Call Number:

039

Repository:

Science History Institute Archives

Extent:

4 linear feet (3 boxes)

Preferred Citation:

The Baptista / Geigy Sample Card Collection, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania..

Date:

1939-1967 (inclusive) and 1950-1962 (bulk)

Creator:

Tremain, Roberta M. and General Dyestuff Corporation

Form:

Archival materials

Abstract:

This is a collection of bound notebooks containing sample swatches of various fabrics, dyed by various processes. There are also five binders of technical information and large format sales book.

General Dyestuff Company (GDC) was formed in 1925 as part of I.G. Farben's attempt to regain Germany's pre WWI dominance in the field of dye and pigment production. It was a partnership between the Grasselli Chemical Company of Cincinnati, OH and Bayer Leverkusen, a member of the Farben combine, in Germany under which the Germans would provide the technical know-how while Grasselli offered them an opening into valuable U.S. markets. In 1942 the U.S. imposed government control on GDC and General Aniline, also largely controlled by I.G. Farben. Under the Farben system manufacturing was done by General Aniline while GDC, which had functioned as the exclusive selling agent for Farben products in the U.S. controlled customer relations and set production schedules. This unwieldy arrangement led the Justice Department to finally merge GDC and General Aniline in 1953. The new entity acquired the acronym GAF.

Roberta M. Tremain was a textile chemist employed in the Research Department. Her group would report each year on their research work recording their findings in notebooks illustrated with samples of the textiles or fibers that they studied.

For a more detailed inventory, please view this record in our library catalog: https://othmerlib.sciencehistory.org/record=b1071762~S6

The notebooks are largely organized by dye color. There is one binder devoted specifically to the Marhen Process. The sales book is really more a catalogue of dyes available, illustrated via cloth swatches.

Arranged into two series: Series 1. Textile Chemists' Group Research Notebooks; Series 2. Miscellaneous G.D.C. & BASF Materials.