in The New York Times indicates about 350 employees were let go in connection with the end of the party plan unit, which closed at the same time the automotive accessories business was ended. "The company said that sales of the two operations totaled about $26 million last year, but noted that both operated at a loss," the Times piece notes. Resources on the Party Plan     Flickr user image of party plan catalog     West Virginia newspaper ad for demonstrators     Pinterest user image of cutting board     Etsy user image of plastic ladle     Trademark filing for logo     New York Times article on closing of division     Plastics News obituary for former employee     eBay party plan products for auction     Kansas City Star advertisement for representatives   The '80s & '90s: Trials and Triumphs The company began direct distribution to supermarkets in the 1970s, but insisted those businesses adhere to minimum pricing standards. That practice led to a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission that alleged the set-up – in which one company was manufacturer, distributor, and was mandating prices from wholesalers – violated antitrust laws. A cease-and-desist order that came out of that legal process didn't stop the company from providing products straight to customers, but did end minimum pricing requirements. Despite that setback, a strike in the mid-1980s in Wooster, and raw materials price increases that started in the late 1960s and would continue into the 1990s, the company continued to grow. A new plant was opened in LaGrange, Ga., in the late 1970s to produce things like plastic hangers for automotive mats. Moving into the 1980s, Donald Noble, who had taken over as president after Caldwell's retirement in the late 1950s, decided to retire himself. His replacement was Stanley Gault, a former executive for General Electric and the son of one of the original nine investors in Wooster Rubber. He made a commitment to continue the growth of both the product offerings and the profits, one he would keep as he led the company to become a Fortune 500 business. Within his first three years at the helm, Gault announced a restructuring that would eliminate four divisions of the company, including the party plan and automotive operations. He also cut some European production and heavy-duty garbage cart manufacturing. Further moves to combine remaining operations left the company with essentially the same structure it has now, with a division for home goods and another for commercial products. While the homewares operation was busy marketing new items like brightly colored food storage containers, the commercial side moved into developing industrial and agricultural items like panel carts and stock tanks. Meanwhile, it kept up production of its items for foodservice and healthcare operations. Much of the expansion during this time came through acquisitions, which started with the 1981 purchase of Carlan, which had just months before purchased the Con-Tact brand. With that, the name was now on plastic coverings used for everything from lining shelves to papering walls to "even [making] a piece of art," an ad introduced in the 1980s proclaimed. The purchase also led to the creation of Rubbermaid Specialty Products Inc. in Statesville, N.C., in 1983. This period brought a number of expansions into new product areas. The 1984, 1992, and 1994 purchases of the Little Tikes Company, Iron Mountain Forge Corporation, and Ausplay, respectively, introduced it to the play structures field. The acquisition of the Gott Corporation in 1985 brought the name to insulated coolers and beverage holders, while two others in 1986 got it on computer accessories (MicroComputer Accessories) and floor care products like mops and brooms (Seco Industries). Another buy, this one of Eldon Industries in 1990, furthered its reach into computer accessories. Further expansion in the period were made with joint ventures, first with French manufacturer Allibert in 1989 to produce plastic outdoor furniture and then with Curver Group to sell housewares and furniture. The latter deal meant the products were now found in countries in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. The acquisition efforts, which Gault explained were made based on the best interests of the company, helped top the president's goal of quadrupling sales in the 1980s. That mark went from $350 million to more than $1.45 billion, a growth that notched the company a place on the Fortune 500 list of the nation's highest-grossing closely held and public corporations for the first time in 1983. During the 1990s, the company continued its shopping spree, with purchases of all or a majority of nine companies, including Graco Children's Products and Carex Inc., maker of home healthcare products. Such phenomenal growth into new areas led the company to establish three new divisions, which brought the total number of those to five, though that wouldn't be the case for long. Resources on the End of the 20th Century     Funding Universe history of Carlan Inc.     Wikipedia entry on the Fortune 500 list     Superior Customer Value in the New Economy: Concepts and Cases, Second Edition by Art Weinstein     Patent for automotive mat hanger to be made at LaGrange factory Go Back to the Top to Continue Reading Wooster Rubber Changes in the Company in the 1990s All the buying led to income increases and to the introduction of about 400 products every year during this period, but it also created a fractured, spread-out company. On top of that, the continued rise in raw materials prices, fueled in part by continuing instability in the oil market and the skyrocketing costs of resin, produced some real challenges. Meanwhile, the company's leadership was unstable. Gault hired the man he hoped would be his successor, Robert E. Fowler Jr., in 1981. A GE alum like Gault, Fowler was reportedly told by the board of directors in 1987 that he wouldn't be allowed to step in as CEO when Gault left. When Gault did retire in 1991, a year later than he intended to, he handed the reins over to Walter W. Williams. Williams would hold the job for only 18 months, retiring at the end of 1992. Gault, now CEO of tire manufacturer Goodyear and still the chairman of the company's executive committee, was brought back temporarily. Finally, a permanent replacement was found in 1993 with Wolfgang R. Schmitt, who had been at the company for just under three decades. The ongoing issues forced the company to establish a restructuring plan in the mid-1990s, the first major reorganization in its history. Executives hoped the changes would not only help bring more cohesiveness to the company and allow it to deal with raw material cost increases, they also aimed to stay ahead of a growing list of competitors. The process they set out would take two years to implement and commenced in 1995, the same year the operation's factories achieved ISO:9001 certification. Nine of those plants would be closed by the end of the year, in conjunction with the elimination of 1,170 jobs. With those cuts, moves were made to bring the number of divisions down again, with two merged to leave four total. The company took a charge of $158 million to pay for the changes, but would soon make up for that lost funding. Savings of $335 million, the result of a project to streamline production, were realized in 1996. Further, the company sold its office products division to Newell Inc. in May 1997 for $246.5 million. Finally, it eliminated 45 percent of its SKUs, which combined provided only 10 percent of overall revenue. Prices also increased in the mid-1990s, a fact that led to a major dispute with Wal-Mart, which had already come to dominate the American retail landscape. The rise of the box store would take the company from selling to thousands of retailers individually to getting two-thirds of its volume from a handful of them, Schmitt would later recall on a 2004 episode of the PBS newsmagazine Frontline. The biggest of those was Wal-Mart (now stylized as Walmart), which had a reputation for playing tough with manufacturers, something they argued was in the best interests of the customer. When Rubbermaid announced it would be raising prices, Wal-Mart refused. The row that ensued resulted in the retailer dropping several products, a hit that left the company reeling. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart filled the now-empty shelf space with lower-priced items from competitors, which thereby gave those brands more revenue and more name recognition. "Rubbermaid represented an innovation-oriented high road towards U.S. competitiveness," Duke University Professor Gary Gereffi says in the transcript of the Frontline episode. "I think Wal-Mart represents a cost-driven, low-price low road towards U.S. competitiveness. And in a sense, they're two dramatically different styles in which the U.S. economy can be organized. I think the Wal-Mart model is winning out." Despite being named America's most admired company by Fortune magazine in 1993, the struggles it faced meant it would not survive as an independent entity for much longer. Credit-rating agency Moody's placed its debt under review for a possible downgrade. That came as talk of a merger with Freeport, Ill.,-based Newell were revealed. Resources on the Company's Struggles     Company named America’s most admired by Fortune magazine     New York Times report on leadership changes     Transcript of PBS Frontline, 2004     "Wal-Mart's Influence Grows," USA Today, Jan. 29, 2003     Update from Moody's in regards to restructuring   The Newell Acquisition Newell Rubbermaid Logo The company’s purchase by Newell was finalized in 1999, and the two paired to create a company that bears both their names. The purchase totaled $5.8 billion and garnered one of the most well-known brands in housewares in the world. Still, the merger was not a smooth one and some questioned the wisdom of it, with an Oct. 19, 2003, piece in Bloomberg Businessweek averring, "No one doubts that Newell wildly overpaid," and goes on to call the deal a "merger from hell." While the language is strong, it seemed fair at the time. Shortly after the deal went through, a Nov. 21, 2001, rating action from Moody's downgraded both the long-term and short-term debt of the venture, while also giving it a negative outlook. Stock prices had fallen by nearly 50 percent, and the remnants of Wooster Rubber were generating only about 35 percent of sales. At the same time, that division was taking a large amount of investment from the group, something it set out to reverse in the coming years. Some production was moved to Mexico to save on costs, and the operation combined in a single headquarters in the Glenlake Towers in Atlanta's Perimeter Center edge city in 2008. Nearly 70 production or office facilities were also closed during the period in further cost-cutting measures. The company embarked on further cost-cutting restructuring in 2011, combining its three operating groups into two – one for commercial products and the other for consumer goods. Another consolidation of plants and distribution centers led to 500 layoffs. Along the way, development of Newell's prior holdings, including Sharpie writing utensils and