A HISTORY OF THE CRYSTAL INDUSTRY
History Independent Study
Prof. Warren Gates
Patricia McCommon
January 21, 1973
The growth of the crystal industry in Cumberland
County spans more than 40 years and has involved many of the local residents in
its development. Today it is one of the biggest employers in this area, having
approximately 2000 employees.(1) Its products are vital to the nation's electronic
industry for such things as aircraft radios, color television sets, missiles,
satellites and so forth.
Despite its importance, controversy and uncertainty
surround the origins and early development of the industry. Who made the first
crystal in this area? Who deserves the credit for the introduction of the
business and for the various developments in the industry? These questions are
difficult to answer, because so much time has elapsed and memories of people
have faded. Few or no written records exist, and even among the persons
involved there is not always agreement on what occurred.
In September as an independent study in history at
Dickinson College, I began an oral history project to investigate the history
and development of the crystal industry. The project resulted in ten
interviews of people who either are or were involved in the crystal business.
The transcripts and the tapes of these interviews which form the major source
for my history will be located in the Cumberland County Historical Society in
Carlisle.
In conclusion, I would particularly like to
acknowledge my debt to Dr. George Shuman, the Vice President of Dickinson
College, for the conception of the project and for the contacts with major
persons involved in the crystal industry. In addition, I would like to express
my appreciation for the aid of Mr. Luther McCoy, President of McCoy Electronics
Company, in supplying the materials that were needed for the interviewing.
Dickinson College and the Origins of the
Crystal Industry
The origins of the crystal industry are closely
related to Dickinson College. Credit belongs to three students of Dickinson,
Edward Minnich '31, Howard Bair '31, and Charles Fagan '32, and their physics
professor, Dr. W. A. Parlin, for introducing quartz crystal and the knowledge
about its properties and use to the pioneers of the crystal industry in this
vicinity.
At the beginning of 1930 Dr. W. A. Parlin came to
Dickinson College from Johns Hopkins University to replace the late Dr. J. F.
Mohler as head of the physics department. Shortly after his arrival he
encouraged Minnich, Bair and Fagan in their amateur radio interests and made it
possible for them to set up W3YC, the original radio station at Dickinson
College.(2) After setting their code station up, the students headed by Charles
Fagan contacted other ham radio stations at other colleges and in other
countries. In their communications, especially with Penn State, they learned
about the quartz crystal and its function as a stabilizer of radio frequencies.(3) Naturally the students wanted to
acquire a crystal of their own, but they had very limited funds. Nevertheless,
with the help of Edward Minnich's father, C. O. Minnich, they were able to
purchase their first quartz crystal. (4)
After reading articles concerning quartz crystals,
the students decided to attempt cutting and fabricating their own crystals. As
amateurs the students had enjoyed making their own equipment and materials as
much as possible, and fabrication of the crystals would be cheaper than readymade
ones.(5) Again Dr. Perlin was of great
assistance. He helped the students by teaching them how to orient a piece of
quartz so that wafers cut from it would be at the correct angle and by helping
them setup and use a muck saw.(6) The
venture was successful and each student made (7)
at least one crystal in 1931 or 1932. These crystals were the first ones cut in
Carlisle.
While the students were busy setting up their radio
station and cutting crystals, Grover Hunt was also busy working on his hobby,
cutting petrified wood. Grover Hunt was employed by Dickinson College in a
custodial or engineering capacity. His wife, Mabel, was the school nurse, and
the family lived in Conway Hall where the infirmary was located. Very early in
the 1930's Grover and his wife, plus his parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Edward
L. Hoffman, had gone to California to visit his sister and parents. On the way
back from California, they stopped at the Petrified Forest and Grover brought
back some petrified wood.(8) Because
of his interest in chess, Grover Hunt planned to carve an elegant chess set
from the agate (petrified wood) . To accomplish this task it was necessary to
construct machinery to saw and grind a hard substance such as agate. In the
construction he had help from his brother-in-law, P. Reynold Hoffman, a
machinist. In 1932 P. R. Hoffman graduated as a toolmaker from General Electric
Company in Schenectady, New York.(9) Hunt
and Hoffman set up a muck saw (band saw with a smooth brass blade fed with grit
suspended in water) in the basement of Conway Hall, and began trying to cut out
chess figures. Before long, however, this effort became much more complicated
than had been foreseen.(10)
Fortunately something else came along that interested Grover Hunt and took the
place of the petrified wood project.
In the evenings Grover Hunt had often observed the
three students cutting and roughly finishing their crystals in the basement of
the physics building.(11) His
interest was aroused and he decided to try cutting quartz. How Grover Hunt got
his first piece is uncertain. It seems most likely that Dr. Perlin or one of
the students gave Hunt his first quartz in 1933 or 1934. Furthermore, both Dr.
