The synthetic organic chemical industry began in 1856 when English chemist William Henry Perkin prepared
the dye mauve from coal-tar chemicals. Perkin built a factory near London to supply the world's first
synthetic dye.
Synthetic versions of alizarin and indigo, dyes previously derived from plants, followed. Although England
had the early lead, Germany soon became the leading global supplier of a rainbow of brilliant colors.
Dye manufacturing in the United States was hampered by a lack of industrial chemists, limited availability of
intermediates derived from coal-tar, and tariff regulations that favored imports. The first efforts are
attributed to European chemists who setup rudimentary facilities in the Green Point area of Brooklyn, along
the Newtown Creek.
In the early 1860s, Dr. August F. W. Partz, a German chemist, attempted to manufacture magenta in a small
wood building on the banks of Newtown Creek. The venture failed but in 1864 Thomas and Charles Holliday,
sons of Read Holliday, who began making dyes in Huddersfield, England in 1860, came to the U.S. and
successfully made magenta at a plant in the same area. The Holliday plant produced the first aniline in the
country, in addition to nitrobenzene, picric acid and a range of dyes.
Three larger scale companies soon followed. The Albany Aniline and Chemical Company was founded in
1868 by A. Bott, a cardboard manufacturer. Bayer became financially involved with this company in order to
manufacture magenta in the U. S.. The Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Company was setup in Buffalo in
1879. The Hudson River Aniline Color Works was established in 1882 in Rensselaer; this site was acquired
by Bayer in 1903, seized by the U.S. government in 1917 as enemy property, and eventually become a
leading dye producer under General Aniline and Film Corporation.
By the time World War I erupted in 1914, there were still only a handful of U. S. companies making dyes; the
market was totally dominated by imports from Germany. But the German dye factories now had to switch to
making explosives and Britain blockaded German shipping, cutting off imports. This resulted in a dye
famine that quickly drove prices up. Dye manufacture suddenly became an attractive investment. U. S.
companies, large and small, built plants to capitalize on the opportunity.
In 1912 Dr. William G. Beckers, a German chemist, had started a small dye works in the Flatbush section of
Brooklyn. This plant was wrecked by an explosion in 1914 that killed two chemists. The strong demand for
dyes, along with financial aid from capitalist Eugene Meyer, Jr., convinced Beckers to build a much larger
plant in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn.
The company was known as the Beckers Aniline & Chemical Works and employed 1,200 men. The Beckers
firm merged into the National Aniline & Chemical Company in 1917. Dr. Beckers became one of the
wealthiest industrialists of the era and retired in 1920 to a palatial estate in Lake George, New York. But
pollution from the Brooklyn plant contributed to the end of oyster harvesting in Jamaica Bay. This was an
early warning sign of the environmental problems that would taint the dye industry and erode public support.
The Calco Chemical Company was founded in 1915 at a site near Bound Brook and the Raritan River in New
Jersey. Initially Calco manufactured coal-tar intermediates. After 1918 the company also produced
synthetic dyes. Calco was acquired by American Cyanamid in 1929 and the Bound Brook site became a
leading manufacturer of dyestuffs, sulfa drugs and resins.
The General Aniline Works plant in Grasselli (Linden), New Jersey traces its origins to 1915 when Caesar A.
Grasselli, head of the Grasselli Chemical Company, built a dye plant there. The initial product line consisted
of sulfur dyes, alizarin dyes and intermediates. During World War II, U. S. government seized control of the
company from owner I. G. Farben of Germany. The plant became the largest producer of vat dyes in the U.S.
ColorantsHistory.Org discusses many other dye and pigment companies that were established around the
time of World War I. These companies include Pharma Chemical of Bayonne, New Jersey, Verona Chemical
of Newark, New Jersey, Harmon Colors of Haledon, New Jersey, Beaver Chemical of Damascus, Virginia,
Federal Dyestuff and Chemical of Kingsport, Tennessee and Standard Ultramarine of Huntington, West
Virginia. Some large, well capitalized companies failed in just a few years, while some smaller companies
starting with limited resources prospered for many years. Other companies were absorbed by large
domestic or international firms.
The emerging dye industry had significant impact on the development of the chemical industry in the U.S.
Dye chemistry was the foundation for pharmaceuticals, fibers, plastics and many other products. But after
peaking around 1970, the U.S. dye industry declined in importance and relevance. By the early 1980s, the
four largest companies, Du Pont, Allied Chemical, American Cyanamid and GAF, dropped dyes. All of the
plants discussed here, except Standard Ultramarine, now known as BPS Printing Systems, have been
closed and demolished. The European dye industry lasted longer but is now almost gone. Clayton Aniline, a
Manchester dye maker since 1876, was shutdown in 2007.
ColorantsHistory.Org provides reasons for the deterioration of an industry that was once considered high
technology. This web site is also dedicated to giving chemical industry historians and the public access to
the documents and photos associated with the history of the colorants industry.
the dye mauve from coal-tar chemicals. Perkin built a factory near London to supply the world's first
synthetic dye.
Synthetic versions of alizarin and indigo, dyes previously derived from plants, followed. Although England
had the early lead, Germany soon became the leading global supplier of a rainbow of brilliant colors.
Dye manufacturing in the United States was hampered by a lack of industrial chemists, limited availability of
intermediates derived from coal-tar, and tariff regulations that favored imports. The first efforts are
attributed to European chemists who setup rudimentary facilities in the Green Point area of Brooklyn, along
the Newtown Creek.