Calphalon, and new acquisitions helped grow the bottom line. In 2000, the group bought the stationery products business of Gillette, which brought well-known brand names like Paper Mate, Parker, Waterman, and Liquid Paper into the fold. That was followed by the purchases of American Tool Companies (2002), American Saw and Manufacturing Company (2003), DYMO (2005), CardScan (2006), Endicia (2007), Aprica Kassai of Japan (2008), and Contigo, Avex, and bubba brands in 2014. Additionally, the interactive whiteboard division of Mimio was acquired in 2006. While the expansions have continued to provide incremental growth, the stock price remained stagnant at a level half what Newell stock was valued at before the deal. To address that, current President and CEO Michael B. Polk announced the "Growth Game Plan" in 2011, a long-term proposal to grow profitability. Resources on the Newell Acquisition     BloombergBusinessweek article on integrating the two companies     Kansas state government article including history of Gott Corporation     Forbes profile of the company     Moody's credit rating history     Moody's Aug. 4, 2003, rating action     Reuters report in The New York Times on 2011 consolidation   The Wooster Factory Goes Dark The efforts of the early 1990s to turn the company around led to the closure of the remaining facilities in Wooster, a sad fact for local residents and a major loss of revenue for the town. The first cuts came just months after the merger was made official, with 520 employees cut in May 1999. Company officials cited new automation as the motivation for the decision, while acknowledging cuts were typical after a buy-out. However, then-Vice President of Human Resources Joe Marotti said no further cuts were expected immediately. When further payroll cuts were announced in May 2001, Marotti assured they wouldn't take a big bite in Wooster. By August 2003, the tune seemed to be changing as CEO Joe Galli told The Daily Record of Wooster he is "disappointed" in the division’s results as the company as a whole announced decreased profits. What seems to have been the final nail in the coffin for the Wooster plant came on Nov. 10, 2003. That’s the day a line of incredibly intense thunderstorms rolled across Indiana and Ohio, spawning four tornadoes and doing $20 million in damage to the factory. Executives would cite the potential costs for repairing those issues as part of the reasoning they announced the closure of the facility just a few weeks later. In January, the blow-mold department was closed, leaving 85 people out of work. The initial round of structured layoffs, implemented between March 13 and April 24, 2003, crossed 388 employees off the payroll. More than 700 jobs were lost on the manufacturing lines and in the warehouse with the closure the following March. Some manufacturing continued into May 28, with 144 more people losing their jobs then and another 53 cut in mid-June. The company decided just before the shutters were pulled in to keep operating the distribution center there, which meant 126 people were able to keep their jobs. All-told, Wooster lost about 1,200 jobs in just a few months. The company announced in late 2011 that it would also close the distribution center, ending nearly 100 years of manufacturing in Wooster. Though the company that built it no longer operates there, the Wooster facility is still putting out rubber products thanks to Wayne County Rubber, which took over the factory in recent years. Resources on Closure of Wooster Operation     Article from The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer about Wooster closure     Website for Wayne County Rubber Coverage of Closure from The (Wooster) Daily Record     "SEC Approves Rubbermaid, Newell Merger" Feb. 5, 1999     "Efficiency Plans Cause Downsizing, Rubbermaid Says" May 18, 1999     "Rubbermaid No Longer Stands Alone" March 12, 1999     "Newell Rubbermaid Stock Takes Plunge" Sept. 5, 1999     "Revolving Door Spins Again at Rubbermaid" Aug. 2, 2000     "Newell Rubbermaid Cuts to be Easy on Wooster" May 13, 2001     "Newell Earnings Down: CEO 'Disappointed' in Wooster Group" Aug. 1, 2003     "Newell Cuts 85; Blow Mold Department Eliminated" Nov. 20, 2003     "Rubbermaid Leaving Town" Dec. 10, 2003     "Negative Signs for City and County" Dec. 10, 2003     "Company Retirees Sharing in the Loss" Dec. 11, 2003     "Council to Adopt Budget 'As Is'" Dec. 13, 2003     "The Silver Lining is Out There" Dec. 26, 2003     "In March, 388 at Newell Out of Jobs" Jan. 15, 2004     "Newell Rubbermaid Posts Fourth-Quarter Loss of $211.6 Million" Jan. 30, 2004     "Life After Rubbermaid" March 28, 2004     "150 Rubbermaid Jobs Stay; Distribution Center Remaining" April 14, 2004     "Rubbermaid Manufacturing Ends Today" May 28, 2004     "Rubbermaid Auctions off Equipment no Longer Needed in Wooster" June 17, 2004     "Newell Sells Wooster Building" Dec. 29, 2004     "Final Nail in Coffin of What Once was Rubbermaid" Dec. 2, 2011   Major Acquisitions, Alliances, & Mergers         1920: Wooster Rubber Company founded           1933: Rubbermaid founded           1934: The two companies merge           1965: Acquires West German plastic manufacturer Dupol           1980: Acquires Carlan, owner of Con-Tact plastic coverings brand           1984: Acquires Little Tikes Company, maker of play structures           1985: Acquires Gott Corporation, maker of insulated coolers and beverage holders           1986: Acquires MicroComputer Accessories, maker of items like multi-form printer feeders and computer desks, and Seco Industries, maker of floor care products           1987: Acquires Viking Brush of Canada, maker of commercial brushes           1989: Joint venture with French manufacturer Allibert to make plastic outdoor furniture in North Carolina           1990: Joint venture with Curver Group, part of Dutch chemical maker DSM N.V. to sell housewares and furniture in Europe, Middle East, and North Africa; Acquires Eldon Industries, manufacturer of computer accessories           1992: Acquires Iron Mountain Forge Corporation, maker of playground systems           1994: Acquires Ausplay, Australian play structure manufacturer; Empire Brushes, manufacturer of brooms, mops, and brushes; and Carex Inc., maker of products for home healthcare; Joint venture with Richell Corporation, maker of housewares in Japan, to expand sales there           1995: Acquires French plastics manufacturer Injectaplastic S.A. to get back into the European market after dissolution of Curver deal, and a 75 percent share in Dom-Plast S.A., the leader in plastic household products in Poland           1996: Acquires Graco Children's Products Inc.           1997: Strategic alliance with Amway Corporation to develop cobranded premium products           Jan. 1998: Acquires Curver Group           1998: Makes last acquisition as an independent company, as it buys Century Products, maker of car seats, strollers, and infant carriers           1999: Company is acquired by Newell to form Newell Rubbermaid           April 1999: Acquires Ateliers 28, French maker of drapery hardware           Oct. 99: Acquires Reynolds S.A., French writing instrument maker, and McKechnie P.L.C. consumer products division, including Harrison Drape, Spur Shelving, Douglas Kane, and Nenplas/Homelux           Dec. 99-May 00: Acquires three European picture frame businesses: Ceanothe Holding, Mersch, and Brio           Dec. 00: Acquires stationery products division of Gillette Company, including Paper Mate, Parker, and Waterman, as well as Liquid Paper           April 02: Acquires American Tool Companies, including Irwin, Vise-Grip and Quik-Grip           2003: Acquires American Saw & Manufacturing Company, maker of Lenox brand of linear edge power tool accessories, hand tools, and band saw blades           2005: Acquires Dymo, maker of on-demand labeling solutions           2006: Acquires CardScan business card scanners           2007: Acquires Internet postage company Endicia and its Picture-it-Postage brand           2008: Acquires Technical Concepts, maker of public restroom equipment, and Aprica Kassai, Japanese maker of strollers, car seats, and other children's products           July 2014: Acquires Ignite Holdings, makers of Contigo and Avex           Oct. 2014: Acquires bubba brands, maker of reusable drinkware....The Company of Today Since the merger with Newell and despite the challenges at the end of the last century, the products born of the company founded in 1920 continue to be hugely popular. Though its housewares operations continue to generate a major part of its name-recognition and profits, the commercial division has surpassed it in terms of sales. According to the company’s Q2 2014 report, home goods contributed 12.4 percent of total sales, while commercial products added 16.2 percent with $222.3 million. That number represents an increase of 5.4 percent, from $21.9 million to $36.2 million, in operational income compared to the same period in 2013. Despite some recent declines in sales for the healthcare division, the quarter also brought increases in that area. The report attributes the increases in these core areas to favorable pricing and high production. "Outstanding top line performance in Writing, Tools, and Commercial Products drove core sales growth of 4.6 percent," President and CEO Michael Polk said in a supplemental press release. "Normalized gross margin increased to 40.3 percent driven by pricing, productivity, and positive mix. Normalized operating margin increased to 15.8 percent despite more than doubling our investment in advertising, and normalized EPS increased 18 percent to $0.59. These strong results give us increased confidence that our strategy of accelerating advertising and promotion in support of our brands is working." The increases are in contrast to the First Quarter of 2014, when the commercial products division was down 0.3 percent compared to the same period in 2013. The start of the fiscal year was the weaker of the two quarters both years, with $182.6 million in total sales in 2014. Polk credits some of the Q2 growth to recent acquisitions, including the purchase the same year of reusable drinkware brands like Contigo, Avex, and bubba. The company has also grown its product offerings since the merger, which has meant more products in commercial and healthcare segments. Now, the name can be found in every area of business, from warehouses to doctors' offices. The commercial division is further divided into eight categories of products: Skincare, Washroom, Waste, Material Handling, Cleaning, Foodservice, Safety, and Agriculture. Each has some key products that have become ubiquitous in their respective areas..." (wikipedia.org) "Stationery refers to commercially manufactured writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous form paper, and other office supplies.