Parlin and the students helped Hunt by teaching him the crystal structure and
the correct process of cutting quartz wafers.(12) Soon Grover Hunt by his own studying
surpassed them in knowledge. In particular, an article in the July 1934 Bell
Lab journal was extremely important since it furnished Hunt with information on
the AT cut crystal.(13) However, the BT was the big demand until
about 1940. Gradually Hunt was cutting entirely rough crystal blanks. His first
sales were made when Charles Fagan advertised for him in EST, an amateur radio
magazine.(14) For only a brief time, Hunt cut crystal
blanks for sale in the basement of Conway Hall. To him belongs the credit for
cutting and fabricating the first commercial crystal in this area.(15)
During this time, several local radio operators,
Hoke Franciscus, Kenneth Hankins, and Hermann Shall, sought Hunt's advice about
cutting crystal blanks. In particular, Charles Fagan and Hoke Franciscus worked
for Hunt, serving as technical consultants and part time salesmen. Charles
Fagan made some early electronic test equipment for Hunt, and Hoke Franciscus
worked with him in making crystals for radios to place around the necks of
animals for the Craigheads.(16)
Charles Fagan did not remain long in the crystal
business. At the time he did not see much future in the business, and in 1934
he got a job at C. H. Masland and Sons to which he devoted most of his time. He
is still at Masland's. Of the three students only one, Edward Minnich, remained
in the business. He was employed by Western Electric Company in Massachusetts
until recently when he retired. Howard Bair lives in Camp Hill and operates a
radio-television station in Lemoyne.(17)
Thus, Dickinson College and the crystal industry are
definitely intertwined. Grover Hunt was a member of the maintenance staff, his
wife, the nurse, and his father-in-law, a night watchman at Dickinson
College. The three students, Edward Minnich, Charles Fagan and Howard Bair, and
their physics professor, Dr. W. A. Parlin, all contributed to the beginnings of
the crystal industry. Hoyt Brubaker, who later was employed by Grover Hunt, was
a stationary boiler foreman in the wintertime and a tree surgeon in the
summertime at Dickinson. Both Ed and Warren Hunt, sons of Grover Hunt, went to
Dickinson College. Bertha Hoffman, the sister of P.R. Hoffman, and later the
administrative and business head of his company, was for twelve years an
assistant treasurer at Dickinson. And there were other Dickinsonians who worked
in the crystal industry in the summertime or joined it after graduating.(18)
Perhaps more than anyone else, credit belongs to Dr.
W. A. Parlin for the beginning of the crystal industry in Carlisle. Without his
encouragement and attempt to develop an interest beyond just bare physics in
his students, there probably would never have been a radio station on the
campus. Consequently, there may never have been a crystal industry in Carlisle.
For this reason, Dr. W. A. Perlin deserves a lot of
credit and recognition for his influence on the crystal industry in this area.(19)
Grover Hunt did not remain at Dickinson College
cutting rough crystal blanks for any length of time. One of his largest
customers for blanks was Linwood Gagne, who was the chief radio engineer for
Goodyear Blimp Company in Akron, Ohio.(20)
Late An 1934 or early in 1935, Gagne was having trouble with one of his crystal
suppliers in Tyrone, Penna. Upon arriving in Tyrone, Gagne learned that his
supplier had gone on a "binge" and that the local bank had foreclosed
on his equipment and supplies. The bank, anxious to fulfill the government
orders which had penalties attached to them, offered Gagne the equipment if he
could finish the orders. The next day Gagne arrived in Carlisle and discussed
the offer with Hunt. The outcome of his visit was Gagne's resignation from
Goodyear Blimp Company and the formation of a partnership between him and Hunt
that resulted in the establishment of Standard Piezo in the middle of 1935,
This Tyrone business furnished Standard Piezo with one of its first major
orders.(21) According to the sales books, another one of its first customers
was Merrill Eidson of Temple, Texas.(22)
Linwood Gagne and Grover Hunt seemed to be an ideal
partnership. Gagne had been a radio operator in the merchant Marines and was able
to supply Hunt with a background in radio and electronics information,
introducing him to the crystal unit. In return Hunt furnished the partnership
with the knowledge of crystal structure and the proper process of cutting
crystals.(23) In 1936 the two partners purchased a bungalow
with a shed like attachment on Cedar Street for the location of their company.(24)
As the business increased additional personnel became involved. In
particular, the two partners asked P. R. Hoffman to set up a machine shop
facility for the company, and Hoffman became a partner of Standard Piezo.(25)
Unfortunately, the two original partners rubbed each
other the wrong way. They both had strong and rather eccentric personalities,
and they both were very independent. Consequently, within a year or so from the
formation of the company, Grover Hunt withdrew and formed his own company, G.
C. Hunt and Sons, which was located in a garage in the back of his father-in-law's
house on N. Hanover Street, while Linwood Gagne maintained Standard Piezo
Company.(26)
After the breakup, P. R. Hoffman's machine shop did work and made
machinery for both Standard Piezo and G. C. Hunt's company.(27)
During the time that Grover Hunt and Linwood Gagne
were partners in Standard Piezo, the planetary lap machine was developed. This
development of the planetary lap machine is one of the greatest contributions
that the Carlisle area made to the crystal industry. More than any other
invention this machine was responsible for converting the industry to mass
production. Instead of the necessity of grinding each crystal by hand to the
proper thickness, the first lap machine could grind more than one crystal down
to a thickness of about .012 inch.(28) Depending upon the source of information,
the lap machine can be credited to either P. R. Hoffman or Grover Hunt or both
of them. It seems most likely that credit should be given to both Grover Hunt
and P. R. Hoffman.(29) (30)
In addition to Hunt and Hoffman, at least one other
person, Dave Beam, claims to have aided them in the machine work on the lap in
1939. In all probability, however, since this was in 1939, Beam worked on a
later model of the lap.(31) P. R.
