American Thermos Co.

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The original Thermos bottle patent is shown in this drawing from the U.S. Patent Office.

 Courtesy of the U.S. Patent Office

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HUNTINGTON — Invented in 1892 by Sir James Dewar, a Scottish scientist at
 Oxford University, the vacuum flask was not manufactured for commercial use
until 1904, when two German glass blowers, Reinhold Burger and
 Albert Aschenbrenner, patented a domestic vacuum flask
 with a protective metal casing. The container was
 designed to keep its contents hot or cold.

The two glass blowers held a contest to name their vacuum flask
and a resident of Munich submitted “Thermos,” which came
from the Greek word “therme” meaning “hot.” Soon the
 two men sold their patent rights for the vacuum flask
 to three separate companies — in England,
 Canada and the United States.

American businessman William B. Walker secured the U.S. rights
 and before long his American Thermos Bottle Co. was busily
manufacturing bottles. Sales quickly multiplied. In 1910,
 the company moved from Brooklyn, New York, to
Manhattan to triple its output and then moved
again in 1912 to Norwich, Connecticut,
again dramatically increasing
production of the popular
containers.

While production continued in Norwich, the company expanded
 by constructing additional plants, including one in Huntington
that opened at 900 West 9th St., in 1924. The company’s
 Huntington plant continued to produce Thermos bottles
 until World War II, when the factory was taken over
by the U.S. Army, which used it as a warehouse.

With the war’s end, the Houdaille-Hershey Co. bought
the building and turned it into what became the free
 world’s largestauto bumper plant. The big
bumper plant closed in 1980.

Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Jul. 19, 2022..

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