[1] Stationery includes materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer printers. History of stationery Originally, the term 'stationery' referred to all products sold by a stationer, whose name indicated that his book shop was on a fixed spot. This was usually somewhere near a university, and permanent, while medieval trading was mainly carried on by itinerant peddlers (including chapmen, who sold books) and others (such as farmers and craftsmen) at markets and fairs. It was a unique term used between the 13th and 15th centuries in the manuscript culture. Stationers' shops were places where books were bound, copied, and published. These shops often loaned books to nearby university students for a fee. The books were loaned out in sections, allowing students to study or copy them, and the only way to get the next part of the book was to return the previous section.[2] In some cases, stationers' shops became the preferred choice for scholars to find books, instead of university libraries due to stationers' shops' wider collection of books.[3] The Stationers' Company formerly held a monopoly over the publishing industry in England and was responsible for copyright regulations....Classifications A stationery shop on November 4, 1973 in Iran     Business Stationery: Business card, letterhead, invoices, receipts     Desktop instruments: hole punch, stapler and staples, tapes and tape dispensers,     Drawing instruments: brushes, pens, colour pencils, crayons, water colour,     Erasers     Ink and toner:         Dot matrix printer's ink ribbon         Inkjet cartridge         Laser printer toner         Photocopier toner     Filing and storage:         Expandable file         File folder         Hanging file folder         Index cards and files         Two-pocket portfolios     Mailing and shipping supplies:         Envelope     Paper and pad:         Notebooks, wirebound notebook, writing pads, college ruled paper, wide-ruled paper,         Office paper: dot matrix paper, inkjet printer paper, laser printer paper, photocopy paper.         Loose leaves, ring binders and hole punches.     Writing instruments: ballpoint pen, fountain pen, pencil, porous point pen, rollerball pen, highlighter pen, multi pen School supplies Many shops that sell stationery also sell other school supplies for students in primary and secondary education, including pocket calculators, display boards, compasses and protractors, lunchboxes, and the like.[" (wikipedia.org) "A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can be used for a variety of purposes from functional to decorative. Boxes may be made of a variety of materials, both durable, such as wood and metal; and non-durable, such as corrugated fiberboard and paperboard. Corrugated metal boxes are commonly used as shipping containers. Most commonly, boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides, making them rectangular prisms; but boxes may also have other shapes. Rectangular prisms are often referred to colloquially as "boxes." Boxes may be closed and shut with flaps, doors, or a separate lid. They can be secured shut with adhesives, tapes, or more decorative or elaborately functional mechanisms, such as a catch, clasp or lock. Types Packaging Several types of boxes are used in packaging and storage.     A corrugated box is a shipping container made from corrugated fiberboard, most commonly used to transport products from a warehouse during distribution. Corrugated boxes are also known as cartons, cases, and cardboard boxes in various regions. Corrugated boxes are rated based on the strength of their material or their carrying capacity. Corrugated boxes are also used as product packaging, or in point of sale displays.     Folding cartons (sometimes known as a box) are paperboard boxes manufactured with a folding lid. These are used to package a wide range of goods, and can be used for either one-time (non-resealable) usage, or as a storage box for more permanent use. Folding cartons are first printed (if necessary) before being die-cut and scored to form a blank; these are then transported and stored flat, before being constructed at the point of use.         A gift box is a variant on the folding carton, used for birthday or Christmas gifts.     Gable boxes are paperboard cartons used for liquids.     Setup boxes (also known as rigid paperboard boxes) are made of stiff paperboard and are permanently glued together with paper skins that can be printed or colored. Unlike folding cartons, these are assembled at the point of manufacture and transported as already constructed ("set-up"). Set up boxes are more expensive than folding boxes and are typically used for protecting high-value items such as cosmetics, watches or smaller consumer electronics.     Crates are heavy duty shipping containers. Originally made of wood, crates are distinct from wooden boxes, also used as heavy-duty shipping containers, as a wooden container must have all six of its sides put in place to result in the rated strength of the container. The strength of a wooden box, on the other hand, is rated based on the weight it can carry before the top or opening is installed.         A wooden wine box or wine crate, originally used for shipping and storing expensive wines, is a variant of the wooden box now used for decorative or promotional purposes, or as a storage box during shipping.     Bulk boxes are large boxes often used in industrial environments, sized to fit on a pallet....Storage See also: Decorative boxes Boxes for storing various items in can often be very decorative, as they are intended for permanent use and sometimes are put on display in certain locations. The following are some types of storage boxes :     A jewelry (AmE) or jewellery (BrE) box, is a box for trinkets or jewels. It can take a very modest form with paper covering and lining, covered in leather and lined with satin, or be larger and more highly decorated.     A hat box is used for storing or transporting a hat. Hat boxes are often cylindrical or oval.     A humidor is a special box for storing cigars at the proper humidity.     A "strong box" or safe, is a secure lockable box for storing money or other valuable items. The term "strong box" is sometimes used for safes that are not portable but installed in a wall or floor.     A toolbox is used for carrying tools of various kinds. They are usually used for portability rather than just storage.     A toy box is name of box for storing toys.     A box file is used in offices for storing papers and smaller files." (wikipedia.org) "The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company Philips in 1963,[2] Compact Cassettes come in two forms, either containing content as a prerecorded cassette (Musicassette), or as a fully recordable "blank" cassette. Both forms have two sides and are reversible by the user.[3] Although other tape cassette formats have also existed—for example the Microcassette—the generic term cassette tape is normally used to refer to the Compact Cassette because of its ubiquity.[4] Its uses have ranged from portable audio to home recording to data storage for early microcomputers; the Compact Cassette technology was originally designed for dictation machines, but improvements in fidelity led to it supplanting the stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel tape recording in most non-professional audio applications by the mid-1970s.[5] It became an extremely popular format for prerecorded music, first alongside the LP record and later the digital compact disc (CD);[6] the latter format eventually caused prerecorded cassettes to fade into obscurity by the mid-1990s in many countries,[7] but it continued to be popular well into the 2000s in some other countries as well as for home recording purposes.[8] Compact Cassette tapes remain in production as of 2022 and survive as a niche format, continuing to receive some new music releases.[9][10] Compact Cassettes contain two miniature spools, between which the magnetically coated, polyester-type plastic film (magnetic tape) is passed and wound[11] -- essentially miniaturizing reel-to-reel audio tape and enclosing it, with its reels, in a small case (cartridge) — hence: "cassette".[12] These spools and their attendant parts are held inside a protective plastic shell which is 4 by 2.5 by 0.5 inches (10.2 cm × 6.35 cm × 1.27 cm) at its largest dimensions. The tape itself is commonly referred to as "eighth-inch" tape, supposedly 1⁄8 inch (0.125 in; 3.17 mm) wide, but actually slightly larger, at 0.15 inches (3.81 mm).[13] Two stereo pairs of tracks (four total) or two monaural audio tracks are available on the tape; one stereo pair or one monophonic track is played or recorded when the tape is moving in one direction and the second (pair) when moving in the other direction. This reversal is achieved either by manually flipping the cassette when the tape comes to an end, or by the reversal of tape movement, known as "auto-reverse", when the mechanism detects that the tape has ended.[14] History Precursors Wollensak portable reel-to-reel tape recorder Compact Cassette vs. RCA Tape Cartridge After the Second World War, the magnetic tape recording technology proliferated across the world. In the US, Ampex, using equipment obtained in Germany as a starting point, began commercial production of tape recorders. First used in studios to record radio programs, tape recorders quickly found their way into schools and homes. By 1953, 1 million US homes had tape machines.[15] In 1958, following four years of development, RCA Victor introduced the stereo, quarter-inch, reversible, reel-to-reel RCA tape cartridge.[16][17] Philips was competing with Telefunken and Grundig with their DC-International format [18] in a race to establish its cassette tape as the worldwide standard, and it wanted support from Japanese electronics manufacturers.[19] Philips' Compact Cassette became dominant as a result of Sony pressuring Philips to license the format to them free of charge.[20] In the early years sound quality was mediocre, but it improved dramatically by the early 1970s when it caught up with the quality of 8-track tape and kept improving. The Compact Cassette went on to become a popular (and re-recordable) alternative to the 12-inch vinyl LP during the late 1970s.[6] Introduction Operating instructions for the Philips/Norelco Cartridge Tape Carry-Corder 150 (1964) One of the first cassette recorders from Philips, the Typ EL 3302 (1968) Inside of a cassette In the early 1960s Philips Eindhoven tasked two different teams to design a tape cartridge for thinner and narrower tape compared to what was used in reel-to-reel tape recorders. By 1962, the Vienna division of Philips developed a single-hole cassette, adapted from its German described name Einloch-Kassette.[21] Philips selected the two-spool cartridge as a winner and introduced it in Europe on 30 August 1963 at the Berlin Radio Show,[2][29] and in the United States (under the Norelco brand) in November 1964. The trademark name Compact Cassette came a year later. The team of Dutch and Belgian origin at Philips was led by the Dutch Lou Ottens in Hasselt, Belgium.[30][31][32] Original mono version Philips selected the two-spool cartridge as a winner and introduced the 2-track 2-direction mono version in Europe on 30 August 1963 at the Berlin Radio Show,[2][38] and in the United States (under the Norelco brand) in November 1964. The trademark name Compact Cassette came a year later. The team of Dutch and Belgian origin at Philips was led by the Dutch Lou Ottens in Hasselt, Belgium.