Hoffman especially developed many more
versions of the lap in his machine shop. A patent for the lap machine was
eventually obtained which called it the Hunt-Hoffman lap.
Later. P. R. Hoffman changed the lap enough to
patent it the P. R. Hoffman lap.(32)
During the years before World War II, Grover Hunt
developed his company. Working under Hunt's supervision were Hoyt Brubaker, a
former Dickinson employee, Edward Hoffman, Hunt's father-in-law, Hoyt
Blocker, and Hunt's children, Harriet, Ed, and Warren. They worked 12 hours a
day and by Pearl Harbor were going strong.(33)
Many of the early crystals made were
bought by the U. S. Coast Guard which was the first government agency to give a
contract to Hunt's company.(34)
At the same time, P. R. Hoffman's machine shop was
growing. P. R. Hoffman gives 1938 as the date of inception of his company,
although he had a machine shop before that date.(35)
In his company, not only did Hoffman develop the lap machine further and
provide processing equipment for the crystal industry, but he also manufactured
semi-finished quartz crystals up to the stage when they are mounted in a
holder.(36)
During these early years, the crystal industry was a
very small business. The three companies sold crystals mainly to ham radio
operators and to a few airline and marine communication's equipment manufacturers.
The government did furnish a little business in the development field. With the
approach of World War II, the size of the industry was changed tremendously.
World War II provided the demand for their product
that the crystal industries needed. In fact, quartz was the only natural
resource in World War II that was not used in World War I, except atomic
energy. All over the country small crystal businesses developed to supply the
demand of the military forces. For the first time the public was introduced to
the valuable asset that a quartz
crystal could be to communications.(37)
World War II had a tremendous effect on the crystal
industry and it was not only in the increase of production and profits. During
the war new applications for crystals were discovered and new techniques in
processing were developed. For example, throughout the war a crystal company
had to handle orders for millions of crystals. Consequently, it had to plan
where to get the equipment, the people, and the material that was needed to
fulfill these orders. The crystal industry was forced to constantly be finding
a better way to accomplish its purpose.(38)
The seemingly impossible was asked in both quality and quantity and many times was
achieved. In particular, there was always a constant push for more quantity and
the technology to accomplish it. Even with the tremendous effort of the crystal
industry, the Sherman tank had to settle for 4 crystals instead of the desired
34, and the B29 bomber for 32 instead of the desired 432.(39)
One of the most important advances of the war was
the development of techniques that reduced the size of a quartz crystal. This
made it possible to stack many crystals into a radio set for different channels,
and cut down the size and amount of natural quartz needed.(40) Other advancements were the discovery that a crystal would
oscillate under pressure between metal electrodes, improvements in the drill
press lap, the discovery that a radio receiver would measure the frequency of a
crystal without having to place it into an oscillator and testing it, the
introduction of x-ray equipment which made it much easier to measure the
proper angle at which to cut a quartz wafer, and in the latter part of the war
the beginning of metal deposition around the quartz blank.(41)
It was not all just improvements and advancements
during the war; there were plenty of problems. All types of controls and wage
laws were constantly being imposed on industries. Standard Piezo, for example,
hired an attorney, Mr. Eugene Reader, to handle all these new controls.(42) Of all the controls, perhaps the most
troublesome were the ones dealing with priorities. The crystal industry had a
number 2 priority. Only atomic energy had a higher priority.(43) Nevertheless, even with a number 2 priority, it was necessary to
figure out how much material was needed and what exactly could be bought with
the priority. For example, Mr. Reader found it necessary to get into the
operating end of the business to figure such things as how long a diamond saw
would last and how many crystals it would cut.(44)
There was also trouble buying Brazilian quartz during the war, and what was
available was becoming smaller and smaller in size. In a sidewalk laid before
the war, Linwood Gagne had put some scrap quartz. During the war, this scrap
quartz had become a usable size and the side walk was torn up.(45)
Although many men were serving in the armed forces,
there were ant many serious labor problems. Most of the workers were women and
for the supervisors who were men the plants were able to obtain draft
deferments. Besides housewives from the Carlisle area, the crystal industries
also hired girlfriends and wives of the men who were training for two or three
months at Dickinson College for the Navy.(46)
Standard Piezo in its Scranton plant had 800 employees, and not over 10 of them
were men. The Scranton workers, in particular, accomplished a great deal of
work, because the workers had formed a union and the union stewards kept the
employees working.(47)
The war caused the crystal companies to expand and
grow. Grover Hunt built a new plant at the end of Lincoln Street in 1941, and
in 1942 he found it necessary to acquire an extension of operations. The second
floor above Hall's Furniture store on N. Hanover Street was leased and here the
crystal blanks from the Lincoln Street plant were finished around the clock.(48)
P. R. Hoffman during the war expanded his business to include a
finishing plant. It was run by Luther McCoy and was located above the Comerford
Theater. The P.R. Hoffman Company received a Navy E for it.(49) Standard Piezo became the largest
producer in the country. From 50 employees and a little plant on Louther Street
it grew during the war to 1200 employees and two plants, one in Carlisle and
one in Scranton(50) Standard Piezo became the first plant in
Carlisle to receive the Army/Navy E and upon renegotiation for profits and
wages it was asked to become the model plant of the industry.(51)* Besides these three major crystal
plants in Carlisle, a small wartime plant, Carlisle Crystal, a branch of Hunt's
original works, was established by Col. Philip Mathews, a retired Signal Corps
officer. It was located on N. Hanover Street behind Baughman's store in a
Chevrolet garage. At the end of the war when business dropped sharply, Col.
