Xerox Corporation - Copy Machines

It would probably be an understatement to say the Xerox Corporation is known for manufacturing copy machines. As a matter of fact, the name Xerox is as synonymous with photocopies as "Pampers" is with diapers. It is not uncommon for someone to mention they need to purchase "Pampers" even though they are not specifically going to go out and purchase the "Pampers" brand of diapers. It is equally common for someone to ask for a "Xerox" copy of a document when all they need is a photocopy. There are other examples of this type of name recognition such as "Kleenex" (for tissue paper) and "Clorox" (for bleach) but they all mean the same thing which is a high level of success for a company with a specific brand. Surprisingly enough, however, Xerox's beginnings were not forged on photocopies but rather Xerox actually began as a photography paper business (Funding Universe, Company Histories). In 1906, Xerox, then named the "Haloid Company", was established in Rochester New York. "Haloid" was able to build a business on the fringes of the photography market despite its neighbor, Kodak.

Control of the Haloid Company was sold for $50,000 in 1912 to Gilbert E. Mosher, a Rochester business man who in turn left the day to day running of the company to its founders (Pederson, enotes). While keeping the company profitable, Mosher opened sales offices in several locations including Boston and New York City. The company was also able to survive through the great depression by improving their paper and by 1934 the company sales approached one million dollars.

It wasn't until 1935 that the Haloid Company stepped foot into the photocopying machine business. It was then that one of the founder's sons, Joseph R. Wilson determined it was necessary for Haloid to purchase the Rectigraph Company. Rectigraph produced camera-based photocopying machines sometime between 1906 and 1907 (Early Office Museum) and more importantly, their method required the use of paper from the Haloid Company. This acquisition is also the reason the Haloid Company went public in 1936 in order to help pay for the endeavor. At that time, Haloid employed approximately 120 people. These people were often at odds with the company demanding higher wages and better benefits.

The Haloid Company's success increased during World War II when the military was in need of high quality photographic paper for reconnaissance missions as well as other mapping and graphic intensive duties.

In 1947 the Haloid Company entered into an agreement with Battelle Memorial Institute to produce a machine based on a new process at the time called xerography. Xerography is a photocopying technique developed by Chester Carlson in 1938 (Wikipedia, 2007). This technique combined electrostatic printing with photography. The word xerography is derived from the Greek