[39][40][41] Philips also offered a machine to play and record the cassettes, the Philips Typ EL 3300. An updated model, Typ EL 3301 was offered in the US in November 1964 as Norelco Carry-Corder 150. By 1966 over 250,000 recorders had been sold in the US alone and Japan soon became the major source of recorders. By 1968, 85 manufacturers had sold over 2.4 million players.[28][42] By the end of the 1960s, the cassette business was worth an estimated 150 million dollars.[28] By the early 1970s the compact cassette machines were outselling other types of tape machines by a large margin.[43] Philips was competing with Telefunken and Grundig (with their DC International format [44]) in a race to establish its cassette tape as the worldwide standard, and it wanted support from Japanese electronics manufacturers.[45] Philips' Compact Cassette became dominant as a result of Sony pressuring Philips to license the format to them free of charge.[46] In the early years sound quality was mediocre, but it improved dramatically by the early 1970s when it caught up with the quality of 8-track tape and kept improving.[6] The Compact Cassette went on to become a popular (and re-recordable) alternative to the 12-inch vinyl LP during the late 1970s.[6] Stereo version As with prerecorded reel-to-reel and 8-track, sales were slow to start, but picked up rapidly to tie with the 8-track before superseding it by the early '70s. By 1968, 85 manufacturers had sold over 2.4 million mono and stereo players.[28][47] By the end of the 1960s, the cassette business was worth an estimated 150 million dollars.[28] By the early 1970s the compact cassette machines were outselling other types of tape machines by a large margin.[48] Popularity of music cassettes The mass production of "blank" (not yet recorded) Compact Cassettes began in 1964 in Hanover, Germany.[28] Prerecorded music cassettes (also known as Music-Cassettes, and later just Musicassettes; M.C. for short) were launched in Europe in late 1965. The Mercury Record Company, a US affiliate of Philips, introduced M.C. to the US in July 1966. The initial offering consisted of 49 titles.[49] However, the system had been designed initially for dictation and portable use, with the audio quality of early players not well suited for music. Some early models also had an unreliable mechanical design. In 1971, the Advent Corporation introduced their Model 201 tape deck that combined Dolby type B noise reduction and chromium(IV) oxide (CrO2) tape, with a commercial-grade tape transport mechanism supplied by the Wollensak camera division of 3M Corporation. This resulted in the format being taken more seriously for musical use, and started the era of high fidelity cassettes and players.[5] British record labels began releasing compact cassettes in October 1967, and they exploded as a mass-market medium after the first Walkman, the TPS-L2, went on sale on July 1, 1979, as cassettes provided portability, which vinyl records could not. While portable radios and boom boxes had been around for some time, the Walkman was the first truly personal portable music player, one that not only allowed users to listen to music away from home, but to do so in private. According to the technology news website The Verge, “the world changed” on the day the TPS-L2 was released.[50][51][52] Stereo tape decks and boom boxes became some of the most highly sought-after consumer products of both decades, as the ability of users to take their music with them anywhere with ease[28] led to its popularity around the globe.[28][53] The Sony Walkman Like the transistor radio in the 1950s and 1960s, the portable CD player in the 1990s, and the MP3 player in the 2000s, the Walkman defined the portable music market for the decade of the '80s, with cassette sales overtaking those of LPs.[6][54] Total vinyl record sales remained higher well into the 1980s due to greater sales of singles, although cassette singles achieved popularity for a period in the 1990s.[54] Another barrier to cassettes overtaking vinyl in sales was shoplifting; compact cassettes were small enough that a thief could easily place one inside a pocket and walk out of a shop without being noticed. To prevent this, retailers in the US would place cassettes inside oversized "spaghetti box" containers or locked display cases, either of which would significantly inhibit browsing, thus reducing cassette sales.[55] During the early 1980s some record labels sought to solve this problem by introducing new, larger packages for cassettes which would allow them to be displayed alongside vinyl records and compact discs, or giving them a further market advantage over vinyl by adding bonus tracks.[55] Willem Andriessen wrote that the development in technology allowed "hardware designers to discover and satisfy one of the collective desires of human beings all over the world, independent of region, climate, religion, culture, race, sex, age and education: the desire to enjoy music at any time, at any place, in any desired sound quality and almost at any wanted price".[56] Critic Robert Palmer, writing in The New York Times in 1981, cited the proliferation of personal stereos as well as extra tracks not available on LP as reasons for the surge in popularity of cassettes.[57] Cassettes' ability to allow users to record content in public also led to a boom in bootleg cassettes made at live shows in the 1980s.[58] The Walkman dominated the decade, selling up to 350 million units. So synonymous did the name "Walkman" become with all portable music players—with a German dictionary at one point defining the term as such without reference to Sony—that the Austrian Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that Sony, which had not sought to have the publisher of that dictionary retract that definition, could not prevent other companies from using that name, as it had now become genericized.[59][60][61] As a result of this, a number of Sony’s competitors produced their own version of the Walkman. Others made their own branded tape players, like JVC, Panasonic, Sharp, and Aiwa, the second-largest producer of the devices.[62] Between 1985, when cassettes overtook vinyl, and 1992, when they were overtaken by CDs[52] (introduced in 1983 as a format that offered greater storage capacity and more accurate sound),[63] the cassette tape was the most popular format in the United States[52] and the UK. Record labels experimented with innovative packaging designs. A designer during the era explained: "There was so much money in the industry at the time, we could try anything with design." The introduction of the cassette single, called a "cassingle", was also part of this era and featured a music single in Compact Cassette form. Until 2005, cassettes remained the dominant medium for purchasing and listening to music in some developing countries, but compact disc (CD) technology had superseded the Compact Cassette in the vast majority of music markets throughout the world by this time.[64][65] Cassette culture Further information: Cassette culture Compact cassettes served as catalysts for social change. Their small size, durability and ease of copying helped bring underground rock and punk music behind the Iron Curtain, creating a foothold for Western culture among the younger generations.[66] Likewise, in Egypt cassettes empowered an unprecedented number of people to create culture, circulate information, and challenge ruling regimes before the internet became publicly accessible.[67] Cassettes at a Cairo Kiosk (from Media of the Masses: Cassette Culture in Modern Egypt, 2022)[68] One of the most famous political uses of cassette tapes was the dissemination of sermons by the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini throughout Iran before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, in which Khomeini urged the overthrow of the regime of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[69] During the military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990) a "cassette culture" emerged where blacklisted music or music that was by other reasons not available as records was shared.[70][71][72] Some pirate cassette producers created brands such as Cumbre y Cuatro that have in retrospect received praise for their contributions to popular music.[72] Armed groups such as Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front (FPMR) and the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) made use of cassettes to spread their messages.[71] In 1970s India, cassettes were blamed for bringing unwanted Christian and Islamic influences into traditionally Sikh and Hindu areas. Cassette technology was a booming market for pop music in India, drawing criticism from conservatives while at the same time creating a huge market for legitimate recording companies, as well as pirated tapes.[73] Some sales channels were associated with cassettes: in Spain filling stations often featured a display selling cassettes. While offering also mainstream music these cassettes became associated with genres such as Gipsy rhumba, light music and joke tapes that were very popular in the 1970s and 1980s.[74] Decline Despite sales of CDs overtaking those of prerecorded cassettes in the early 1990s in the U.S.,[75] the format remained popular for specific applications, such as car audio, personal stereos, boomboxes, telephone answering machines, dictation, field recording, home recording, and mixtapes well into the decade. Cassette players were typically more resistant to shocks than CD players, and their lower fidelity was not considered a serious drawback in mobile use. With the introduction of electronic skip protection it became possible to use portable CD players on the go, and automotive CD players became viable. CD-R drives and media also became affordable for consumers around the same time.[76] By 1993, annual shipments of CD players had reached 5 million, up 21% from the year before; while cassette player shipments had dropped 7% to approximately 3.4 million.[77] Sales of pre-recorded music cassettes in the US dropped from 442 million in 1990 to 274,000 by 2007.[78] For audiobooks, the final year that cassettes represented greater than 50% of total market sales was 2002 when they were replaced by CDs as the dominant media.[79] The last new car with an available cassette player was a 2014 TagAZ AQUiLA.[80] Four years prior, Sony had stopped the production of personal cassette players.[81] In 2011, the Oxford English Dictionary removed the phrase "cassette player" from its 12th edition Concise version,[82] which prompted some media sources to mistakenly report that the term "cassette tape" was being removed.[83] In India, music continued to be released on the cassette format due to its low cost until 2009.[84] 21st century Burmese music cassette tapes for sale, Yangon, Myanmar (2006) Cassettes at a Cairo Kiosk in 2015 (from Media of the Masses: Cassette Culture in Modern Egypt, 2022)[85] Although portable digital recorders are most common today, analog tape remains a desirable option for certain artists and consumers.[50][86] Artists and listeners of older genres like "dansband" may favor the format most familiar to their fans.[87] Some musicians and DJs in the independent music community maintain a tradition of using and releasing cassettes due to its low cost and ease of use.