Mathews abolished his company.(52)
Carlisle Crystal was not the only company that had
problems at the end of the war. After the war there were cancellations all over
the country. During the war the area's plants had furnished a high percentage
of the crystals in the war. Carlisle was the crystal capital of the country.(53)
Many of the smaller companies had to close up as Carlisle Crystal and
the larger ones had to cut back to the bare skeleton. Standard Piezo closed its
plant in Scranton. There were only ham operators and airline and marine
equipment manufacturers for business and that was not enough for all the
companies. The government did help subsidize a little by giving production
engineering measurement contracts when they wanted a particular frequency range
investigated and researched.(54) After the war both Grover Hunt and Linwood
Gagne left the business. Linwood Gagne sold Standard Piezo to John Fowler and a
few other local men. The company was incorporated and Gagne took some preferred
stock.(55)
In 1944 Hunt had made his company a partnership with Thomas Burnett and
Lindsay Goeltz. The partnership was incorporated in 1945 into the Hunt
Corporation with Goeltz as President and Hunt and Burnett as Vice presidents.
Soon after this, Grover Hunt sold his common stock and only retained his
preferred stock.(56)
Since the beginning of the crystal business there
have been many contributors to its development and expansion. Of all the
contributors, Ed Minnich, Charles Fagan, Howard Bair, and Dr. W. A. Parlin,
plus Grover Hunt, Linwood Gagne and P. Reynold Hoffman were the
"pioneers". After the war, there was only one pioneer, P. R. Hoffman,
still in the local crystal industry. Grover Hunt died in 1964 of cancer, and
Lindwood Gagne has been reported as having gone back to the sea as a radio
operator.(57)
* "During World War II, I cut 65% of all the
quartz cut in the United States and all our allies by the figure supplied to me
by the Mineral Reserve Bureau of our government in Washington, D. C."
P. Reynold Hoffman
(Letter of March 10, 1975)
During the years after World War II, the industry
gradually developed new markets and made further improvements in its
technology. There were changes in the older companies and new companies were
formed. In the fifties there was the Korean War and recovery from it. In the
sixties there were new developments, such as the space program, and the Vietnam
War.
During the 1950's and the 1960's new markets opened
up for the crystal industry. Computers started to use crystals as delay
circuits to store information in the information sector when it appeared too
rapidly for the computer to absorb at once. In particular, IBM and National
Cash Register became the customers of a local crystal firm, Reeves-Hoffman.(58)
Ship to shore radios and police and taxi radios began to demand the use
of crystals. There were new applications in military equipment; for example,
the filter circuit of the guidance system of a missile which allows the pilot
to guide the missile from the plane with a miniature joy stick.(59) Crystals also began to be used in
telephone communications and in the outer space program. In outer space not
only were crystals used in communication, but also in any equipment that needed
accuracy in timing and measurement, such as a camera.(60) The space program has had some effect on the crystal industry, but
not as much as might be expected. It has produced some business, and something
for the companies to be proud about, that their crystals were on the moon or
in a special satellite. Similarly, the Vietnam War has not had as large an
effect on the industry as the other wars. An important reason for that has
been the crystal industry's attempt to diversify away from just being
militarily oriented. Crystals are still extremely important for control in
radar and missiles and for military communications, but the crystal companies
have commercial accounts and dealings when military orders diminish.(61)
Besides new markets and diversification, the crystal
industry has also seen many improvements in technology during the 1950's and
the 1960's. The saw and the lap machine have constantly been improved. The development
of adhesives has made it possible to have faster mass production while working
with smaller and smaller crystals. Instead of processing each individual
crystal separately, many of them are joined together with an adhesive and
processed together. Then they are placed in a solvent to separate them at the
end of the processing.(62) One of the largest advances since World War
II has been the development and use of synthetic quartz. The government started
the development of artificial quartz through a RD (Research & Development)
contract to Fort Monmouth. About the same time P. R. Hoffman began to develop
the first civilian source in 1958 under the direction of his chief chemist,
Warren J. Hunt.(63) During the sixties the synthetic quartz
process was steadily improved, until most companies today use at least 50%
synthetic quartz in their products. Synthetic quartz has the advantage of
having little waste and creating more mass production. On the other hand, it
cannot be used for products with frequencies in or beyond the fifth harmonic.(64)
In addition to new markets and improved technology
in these years, several new companies were formed. Immediately after World War
II in 1946 Reeves-Hoffman Corporation was established with P. R. Hoffman as
president. The corporation was a result of the combination of P. R. Hoffman's
finishing plant above the Comerford Theater and Reeves Sound Laboratories from
New York City. In 1942 Hazard Reeves had founded Reeves Sound Laboratory. In
1945 he sold out his holdings to Claude Neon, Inc., and moved to Carlisle,
making use of P, R. Hoffman Company's facilities located over the theater. Then
on June 9, 1946, he combined with Hoffman. In 1948 a new building was
constructed for the company on Cherry Street, with another extension built in
1960. The parent corporation changed its name in 1956 from Claude Neon to
Dynamics Corporation of America, and the Carlisle plant became the Reeves-Hoffman
Division. During the sixties Reeves Hoffman became the first Pennsylvania
company to receive the orange “RIOAP" flag from the Signal Corps (1961)
and the first crystal company to be honored by a "Zero Effects" award
from the Martin Company for its work on the "Bullpup missile."(65)