In the early 1860s, Dr. August F. W. Partz, a German chemist, attempted to manufacture magenta in a small
wood building on the banks of Newtown Creek. The venture failed but in 1864 Thomas and Charles Holliday,
sons of Read Holliday, who began making dyes in Huddersfield, England in 1860, came to the U.S. and
successfully made magenta at a plant in the same area. The Holliday plant produced the first aniline in the
country, in addition to nitrobenzene, picric acid and a range of dyes.
Three larger scale companies soon followed. The Albany Aniline and Chemical Company was founded in
1868 by A. Bott, a cardboard manufacturer. Bayer became financially involved with this company in order to
manufacture magenta in the U. S.. The Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Company was setup in Buffalo in
1879. The Hudson River Aniline Color Works was established in 1882 in Rensselaer; this site was acquired
by Bayer in 1903, seized by the U.S. government in 1917 as enemy property, and eventually become a
leading dye producer under General Aniline and Film Corporation.
By the time World War I erupted in 1914, there were still only a handful of U. S. companies making dyes; the
market was totally dominated by imports from Germany. But the German dye factories now had to switch to
making explosives and Britain blockaded German shipping, cutting off imports. This resulted in a dye
famine that quickly drove prices up. Dye manufacture suddenly became an attractive investment. U. S.
companies, large and small, built plants to capitalize on the opportunity.
In 1912 Dr. William G. Beckers, a German chemist, had started a small dye works in the Flatbush section of
Brooklyn. This plant was wrecked by an explosion in 1914 that killed two chemists. The strong demand for
dyes, along with financial aid from capitalist Eugene Meyer, Jr., convinced Beckers to build a much larger
plant in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn.
The company was known as the Beckers Aniline & Chemical Works and employed 1,200 men. The Beckers
firm merged into the National Aniline & Chemical Company in 1917. Dr. Beckers became one of the
wealthiest industrialists of the era and retired in 1920 to a palatial estate in Lake George, New York. But
pollution from the Brooklyn plant contributed to the end of oyster harvesting in Jamaica Bay. This was an
early warning sign of the environmental problems that would taint the dye industry and erode public support.
The Calco Chemical Company was founded in 1915 at a site near Bound Brook and the Raritan River in New
Jersey. Initially Calco manufactured coal-tar intermediates. After 1918 the company also produced
synthetic dyes. Calco was acquired by American Cyanamid in 1929 and the Bound Brook site became a
leading manufacturer of dyestuffs, sulfa drugs and resins.
The General Aniline Works plant in Grasselli (Linden), New Jersey traces its origins to 1915 when Caesar A.
Grasselli, head of the Grasselli Chemical Company, built a dye plant there. The initial product line consisted
of sulfur dyes, alizarin dyes and intermediates. During World War II, U. S. government seized control of the
company from owner I. G. Farben of Germany. The plant became the largest producer of vat dyes in the U.S.
ColorantsHistory.Org discusses many other dye and pigment companies that were established around the
time of World War I. These companies include Pharma Chemical of Bayonne, New Jersey, Verona Chemical
of Newark, New Jersey, Harmon Colors of Haledon, New Jersey, Beaver Chemical of Damascus, Virginia,
Federal Dyestuff and Chemical of Kingsport, Tennessee and Standard Ultramarine of Huntington, West
Virginia. Some large, well capitalized companies failed in just a few years, while some smaller companies
starting with limited resources prospered for many years. Other companies were absorbed by large
domestic or international firms.
The emerging dye industry had significant impact on the development of the chemical industry in the U.S.
Dye chemistry was the foundation for pharmaceuticals, fibers, plastics and many other products. But after
peaking around 1970, the U.S. dye industry declined in importance and relevance. By the early 1980s, the
four largest companies, Du Pont, Allied Chemical, American Cyanamid and GAF, dropped dyes. All of the
plants discussed here, except Standard Ultramarine, now known as BPS Printing Systems, have been
closed and demolished. The European dye industry lasted longer but is now almost gone. Clayton Aniline, a
Manchester dye maker since 1876, was shutdown in 2007.
ColorantsHistory.Org provides reasons for the deterioration of an industry that was once considered high
technology. This web site is also dedicated to giving chemical industry historians and the public access to
the documents and photos associated with the history of the colorants industry.
| Holliday Dyes Huddersfield Works Demise Interpereted by Artist Juia Clegg Image Copyright of Julia Clegg. |
| "A History of the International Dyestuff Industry" by Peter J.T. Morris and Anthony S. Travis, Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Perkin's Discovery of Mauve |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
Colorants Industry History
| Calco Chemical, Bound Brook-February 1936 Photo: Carl Mydans, Library of Congress Click to Enlarge |
| ColorantsHistory.Org |
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General Aniline Works, Grasselli, NJ 1945
| William Henry Perkin (1838-1907) with Mauve-Dyed Silk. Image: Chandler Museum, Columbia University |
| Industries on Newtown Creek, Separating Brooklyn and Queens, ca. Late 1800's. Image: Greater Astoria Historical Society |
| Hudson River Aniline Company, ca. 1915 Photo: E. Verg et al, Milestones: The Bayer Story (1863-1988), Leverkusen: Bayer AG, 1988 |
| Beckers Aniline & Chemical Works, Brooklyn Image:: The Washington Post, July 5, 1916 |
| History of Roberts, Dale & Co. Works in Manchester, 1887. Photo: Courtesy of TUC Library Collections, London Metropolitan University. |
"The Major as I Knew Him" by Wm. C. Weaver A Glimpse of the Life of Henri Dourif, Cofounder of Standard Ultramarine |
Copyright © 2004-2009 by ColorantsHistory.Org. All Rights Reserved.
| This bust was made by noted sculptor Fiore de Henriquez in 1953. It was found in the rubble of the demolished ICI Dyestuffs works at Blackley. Does it represent a distinguished ICI chemist or executive? Click here for the fascinating story. |