[50][86] Underground and DIY communities release regularly, and sometimes exclusively, on cassette format, particularly in experimental music circles and to a lesser extent in hardcore punk, death metal, and black metal circles, out of a fondness for the format. Even among major-label stars, the form has at least one devotee: Thurston Moore stated in 2009, "I only listen to cassettes."[88] By 2019, few companies still made cassettes. Among those are National Audio Company, from the US, and Mulann, also known as Recording The Masters, from France.[89][90] Sony announced the end of cassette Walkman production on October 22, 2010,[91] a result of the emergence of MP3 players such as Apple’s iPod.[92] Today Sony uses the Walkman brand solely for its line of digital media players,[93] such as the NW-WM1ZM2, a high-end device released in 2022 for the niche audiophile market, which is manufactured with high quality components.[94][95] In 2010, Botswana-based Diamond Studios announced plans[96] for establishing a plant to mass-produce cassettes in a bid to combat piracy. It opened in 2011.[97] In South Korea, the early English education boom for toddlers encourages a continuous demand for English language cassettes, as of 2011, due to the affordable cost.[98] National Audio Company in Missouri, the largest of the few remaining manufacturers of audio cassettes in the US, oversaw the mass production of the "Awesome Mix #1" cassette from the film Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014.[99] They reported that they had produced more than 10 million tapes in 2014 and that sales were up 20 percent the following year, their best year since they opened in 1969.[100] In 2016, cassette sales in the United States rose by 74% to 129,000.[101] In 2018, following several years of shortage, National Audio Company began producing their own magnetic tape, becoming the world's first known manufacturer of an all-new tape stock.[102] Mulann, a company which acquired Pyral/RMGI in 2015 and originates from BASF, also started production of its new cassette tape stock in 2018, basing on reel tape formula.[103] In Japan and South Korea, the pop acts Matsuda Seiko,[104] SHINee,[105] and NCT 127released their material on limited-run cassettes.[106] In the mid-to-late 2010s, cassette sales saw a modest resurgence concurrent with the vinyl revival. As early as 2015, the retail chain Urban Outfitters, which had long sold LPs, started selling new pre-recorded cassettes (both new and old albums), blank cassettes, and players.[107] In 2016, cassette sales increased,[108] a trend that continued in 2017[109] and 2018.[110] In the UK, sales of cassette tapes in 2021 reached its highest number since 2003.[111] Cassettes are favored by some artists and listeners, including those of older genres of music such as dansband,[112] as well as independent[50] and underground artists,[113] some of whom were releasing new music on tape by the 2020s, including Britney Spears and Busta Rhymes.[114] Reasons cited for this include tradition, low cost,[50] the DIY ease of use,[115] and a nostalgic fondness for how the format's imperfections lend greater vibrancy to low-fi, experimental music, even though it lacks the "full-bodied richness" of vinyl.[50][113][115] Features Visualization of the magnetic field on a stereo cassette containing a 1kHz audio tone. The cassette was a great step forward in convenience from reel-to-reel audio tape recording, although, because of the limitations of the cassette's size and speed, it initially compared poorly in quality. Unlike the 4-track stereo open-reel format, the two stereo tracks of each side lie adjacent to each other, rather than being interleaved with the tracks of the other side. This permitted monaural cassette players to play stereo recordings "summed" as mono tracks and permitted stereo players to play mono recordings through both speakers. The tape is 0.15 in (3.81 mm) wide, with each mono track 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in) wide, plus an unrecorded guard band between each track. In stereo, each track is further divided into a left and a right channel of 0.6 mm (0.024 in) each, with a gap of 0.3 mm (0.012 in).[116] The tape moves past the playback head at 1+7⁄8 inches per second (4.76 cm/s), the speed being a continuation of the increasingly slower speed series in open-reel machines operating at 30, 15, 7+1⁄2, or 3+3⁄4 inches per second.[13] For comparison, the typical open-reel 1⁄4-inch 4-track consumer format used tape that is 0.248 inches (6.3 mm) wide, each track .043 in (1.1 mm) wide, and running at either twice or four times the speed of a cassette.[citation needed] Cassette types Notches on the top surface of the Compact Cassette indicate its type. The rear-most cassette at the top of this picture, with only write-protect notches (here covered by write-protect tabs), is Type I, its tape consisting of iron oxide. The next cassette down, with additional notches adjacent to the write-protect tabs, is Type II, its tape consisting of chrome and cobalt. The bottom two cassettes, featuring the Type II notches plus an additional pair in the middle of the cassette, are Type IV (metal); note the removal of the tabs on the second of these, meaning the tape is write-protected. Type III was a combination of Types I and II but never gained the popularity of the other three types and was made obsolete by Type IV. Further information: Compact Cassette tape types and formulations Cassette tapes are made of a polyester-type plastic film with a magnetic coating. The original magnetic material was based on gamma ferric oxide (Fe2O3). Circa 1970, 3M Company developed a cobalt volume-doping process combined with a double-coating technique to enhance overall tape output levels. This product was marketed as "High Energy" under its Scotch brand of recording tapes.[117] Inexpensive cassettes commonly are labeled "low-noise", but typically are not optimized for high frequency response. For this reason, some low-grade IEC Type I tapes have been marketed specifically as better suited for data storage than for sound recording.[citation needed] In 1968,[118] DuPont, the inventor of a chromium dioxide (CrO2) manufacturing process, began commercialization of CrO2 media. The first CrO2 cassette was introduced in 1970 by Advent,[119] and later strongly backed by BASF, the inventor and longtime manufacturer of magnetic recording tape.[120] Next, coatings using magnetite (Fe3O4) such as TDK's Audua were produced in an attempt to approach or exceed the sound quality of vinyl records. Cobalt-adsorbed iron oxide (Avilyn) was introduced by TDK in 1974 and proved very successful. "Type IV" tapes using pure metal particles (as opposed to oxide formulations) were introduced in 1979 by 3M under the trade name Metafine. The tape coating on most cassettes sold today as either "normal" or "chrome" consists of ferric oxide and cobalt mixed in varying ratios (and using various processes); there are very few cassettes on the market that use a pure (CrO2) coating.[6] Simple voice recorders and earlier cassette decks are designed to work with standard ferric formulations. Newer tape decks usually are built with switches and later detectors for the different bias and equalization requirements for higher grade tapes. The most common are iron oxide tapes (defined by the IEC 60094 standard.[14] Notches on top of the cassette shell indicate the type of tape. Type I cassettes have only write-protect notches, Type II have an additional pair next to the write protection ones, and Type IV (metal) have a third set near the middle of the top of the cassette shell. These allow later cassette decks to detect the tape type automatically and select the proper bias and equalization.[121] Tape length Maxell compact cassettes, C60 (90m) and C90 (135m) Tape length usually is measured in minutes of total playing time. The most popular varieties of blank tape were C60 (30 minutes per side), C90 (45 minutes per side) and C120 (60 minutes per side).[1] The C46 and C60 lengths typically are 15 to 16 micrometers (0.59 to 0.63 mils) thick, but C90s are 10 to 11 μm (0.39 to 0.43 mils)[122] and (the less common) C120s are just 6 μm (0.24 mils) thick,[123] rendering them more susceptible to stretching or breakage. Even C180 tapes were available at one point.[124] Other lengths are (or were) also available from some vendors, including C10, C12 and C15 (useful for saving data from early home computers and in telephone answering machines), C30, C40, C50, C54, C64, C70, C74, C80, C84, C94, C100, C105, and C110. As late as 2010, Thomann still offered C10, C20, C30 and C40 IEC Type II tape cassettes for use with 4- and 8-track portastudios.[125] Track width The full tape width is 3.8 mm. For mono recording the track width is 1.5 mm. In stereo mode each channel has width of 0.6 mm with a 0.3 mm separation to avoid crosstalk.[126] Head gap The head-gap width[clarification needed] is 2 µm[according to whom?] which gives a theoretical maximum frequency[citation needed] of about 12 kHz (at the standard speed of 1 7/8 ips or 4.76 cm/s). A narrower gap would give a higher frequency limit but also weaker magnetization.[126] Cassette tape adapter Cassette tape adapters allow external audio sources to be played back from any tape player, but were typically used for car audio systems. An attached audio cable with a phone connector converts the electrical signals to be read by the tape head, while mechanical gears simulate reel to reel movement without actual tapes when driven by the player mechanism.[127] Optional mechanics Tape Guide via Security Mechanism (SM) In order to wind up the tape more reliably, the former BASF (from 1998 EMTEC) patented the Special Mechanism or Security Mechanism advertised with the abbreviation SM in the early 1970s, which was temporarily taken over by Agfa under license. This feature each includes a rail to guide the tape to the spool and prevent an unclean roll from forming.[128] Flaws Magnetic tape is not an ideal medium for long-term archival storage, as it begins to degrade after 10 – 20 years, with some experts estimating its lifespan to be no more than 30 years.[129][130] A common mechanical problem occurs when a defective player or resistance in the tape path causes insufficient tension on the take-up spool. This would cause the magnetic tape to be fed out through the bottom of the cassette and become tangled in the mechanism of the player. In these cases, the player was said to have "eaten" or "chewed" the tape, often destroying the playability of the cassette.[131][failed verification] Splicing blocks, analogous to those used for open-reel 1/4" tape, were available and could be used to remove the damaged portion or repair the break in the tape.