In the early fifties two other new companies were
formed. In 1951, Hill Electronics was established by B. C. Hill with a staff of
5 in a garage in New Kingston.(66) By
1957 the company had outgrown its New Kingston quarters, and it moved to
Mechanicsburg to a new plant. In 1969 Hill Electronics was sold to Erie Technological
Products and moved to Carlisle to be merged with Hunt Corporation to form Erie
Frequency Control.(67) After the war, Thomas Burnett had left Hunt
Corporation in 1946 and Lindsay Goeltz had died in 1948. Samuel Ryesky then
bought Lindsay Goeltz's sharps from his widow and gained control of the
corporation until he sold it to Erie.(68)
The second new company, McCoy Electronics, was
established in 1952 in Mount Holly Springs by Luther McCoy and Donald Eutz. At
the time there were three outside stockholders, Mark E. Garber, Paul Teitrich,
and MerCoyle. In 1961 when it seemed best to expand, there was not enough
capital. Consequently, McCoy Electronics merged with Oak Manufacturing Company
in Crystal Lake, Illinois, on February 1, 1961.(69)
The newest crystal company established in this area
is W. J. Hunt Company. Warren Hunt resigned from P. R. Hoffman in 1965 and
formed his own company on the Ritner Highway six miles west of Carlisle for the
purpose of growing synthetic quartz. One of Hunt's major problems was
predicting the size of quartz to be grown. Consequently, one of the biggest
developments for Warren Hunt was a method of predicting the size of quartz,
plus a way of diminishing certain elements of impurities from getting into the
quartz. In 1968, W. J. Hunt Company suffered a slump in business and by 1969 it
became necessary for Warren Hunt to sell. In October 1969 Hunt sold his company
to his largest customer, Motorola, Inc.(70)
In addition to the new companies, both Standard
Piezo and P, R, Hoffman Company experienced changes since World War II. In
1961, when P. R. Hoffman decided to retire, he sold his company to an
Ecuadorian Corporation, which operated out of Panama. Later the corporation
changed its name to Aiken Industries, of which P. R. Hoffman Company is a
subsidiary.(71) Standard Piezo was
owned by the local group of men headed by John Fowler until 1954, when it was
sold to Brown & Allen Chemicals of Staten Island, New York. The next year,
1955, there was another ownership change when Hupp Corporation of Detroit
bought Standard Piezo. Before long in 1958, Hupp Corporation sold the company
to two of its local employees, Hermann Shall and Wallace H. Samuelson. Under
the ownership of these two men the company changed its name to Piezo Crystal
Company. Not until 1963 did it change hands again. In 1963 the company was sold
to Renwell Industries, and later it became a division of Sunshine Mining
Company. Of all the companies, Standard Piezo or Piezo Crystal Company changed
its ownership or identity the most times.(72)
By the middle or late 1960's all the companies in
the Carlisle area had become owned by national corporations. One of the major
reasons why local industries sold to national corporations was financial
concerns. Technology demanded a higher degree of automation every year which required
rather expensive equipment. To finance this equipment, there was a need for a
better financial base than most of the local companies could provide.
Furthermore, national corporations had the finances to concentrate on research
and development and set up research departments in the companies. Besides the
increased need for finances, the individuals who started out their companies on
practically nothing found they could turn their investment into a great deal of
cash and this was very attractive. In addition, selling to a national
corporation provided business experience and ties for a larger corporation and
security.(73) In turn, conglomerates or national
corporations bought the crystal companies because they were good investments.
Conglomerates cannot acquire companies that are in the same business because of
antitrust laws; so they acquire companies in unrelated businesses, such as the
crystal companies.(74) Thus during the fifties and the sixties the
local crystal companies became divisions of national corporations.
The Crystal Industry Today
All the local companies today are now subsidiaries
or divisions of major corporations, but all of them can be traced back to
Standard Piezo and Dickinson College. From Dickinson College and the quartz
cutting done there Standard Piezo developed. Then, Grover Hunt and P. R.
Hoffman broke from Standard Piezo and formed their own companies. Later
companies. Reeves-Hoffman, McCoy Electronics, Hill Electronics and W. J. Hunt
Co. were all formed or established by either one of the original pioneers or
one of their employees. Today the crystal business seems to be booming.
According to a recent article, order books are full and deliveries are backed
up as much as two or three months.(75)
In the seventies the crystal industry has developed
several new markets. One of the largest is the watch market. The crystal for
the watch was developed jointly between Reeves-Hoffman and the Hamilton Watch
Company in 1966, The first sizable order, however, was not received until 1970.(76) Other new developments or markets for crystals are ultrasonics,
paging receivers, door openers, hearing aids for children having trouble
hearing in a classroom, controls for coating a certain material such as a
camera lens, and crystal filters that can knock out unwanted frequencies.(77) The future looks very bright for the
crystal industry. New opportunities for the use of crystals seem to be
appearing steadily. After all, the crystal is a small package that offers
accurate control for anything involving communication, time, a missile, or a
burglar alarm system. New markets are definitely not exhausted yet.(78)
Not only does the industry have new markets to discover
yet, it also has plenty of room for technological advances. Today the business
is still labor intensive. If someone who ran a crystal business 20 years ago
walked into a plant today, he would still feel fairly familiar. Nevertheless,
the crystal industry has made tremendous advances.(79)
Over forty years ago the first crystal was
fabricated in the Carlisle area by students of Dickinson College. Later the
crystal business became commercial under Grover Hunt, Linwood Gagne, and P. R.