[citation needed] Cassette players and recorders Main article: Cassette deck     This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Cassette tape" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) See also: Loop bin duplicator The first cassette machines (e.g. the Philips EL 3300, introduced in August 1963[26][132]) A major innovation was the front-loading arrangement. Pioneer's angled cassette bay and the exposed bays of some Sansui models eventually were standardized as a front-loading door into which a cassette would be loaded. Later models would adopt electronic buttons, and replace conventional meters (which could be "pegged" when overloaded[clarification needed]) with electronic LED or vacuum fluorescent displays, with level controls typically being controlled by either rotary controls or side-by-side sliders. BIC and Marantz briefly offered models that could be run at double speeds, but Nakamichi was widely recognized as one of the first companies to create decks that rivaled reel-to-reel decks with full 20–20,000 Hz frequency response, low noise, and very low wow and flutter.[133][134] Different interpretations of the cassette standard resulted in a 4 dB ambiguity at 16 kHz. Technically, both camps in this debate were still within the original cassette specification as no tolerance for frequency response is provided above 12.5 kHz and all calibration tones above 12.5 kHz are considered optional.[135][136] Decreasing noise at 16 kHz also decreases the maximum signal level at 16 kHz, the High-Frequency Dynamics stay almost constant.[137] A third company, Bang & Olufsen of Denmark, created the Dolby HX "head room extension" system for reliably reducing tape saturation effects at high frequencies while maintaining higher bias levels.[138] Radio–cassette players of the design also called "ghetto-blasters" and "boomboxes" Applications for car stereos varied widely. Auto manufacturers in the US typically would fit a cassette slot into their standard large radio faceplates. Europe and Asia would standardize on DIN and double DIN sized faceplates. In the 1980s, a high-end installation would have a Dolby AM/FM cassette deck, and they rendered the 8-track player obsolete in car installations because of space, performance, and audio quality. In the 1990s and 2000s, as the cost of building CD players declined, many manufacturers offered a CD player. The CD player eventually supplanted the cassette deck as standard equipment, but some cars, especially those targeted at older drivers, were offered with the option of a cassette player, either by itself or sometimes in combination with a CD slot. Most new cars can still accommodate aftermarket cassette players, and the auxiliary jack advertised for MP3 players can be used also with portable cassette players, but 2011 was the first model year for which no manufacturer offered factory-installed cassette players.[139] A head cleaning cassette Applications Audio The Compact Cassette originally was intended for use in dictation machines. In this capacity, some later-model cassette-based dictation machines could also run the tape at half speed (15⁄16 in/s) as playback quality was not critical. The cassette soon became a popular medium for distributing prerecorded music—initially through the Philips Record Company (and subsidiary labels Mercury and Philips in the US). As of 2009, one still found cassettes used for a variety of purposes, such as journalism, oral history, meeting and interview transcripts, audio-books, and so on. Police are still big buyers of cassette tapes, as some lawyers "don't trust digital technology for interviews".[140] However, they are starting to give way to Compact Discs and more "compact" digital storage media. Prerecorded cassettes were also employed as a way of providing chemotherapy information to recently diagnosed cancer patients as studies found anxiety and fear often gets in the way of the information processing.[141] The cassette quickly found use in the commercial music industry. One artifact found on some commercially produced music cassettes was a sequence of test tones, called SDR (Super Dynamic Range, also called XDR, or eXtended Dynamic Range) soundburst tones, at the beginning and end of the tape, heard in order of low frequency to high. These were used during SDR/XDR's duplication process to gauge the quality of the tape medium. Many consumers objected to these tones since they were not part of the recorded music.[142] Home studio In the simplest configuration, rather than playing a pair of stereo channels of each side of the cassette, the typical "portastudio" used a four-track tape head assembly to access four tracks on the cassette at once (with the tape playing in one direction). Each track could be recorded to, erased, or played back individually, allowing musicians to overdub themselves and create simple multitrack recordings easily, which could then be mixed down to a finished stereo version on an external machine. To increase audio quality in these recorders, the tape speed sometimes was doubled to 33/4 inches per second, in comparison to the standard 17⁄8 ips; additionally, dbx, Dolby B or Dolby C noise reduction provided compansion (compression of the signal during recording with equal and opposite expansion of the signal during playback), which yields increased dynamic range by lowering the noise level and increasing the maximum signal level before distortion occurs. Multi-track cassette recorders with built-in mixer and signal routing features ranged from easy-to-use beginner units up to professional-level recording systems.[143] Home dubbing Most cassettes were sold blank, and used for recording (dubbing) the owner's records (as backup, to play in the car, or to make mixtape compilations), their friends' records, or music from the radio. This practice was condemned by the music industry with such alarmist slogans as "Home Taping Is Killing Music". However, many claimed that the medium was ideal for spreading new music and would increase sales, and strongly defended their right to copy at least their own records onto tape. For a limited time in the early 1980s Island Records sold chromium dioxide "One Plus One"[144] Various legal cases arose surrounding the dubbing of cassettes. In the UK, in the case of CBS Songs v. Amstrad (1988), the House of Lords found in favor of Amstrad that producing equipment that facilitated the dubbing of cassettes, in this case a high-speed twin cassette deck that allowed one cassette to be copied directly onto another, did not constitute copyright infringement by the manufacturer.[145] In a similar case, a shop owner who rented cassettes and sold blank tapes was not liable for copyright infringement even though it was clear that his customers likely were dubbing them at home.[146] In both cases, the courts held that manufacturers and retailers could not be held accountable for the actions of consumers.[147] As an alternative to home dubbing, in the late 1980s, the Personics company installed booths in record stores across America that allowed customers to make personalized mixtapes from a digitally encoded back-catalogue with customised printed covers.[148] Data recording A C2N Datassette recorder for Commodore computers A streamer cassette for data storage, adapted from the audio Compact Cassette format Floppy disk storage had become the standard data storage medium in the United States by the mid-1980s; for example, by 1983 the majority of software sold by Atari Program Exchange was on floppy. Cassette remained more popular for 8-bit computers such as the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, and Amstrad CPC 464 in many countries such as the United Kingdom[149][150] (where 8-bit software was mostly sold on cassette until that market disappeared altogether in the early 1990s). Reliability of cassettes for data storage is inconsistent, with many users recalling repeated attempts to load video games;[151] the Commodore Datasette used very reliable, but slow, digital encoding.[152] In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Poland, Hungary, and the Netherlands, cassette data storage was so popular that some radio stations would broadcast computer programs that listeners could record onto cassette and then load into their computer.[153][154] See BASICODE.[citation needed] The cassette was adapted into what is called a streamer cassette (also known as a "D/CAS" cassette), a version dedicated solely for data storage, and used chiefly for hard disk backups and other types of data. Streamer cassettes look almost exactly the same as a standard cassette, with the exception of having a notch about one quarter-inch wide and deep situated slightly off-center at the top edge of the cassette. Streamer cassettes also have a re-usable write-protect tab on only one side of the top edge of the cassette, with the other side of the top edge having either only an open rectangular hole, or no hole at all. This is due to the entire one-eighth inch width of the tape loaded inside being used by a streamer cassette drive for the writing and reading of data, hence only one side of the cassette being used. Streamer cassettes can hold anywhere from 250 kilobytes to 600 megabytes of data.[155] Rivals and successors Size comparison of Elcaset (left) with standard Compact Cassette Technical development of the cassette effectively ceased when digital recordable media, such as DAT and MiniDisc, were introduced in the late 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s, with Dolby S recorders marking the peak of Compact Cassette technology. Anticipating the switch from analog to digital format, major companies, such as Sony, shifted their focus to new media.[156] In 1992, Philips introduced the Digital Compact Cassette (DCC), a DAT-like tape in almost the same shell as a Compact Cassette. It was aimed primarily at the consumer market. A DCC deck could play back both types of cassettes. Unlike DAT, which was accepted in professional usage because it could record without lossy compression effects, DCC failed in home, mobile and professional environments, and was discontinued in 1996.[157] A Compact Cassette and a Microcassette The microcassette largely supplanted the full-sized cassette in situations where voice-level fidelity is all that is required, such as in dictation machines and answering machines. Microcassettes have in turn given way to digital recorders of various descriptions.[158] Since the rise of cheap CD-R discs, and flash memory-based digital audio players, the phenomenon of "home taping" has effectively switched to recording to a Compact Disc or downloading from commercial or music-sharing websites.[159] Because of consumer demand, the cassette has remained influential on design, more than a decade after its decline as a media mainstay. As the Compact Disc grew in popularity, cassette-shaped audio adapters were developed to provide an economical and clear way to obtain CD functionality in vehicles equipped with cassette decks but no CD player. A portable CD player would have its analog line-out connected to the adapter, which in turn fed the signal to the head of the cassette deck. These adapters continue to function with MP3 players and smartphones, and generally are more reliable than the FM transmitters that must be used to adapt CD players and digital audio players to car stereo systems. Digital audio players shaped as cassettes have also become available, which can be inserted into any cassette player and communicate with the head as if they were normal cassettes." (wikipedia.org) "Staples Inc. is an American office supply retail company headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. Founded by Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg, the company opened its first store in Brighton, Massachusetts on May 1, 1986.[5] By 1996, it had reached the Fortune 500, and it later acquired the office supplies company Quill Corporation. In 2014, in the wake of increasing competition from e-commerce market, Staples began to close some of its locations. In 2015, Staples announced its intent to acquire Office Depot and OfficeMax. However, the purchase was blocked under antitrust grounds due to the consolidation that would result. After the failed acquisition, Staples began to refocus its operations to downplay its brick-and-mortar outlets and place more prominence on its business-to-business (B2B) services. In 2017, after its sale to Sycamore Partners, the company was effectively split into three "independently managed and capitalized" entities sharing the Staples name, separating its U.S. retail operations, and Canadian retail operations, from the B2B business. History Staples was founded by Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg, who were former rivals in the New England retail supermarket industry,[6][7][8] and Myra Hart. The idea for Staples originated in 1985, while Stemberg was working on a proposal for a different business. He needed a ribbon for his printer, but was unable to obtain one because his local dealer was closed for the Independence Day holiday. A frustration with the reliance on small stores for critical supplies combined with Stemberg's background in the grocery business led to a vision for an office supply superstore.[9] The first store was opened in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston in 1986. Staples started with backing from private equity firms including Bain Capital; Bain co-founder Mitt Romney served on the company's board of directors for the next 15 years, helping shape their business model.[10] A Staples Business Depot located in a heritage building in Vancouver, British Columbia, in September 2011 In 1991, Staples founded its Canadian subsidiary, The Business Depot, and began opening stores under that name,[11] though over a decade later, all stores were renamed as "Staples". The first store opened in Vaughan, Ontario, north of Toronto. The following year, Staples began expanding into Europe, and opened its first British store in Swansea.[12] During its tenth anniversary in 1996, Staples became a member of the Fortune 500 companies as sales surpassed $3 billion.[citation needed] On September 4, 1996, Staples and Office Depot announced plans to merge.[13] The Federal Trade Commission decided that the merged company would unfairly increase office supply prices despite competition from OfficeMax, because OfficeMax did not have stores in many of the local markets that the merger would affect.[14] Staples argued that chains such as Walmart and Circuit City represented significant competition, but this argument did little to sway the FTC. Following the denial of the merger by the FTC, a rivalry formed between the two companies.[15] Staples acquired the naming rights for the Staples Center in Los Angeles shortly before construction began in 1998.[16] Staples also acquired Quill Corporation, an online and catalog retailer of office supplies, for about $685 million in cash and stock.[17] Between 1999 and 2001, unsuccessful attempts to enter the telecommunications business were made as Staples created Staples Communications after the purchase of Canada-based company, Claricom, from an investment group. The company was later sold to Platinum Equities and renamed NextiraOne. In 2002, Staples acquired Medical Arts Press, which became a subsidiary of Quill.[18][19] By 2004, Staples expanded to Austria and Denmark and in 2007, Staples opened its first store in India.[citation needed] In March 2005, Staples and Ahold announced a plan to include a Staples branded store-within-store section in all Stop & Shop Supermarkets and Giant Food stores throughout the Northeast.[20] In August 2006, Ahold announced the addition of the Staples section to all Tops Friendly Markets locations as well.[21][non-primary source needed] In 2008, Staples acquired Dutch office supplies company Corporate Express, one of the largest office supply wholesalers in the world.[22] Attempted merger with Office Depot; sale of UK division On March 6, 2014, Staples announced it would close up to 225 stores in North America by the end of 2015, in order to cut $500 million in costs annually, and focus more on e-commerce.[23] On February 4, 2015, Staples announced a plan to once again acquire Office Depot, which itself had recently acquired OfficeMax in a bid to compete against Staples. CEO Ron Sargent stated that this purchase would "[enable] Staples to provide more value to customers, and more effectively compete in a rapidly evolving competitive environment", and would result in at least $1 billion in "cost synergies" within three years.[24] It was reported that the deal could face antitrust scrutiny for its monopolization of the office supply market, unless growing competition against online retailers is considered a factor as well.[25] In December, the FTC filed a lawsuit to halt the merger, arguing that it would harm competition in the commercial office supply market.[26] and as of January 2016, the FTC has not changed its stance.[27] At the end of January 2016, it was announced to employees that Staples would be laying off hundreds of workers at their headquarters location. The layoffs were seen by some analysts as a preemptive tactic in case the merger did not receive regulatory approval from the Federal Trade Commission.[28] On May 10, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the FTC a preliminary injunction against the merger. As a result, the sale was called off, and Staples was required to pay a $250 million breakup fee.[29][30] In November 2016, it was announced that Staples had sold its 106 British stores to Hilco Capital for a "nominal" amount, as part of an effort to streamline its international operations following the failed merger. Hilco stated that it would discontinue the Staples brand in the region; the stores were rebranded as "Office Outlet", a new brand retaining the Staples chain's red and white color scheme. In August 2018, the chain closed some of its stores under a company voluntary arrangement, and underwent a management buyout the following month. In March 2019, Office Outlet went into administration, citing that it had "recently experienced a reduction in credit from key suppliers, given the economic outlook which has severely impacted the financial position of the company."[31][32][33] In January 2021, Staples announced that it would again try to buy Office Depot.[34][35] Their offer was turned down in June 2022.[36] In 2022, Staples launched same-day passport photo services in over 1,000 stores and TSA PreCheck enrollment at select locations.[citation needed] Pivot to B2B and sale to Sycamore Partners Following the aborted acquisition of Office Depot, Staples began to reposition its operations by promoting itself as a "solutions partner" for the business market, and placing a stronger focus on its B2B-oriented delivery and e-commerce businesses. In May 2017, the chain began a new advertising campaign with the slogan "It's Pro Time", which largely downplayed its retail operations.[37] In 2017, Sycamore Partners acquired Staples for $6.9 billion, of which $1.6 billion was funded as equity, with the remaining deal value raised as debt.[38] As part of the purchase, Sycamore implemented a major restructuring of the company, under which the chain's B2B business (Staples North American Delivery, also known as simply "Staples"), retail locations (Staples U.S. Retail), and Staples Canada would be split into three "independently managed and capitalized" entities under Sycamore.[39][40][41] On April 9, 2019, Sycamore Partners conducted a dividend recapitalization, refinancing $5.4 billion in debt against its ownership of Staples, producing a $1 billion one-time dividend for the private equity firm. A Bloomberg report on this refinancing noted that the deal allowed Sycamore to recover roughly 80% of its equity investment in Staples in less than two years, compared to the typical profit-taking exit timeframe of five to eight years for most private equity buyouts.[38] That month, Staples also unveiled a new logo, which features an icon representing both an unused staple and an office desk. The company also announced that it would introduce a new line of store brands, including Tru Red, Coastwide Professional (facility supplies), NXT Technologies (technology accessories), Perk (office break room supplies), and Union & Scale (furniture), as well as a new catalog known as The Loop.[42] With the rebranding, then CEO Sandy Douglas (who joined the company in 2018) stated that Staples was now being marketed as a "worklife fulfillment" company, which he explained was "about helping businesses of all sizes as they create the most dynamic and productive work environments for their teams."[43] The following month, CEO Mike Motz (who joined the company in 2019 to head Staples U.S. Retail) unveiled a new store concept known as "Staples Connect": it is aligned with a similar store concept being trialed by Staples Canada, featuring "Staples Studio" co-working areas and an auditorium-style "Spotlight" theater (which can be rented for sessions and events). The new concept will be trialed in the Boston area, while elements of the concept will be implemented chain-wide.[44] As part of a partnership with radio broadcaster iHeartMedia, Staples also added recording studios intended for podcasting to six of these stores, with access to recording engineers and a partnership with Spreaker to offer discounted hosting and distribution services to its customers.[45] Advertising The easy button Staples – "That was easy" 0:02 2 seconds Problems playing this file? See media help. Throughout most of the company's history, Staples employed, in its American commercials and advertising promotions, the slogan "Yeah, we've got that.", signifying their wide selection of products. This slogan was retired in 2003, to be replaced with "That was easy". Expanding on that theme, 2005 adverts featured a large red push-button marked "easy". In the United Kingdom, Staples had used the slogan "You want it. We've got it"; this changed to "That was Easy". The "Easy Button" Originally, the "Easy Button" was only intended to be a fictitious button with 'magical' properties, featured in their television advertisement campaign. However, when the adverts appeared, customers began contacting the company to inquire how they could buy one.[46] The company responded by making the "Easy Button" a real product (available in English "easy", French "simple", Spanish "fácil" and German "einfach easy"). These buttons were shipped to stores in the United States, Canada and Germany starting in the fall of 2005. Sales of the buttons reached 1.5 million by the end of 2006.