Hoffman. The crystal industry grew and progressed through their work and
development. Today it is an important and necessary industry for modern
communication.
Quartz was originally called ''Krustallos'' by the
ancient Greeks who believed it was ice water frozen forever by the gods. Quartz
is actually silicon dioxide (SiO2) crystallized in 6sided prisms
with a hardness of 7 on the Moh's scale. Every piece of quartz has three major
axes, X. Y, and Z and for the quartz crystal industry it is important to locate
the proper angle from the axes at which to saw a quartz wafer. Brazilian quartz
especially has a piezo electrical quality. When an electrical voltage is
applied to a Brazilian crystal wafer, it will vibrate or oscillate at a
constant number of times per second, from several thousand to several million
times a second. This is frequency. A frequency can be determined beforehand by
choosing the proper angle at which to cut a wafer and by calculating the
correct finished dimensions. This property of quartz crystal is very valuable
because of its accuracy and ability to stabilize frequencies for
communications.
In recent years the ability to "grow"
quartz has been developed. The process takes place in an autoclave (like a
pressure cooker) under 9000 lbs. of pressure per square inch. In the bottom of
the autoclave 250 lbs. of natural quartz chips are placed and seeds are put in
the seed rack at the top. A solution of deionized water and sodium carbonate
is added, and then the pressure is applied. The chips combine with the solution
and are elevated to the top rank where the quartz crystal grows in a constant
temperature in a time ranging from 45 to 80 days. Although this synthetic or
"cultured" quartz fulfills many of the functions of natural quartz,
natural quartz is still needed for some of the highest frequencies.
Information was obtained from:
1. Derrick, Judy, "The Crystal Industry: Big
Business built Around Tiny Particles," in Carlisle Shopper's Guide,
(Wednesday, June 5, 1968) p. 1.
2. Maxwell, Wilmer, "Crystal Industry Marks
30th Year in Carlisle, " in The Evening Sentinel, LXXXI, #271,
(October 26, 1962) p. 7.
ERIE FREQUENCY CONTROL
453
Lincoln Street, Carlisle, Pa.
Division of Erie Technological Products.
General
Manager of the Division: Edward A. Miller.
P. R. HOFFMAN COMPANY
321
Cherry Street. Carlisle, Pa.
Division of Aiken Industries, Inc.
President:
Robert W. Birrell
Vice
President and Sales Manager (Crystal Products): John W. Mountz
Division
Comptroller: Robert T. Mehring
Sales
Manager (Machine Products): Leon A. Baker
Personnel
Director: Wilmer B. Maxwell
McCOY ELECTRONICS
Mount
Holly Springs, Pa.
Division of Oak Industries, Inc., Crystal Lake,
Illinois.
President:
Luther W. McCoy
Vice
President for Operations: John Reighter
Vice
President for Engineering: Edward Boise
Vice
President for Sales: Martin Myers
Personnel
Manager: William Laffey
MOTOROLA COMMUNICATIONS
Ritner
Highway
Parent Company Motorola, Inc., Franklin Park.
Illinois.
Manager:
Nicholas C. Lias
Piezo CRYSTAL COMPANY
100
K Street, Carlisle, Pa.
Division of Sunshine Mining Company, Kellogg, Idaho
President:
Wallace C. Wilson
Sales
Manager: Carroll Rahn
Chief
Engineer: Charles J. Jensik
Manager
of Manufacturing: Kermit E. Lackey
REEVESHOFFMAN DIVISION
400
West North Street
Division of Dynamics Corporation of America, New
York, N. Y.
President:
Arthur R. Muller
Vice
President of Sales: James D. Hartlin
Vice
President of Finance and Administration: Gerald E. Fleming
Vice
President of Manufacturing: Gerald Day
C. H. Masland and Sons 50 Spring Road, Carlisle,
Pa.
Mr. Edward Hoffman's House 544 N. Hanover St.,
Carlisle, Pa.
First location of Standard Piezo Cedar Street and
West Luther St., where Handymart is now.
G. C. Hunt and Sons in WWII 453 Lincoln St. where
Erie Frequency Control is now.
Hall's Furniture Store 133 N. Hanover Street,
Carlisle, Pa.
Comerford Theater Carlisle Theater now, 42 W. High
St.
Carlisle Crystal Behind Baughman's Men's Store,
132 N. Hanover St., in the Chevrolet garage.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Interviews by Patricia McCommon:
Beam, David A., Tuesday, October 8, 1974, 2:00 p.
m., R.D. #7, Carlisle (Mr. Beam's house).
Brubaker, Hoyt, Thursday, October 17, 1974, 7:00 p.
m., R. D. #1, Boiling Springs, Pa. (Mr. Brubaker's house).
Fagan, Charles C., Tuesday, November 12, 1974, 2:30
p.m. , C. H. Masland and Sons.
Hoffman, Bertha, Monday, October 28, 1974, 2:00 p.
m., Homewood Home.
Hoffman, P. Reynold, Thursday, October 10, 1974,
2:00 p. m., R.D. #6, Carlisle, Pa. (Mr. Hoffman's house).
Hunt, Warren, Tuesday, October 29. 1974, 3:00 p.m. ,
242 Walnut Street, Carlisle, Pa. (Mr. Hunt's house).
McCoy, Luther, Tuesday, November 5, 1974, 3:00 p.
m., McCoy Electronics.
Miller, Edward, Monday, October 28, 1974, 4:00 p.
m., Erie Frequency Control.
Minnich, Edward, Summary of a Telephone
Conversation, November 6, 1974, in the evening.
Muller, Arthur R., Monday, November 11, 1974, 1:45
p.m., ReevesHoffman.
Reader, F. Eugene, Thursday, October 24, 1974, 2:00
p.m., Dickinson Law School.
Articles:
"College Radio to Broadcast," in The
Dickinsonian, LIX, #26, (May L2. 1932),2.
Derrick, Judy, "The Crystal Industry: Big
Business Built Around Tiny Particles," in Carlisle Shopper's Guide,
(Wednesday, June 5, 1968)1, 8.
Gentzel, Bob, "Quartz not Pintsized
Industry," in MetroWest, (July L2, 1974) L.
Laffey, William, "The Quartz Crystal in the
Cumberland Valley," in The McCoy News, 1, #2 (January 1966), 2; #3
(,February 1966), 2; #5 (April 1966) 1.
Maxwell, Wilmer, "Crystal Industry Marks 30th
Year in Carlisle," in The Evening Sentinel, LXXXI, #271 (October
26, 1962) , 7.
Reeves-Hoffman Division Information Pamphlet.
Shoemaker, Jane, "Quartz Industry began with
Woodcarver," in Chicago Today,
(August 7, 1974),
W3YC Makes Rapid Strides," The Dickinsonian,
LIX, #28 (June 3, 1932) 2.
Footnotes:
(1) Gentzel, Bob, "Quartz not Pintsized Industry, " in MetroWest, (July 12, 1974) 1.
(2) Fagan, Charles C., November 12, 1974, p. 1. Minnich, Edward, November 6, 1974, p. 1.
(3) Muller, Arthur, November 11 1974, p, 4. Minnich, p. 1.
(4) Muller, p. 4.
(5) Maxwell, Wilmer, "Crystal Industry Marks 30th Year in Carlisle." in The Evening Sentinel, LXXXI, #271 October 26, 1962), p, 7, Fagan, p. 1.
(6) Fagan, p. 1. Several persons also stated that Grover Hunt helped the students to set up their first muck saw and cut their first crystal. (Muller, p. 4, McCoy, Luther, November 5, 1974, p. 2) Fagan's statement seems the most likely since he was one of the students while neither Muller nor McCoy was involved with crystals at that time.
(7) Fagan, p. 1. Fagan reports that the students had their first crystal in 1932. Furthermore, a Dickinsonian article, "College Radio to Broadcast," (Dickinsonian, LIX, #26, (May 12, 1932), 2) states that the students were making crystals in May 1932, but it does not say that these were their first crystals. The article, "Crystal Industry Marks 30th Year in Carlisle," (The Evening Sentinel, LXXXI, #271 (October 26, 1962) 7), on the contrary, announces that the first "ham" crystal was completed in 1930 or 1931. The year 1932 may possibly be too late since Edward Minnich and Howard Bair graduated in 1931. On the other hand, these two seem to have remained connected with the radio even after graduating as seen by the article, W3YC Makes Rapid Strides, " (Dickinsonian, LIX, #28 (June 3, 1932) 2), and they may have made their first crystals when they were no longer students.
(8) Derrick, Judy, "The Crystal Industry: Big Business Built Around Tiny Particles," in Carlisle Shopper's Guide, (Wednesday, June 5, 1968)1. Hunt, Warren, October 29, 1974, p. 2, Beam, David, October 8, 1974, p. 10, Laffey, William, "The Quartz Crystal in the Cumberland Valley," in The McCoy News, I, #2 (January 1966) 2.
(9) Hoffman, P. Reynold, p. 1.
(10) Fagan, p. 1.
(11) Fagan, p. 1. Minnich, p. 1.
(12) Fagan, p. 1. Hoffman, P., p. 12. McCoy, p. 2. Beam, p. 12. Laffey, I, #3 (February 1966), 2.
(13) Minnich, p. 1.
(14) Minnich, p. 1. Fagan, p. 1. McCoy, p. 2.
(15) Fagan, p. 1. Maxwell, p. 7.
(16) Fagan, p. 3. Minnich, p. 1.
(17) Muller, p. 4. Maxwell, p. 7.
(18) Brubaker, Hoyt, October 17, 1974, p. 1, 5.
(19) Fagan, pp. 2,3
(20) Beam, p. 1. Hoffman, P., p. 1. Laffey, I, #3 (February 1966), p.2. Linwood Gagne was also spoken of as operating a radio shack in Ohio where he finished crystals (Muller, p. 4), and as having started a crystal finishing plant which sold crystals to airline and marine equipment companies. (Reader, F. Eugene, October 24, 1974, p. 1)
(21) The information on the involvement of Tyrone in the crystal industry of this area comes from basically two sources: Beam, p. 1, and Laffey, I, #3 (February 1966), p. 2. P. Hoffman (p.3) does state that the first major order far Standard Piezo came from Tyrone. Other sources either state that Gagne wanted Hunt to come to Ohio and join him, and that when Hunt refused, Gagne came to Carlisle. Minnich, p. 1, Muller, p.4) or that Hunt got Gagne to come East and join him. (Brubaker, p. 1, 13). The date 1935 is supported by Maxwell, p. 7 and Muller, p. 4.