[47] The button has been referred to as a "Marketer's Dream", effectively turning millions of Staples customers into advertisers, resulting in greatly increased brand recognition. The Staples Sno-Bot The typical design for more recently built locations. This location is in Ontario, California, pictured in March 2005. The Staples Sno-Bot was an advertising character that appeared in the United States, in television and print advertising during the Christmas seasons from 1995 until 2001. The Sno-Bot was a robot shaped like a snowman who refuses to let go of the inkjet printer he has fallen in love with. After the printer is wrestled from his grasp, the robot utters a monotone "Weeping. Weeping." He is consoled by a Staples employee who offers him a surge protector or a computer mouse (depending on the ad) instead.[48] The robot's "Weeping. Weeping." catchphrase briefly became a popular meme on the Internet[citation needed], and the ad itself was parodied in a 2002 Christmas advertisement for Dell Computers, in which a robot hassles a shopper (including striking him with a candy cane) when he attempts to purchase a PC at an unnamed office supplies retailer. Back-to-school Another advertisement style is used during its annual back-to-school campaign, in which the Christmas song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is played while a father joyously shops for school supplies for his sullen-faced children, used for several years from 1995 until 2005.[49][50] Later, Alice Cooper appeared in a back-to-school campaign from August 2004. Within the ad, a hand is seen selecting various supplies while a girl looks on unhappily. She finally says, "I thought you said, 'School's out forever.'" Alice is shown behind the cart, saying, "The song goes 'School's out for summer'. Nice try, though." The hit song then plays as supplies are shown. The tagline, "That was easy", is heard playing over the company logo, formed to resemble a stapler.[51][52] Other advertising During the 2008 holiday season, Staples advertising for the first time engaged Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media platforms. The company created a character named "Coach Tom" to promote its "Gift it for Free" sweepstakes, in which 10,000 Staples customers won up to $5,000 in merchandise.[53] Acquisitions and divestitures A Staples outlet in Campbell Street, Hobart, Australia, in June 2013. These former Corporate Express stores/distribution centers were rebranded in early 2013; however, some still retain that company's corporate colors.[54] The logo for Staples Canada.     1992: Workplace stores based in Lakeland, Florida     1994: National Office Products based in Hackensack, New Jersey     1994: Spectrum Office Products based in Rochester, New York     1994: MacIsaac Office Products based in Canton, Massachusetts     1994: Philadelphia Stationers based in Philadelphia     1995: Macauley's Business Resources based in Canton, Michigan     1996: Staples Office Products based in Texas     1998: Quill Corporation, the largest mail order office supply retailer in the United States. Headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Quill offers products including school and office supplies, office machines, furniture, technology, cleaning and break room, as well as custom-printed and promotional products.     2002: Medical Arts Press, a United States supplier of front office and exam-room products for healthcare facilities.     2004: United Kingdom-based chain Office World, owned by Globus Group.[55][56]     2006: Chiswick, which distributes industrial and retail packaging, shipping and warehouse products to thousands of small and mid–sized manufacturers, distributors and retailers throughout the United States and Canada. The company offers over 7,500 industrial and retail packaging and shipping products, and their product line includes a wide variety of polyethylene bags, corrugated boxes, tape, labels, protective packaging, mailers, retail shopping bags and related packaging supplies. Sales channels include Catalog/Direct Mail, the Internet and Outside Sales. It is now branded as Staples Industrial.     2007: Thrive Networks, an IT services company that provides IT support to small and mid–level businesses.     2007: American Identity, one of the largest global distributors of corporate branded merchandise. American Identity has since been re-branded as Staples Promotional Products.     2008: Corporate Express, a Dutch company that supplies office products to businesses and institutions. The firm was known as Buhrmann prior to April 20, 2007, when it changed its trading name to that of its best known brand, taken from the United States-based corporation it acquired in 1999. The company was acquired by Staples Inc. in August 2008, and has been integrated into the Staples Advantage brand.     2010: Miami Systems, a commercial printing company based in Cincinnati OH with 250 employees.[57]     2014: PNI Digital Media, a Canadian software maker that powers in-store kiosks for printing photographs, calendars and wedding invitations.[58] Staples spent $67.3 million in an all-cash deal for this acquisition.[59]     2016: Staples divested its Australian and New Zealand branches as part of a strategic shift to focus on its US-based retail store format. The company's Australian and New Zealand businesses were rebranded as Winc.[60][61] In May 2016, a proposed $6.3 billion merger between Staples and key rival Office Depot was successfully blocked by the Federal Trade Commission.[62]     2018: HiTouch Business Services, offering office supplies, workspace design services and IT solutions.[63]     2019: Essendant, a national wholesale distributor of office supplies, and DEX Imaging, an independent document imaging technology dealer in the United States.[64]     2020 Staples acquired Montana office supply company 360 Office Solutions. 360 has locations in the following Montana cities Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls and Helena, MT.     2021: Staples divested its branches in Germany, Portugal, the Benelux, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Great Britain and Poland, resulting in the brand's disappearance from most of Europe. The Staples brand will continue to be used in the Benelux....Store layout Print and marketing services Staples copy and print center In addition to selling office supplies, business machines, and tech services, Staples also offers a copy and print center for photocopies, digital printing, faxing, custom business cards, custom rubber stamps, promotional products, binding, lamination, folding, cutting and engraved products. While many products can be produced in-store, larger, more complex jobs, or jobs requiring special materials such as PVC signs are routed to production facilities in various locations through the country. Most locations have a limited service UPS shipping center offering air and ground services, DHL in the United Kingdom stores, and three providers (Canada Post, FedEx, and Purolator) in Canadian stores, which is open during store hours. Canada and the UK offer international shipping, whereas in US stores, this service is limited to Canada and Mexico. UPS services in US-based stores are not capable of handling AT&T or Dish Network returns with a label, or QR codes from Amazon returns. In Canada, most web submission jobs and larger orders, including business cards, posters and books are produced in central production facility in each region. The production facilities operate on a 24-hour basis and orders are shipped to most of the stores within its regions within a day. The regions in Canada are BC/Yukon, Alberta/NWT, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and Maritime. The Copy & Print Center was also the first Print Center to offer custom business cards printed in store. Known as 'Instant Business Cards' customers are able to have custom business cards in a matter of hours. Staples also operates stand-alone Print & Marketing Stores (currently there are four New York City locations, and one in Salem, Massachusetts) where Print & Marketing Services is a brand of Staples. Tech services Some stores also feature Staples Tech Services (formerly EasyTech) an in-store and on-site service for PC repair, PC upgrades, home and office networking setup, and PC tutorials. Starting in November 2005, Staples began a test called "Heavy Up" primarily using stores in New York state to experiment with the expansion of the offerings by the Staples Tech Center. A subsequent test known as "Double Up" was planned for an unspecified test market and was scheduled to begin the first half of 2006. The tests ran to promote competition with Best Buy's Geek Squad and Circuit City's Fire dog. Beginning in early 2006, Staples also launched the "Easy Resident Tech" program, employing one to two resident computer repair technicians to do in-store repair during normal business hours. On January 30, 2007, Staples launched Staples EasyTech. The launch rebranded the "Easy Mobile Tech" name with plans to install an 11' x 17' kiosk in every store. The kiosk may vary from store to store depending on its size and volume. Most kiosks take up part of the Customer Service desk. Within the kiosk, Easy Resident Techs offered repair service as well as sold products. These technicians wore gray "Easy Tech" polo shirts to distinguish them from regular Staples workers. While there was typically one tech per store, a second tech may have been employed for high-volume stores. Beginning in July 2008, Staples launched a new program labeling all technology workers as "EasyTechs". Under the new guidelines all technology workers are required to have the skills necessary to perform basic services such as memory installation and PC configuration. In addition, all technology workers wear black polo shirts with green "EasyTech" emblems to set them apart from other store workers. The change was due to the company's new focus on services, allowing more customers to be assisted in less time. Most stores will still have a main "EasyTech" who performs most of the more complex tasks. Beginning in November 2008, eleven concept stores featuring a broader array of small business technology services were launched, which are known within the company as Best Tech stores. EasyTechs and sales workers were now referred to as "Tech Advisors" and "Solutions Advisors". The concept stores carry many more technology related products such as digital signage, small business servers, NAS (Network Attached Storage), and business networking. Staples also partnered with an on demand IT service provider, with such services as network monitoring, advanced network configurations, and server setup. These concept stores are mainly based in New Hampshire, with stores in Nashua, Seabrook, West Lebanon, Dover and Concord. Some stores with this new concept also opened in Massachusetts, including the Auburn store. Other existing stores have been renovated to include Best Tech's services, including the Newington, Connecticut, and Natick store." (wikipedia.org)
  • Condition: Used
  • Condition: In excellent, pre-owned condition; original Staples sticker tag attached. Please see photos and description.
  • Brand: Rubbermaid
  • Type: Storage Box
  • Color: Gray
  • Model: Design-A-Space Check File
  • Material: Rigid Plastic
  • MPN: 1097
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
  • To Fit: Audio Cassettes

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