(22) Derrick, p. 1.
(23) Fagan, p. 3. Minnich, p. 1.
(24) Laffey, I, #5 (April 1966), p. 1. Beam, p. 2.
(25) Beam, p. 2, Hoffman, P. , p. 1.
(26) Brubaker, pp. 1, 13. Beam, p. 2. Hoffman, P., p. 1.
(27) Beam, p. 2. Hoffman, P. , p. 1.
(28) Maxwell, p. 7. Brubaker, p. 1.
(29) Hunt, p. 6. McCoy, p. 2. Brubaker, p. 2. P. R. Hoffman claims that both the idea behind the lap and the machine work were his. (p. 2)
(30) Hunt, p. 6.
(31) Beam, p. 5.
(32) Muller, p. 5, In several interviews there was some discussion about patent lawyers and patent troubles. Mr. Beam (pp. 6,7) stated that Hunt had a patent on the lap but allowed Hoffman to manufacture the lap machines. Hoffman then engaged patent lawyers to investigate the patent and found that it was null and void because Hunt had used the machine in a separate room and sold crystals off of it before obtaining the patent. Furthermore, according to Beam, P. R. Hoffman's and Beam's names should have been on the patent because they contributed something to the invention of the machines. Mr. P. Hoffman (p. 2) stated that behind his back Hunt engaged a patent lawyer two years after the invention of the lap machine to obtain a patent. And since it is necessary to have everyone who contributed to an invention on a patent or it is null, he came to Hoffman to sign off. In the meantime P. R. Hoffman had sold a machine to a company in Oregon, making any patent null and void since the machine had been sold commercially first.
(33) Brubaker, pp. 1, 2.
(34) Maxwell, p. 7.
(35) Hoffman, Bertha, October 28, 1974, p. 1.
(36) Hoffman, P., p. 2.
(37) McCoy, p. 2. Hoffman, P., p. 11.
(38) Brubaker, p. 9.
(39) Hoffman, P., p. 6.
(40) McCoy, p. 3. Reader, p. 3.
(41) McCoy, p. 3. Mr. Brubaker (p. 6) stated that Standard Piezo, obtained an x-ray about 194344. Then, Hoyt Brubaker and Howard Miller worked on perfecting it and discovered a great deal of information on it concerning the different cuts at different angles, six to eight years before it was printed. (p. 10) In fact, General Electric X-ray Company asked them to help sell the x-rays to customers because they knew as much or more about the x-ray and its uses.
(42) Reader, pp. 1,2.
(43) Hoffman, P., p. 4.
(44) Reader, p. 2.
(45) Reader, p. 3.
(46) Hoffman, P. , p. 9.
(47) Reader, p. 6.
(48) Maxwell, p. 7. Beam, p. 13.
(49) Hoffman, B., p. 2.
(50) Reader, p. 5.
(51) Reader, p. 5,
(52) McCoy, p. 4. Muller, p. 6.
(53) Brubaker, p. 3.
(54) McCoy, p. 9.
(55) Reader, p. 6.
(56) McCoy, p. 5, Maxwell, p. 7.
(57) Derrick, p. 1. Reader, p. 8.
(58) Muller, p. 3.
(59) McCoy, p. 4. Muller, p. 2.
(60) Muller, p. 2. For example, Reeves Hoffman's crystals were used to relay pictures of Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969, back to earth from the moon. (Reeves-Hoffman Information Pamphlet).
(61) Muller, p. 2. Brubaker, p. 15.
(62) Brubaker, p. 15.
(63) Derrick, p. 1. Hoffman, P. , p. 5. Warren Hunt (p. 3) stated that the original development of synthetic quartz belonged to Brush Development in Cleveland, Ohio.
(64) Hoffman, P., p. 10.
(65) Maxwell, p. 7. Hoffman, P., p. 5. Muller, p. 1. Derrick, p. 8. Reeves-Hoffman Information Pamphlet.
(66) Derrick, p. 8. Maxwell, p. 7. Brubaker, p. 5.
(67) Miller, Edward, October 28, 1974, p. 1.
(68) McCoy, p. 5. Derrick, p. 8. Maxwell, p. 7.
(69) McCoy, pp. 1, 4. Derrick, p. 8. Maxwell, p. 7.
(70) Hunt, pp. 2, 3, 5, 8. Derrick, p. 8.
(71) Hoffman, P., p. 8.
(72) Maxwell, p. 7. Muller, pp. 5, 6. Reader, p. 7.Derrick, p. 8.
(73) Muller, p. 7. Brubaker, p. 14. Reader, p. 9. Miller, p. 1.
(74) Reader, p. 10.
(75) Shoemaker, Jane, "Quartz Industry Began with Woodcarver," in Chicago Today (August 7, 1974).
(76) Muller, p. 3.
(77) McCoy, p. 6.
(78) Miller, pp. 3, 4.
(79) Miller, p. 1.