![]() This became the main facility, and eventually consisted of 26 buildings that were interconnected by tunnels and bridges. Sprague purchased the Arnold Print Works plant in North Adams, Massachusetts, which became the permanent headquarters and principal manufacturing site for Sprague Specialties Company.īy 1942 the Sprague Specialties Company had relocated to the abandoned Arnold Print Works Facility on Marshall St. Robert felt strongly connected to his company and to the people of North Adams, and always tried to consider the company's effects as the largest employer in town. For many years the company sustained losses. In 1937 the company agreed with the workers to form an independent union, the Independent Condenser Workers Union.įrom 1936–1944, the Sprague Specialties Company sales increased seven-fold, however expansion put a damper to profits. The Wagner Act of 1935 prohibited company unions. As the size of the company grew there was a desire from the manufacturing workers to form an organized labor union. Sprague chose the area because he wanted to open a shop where his father Frank had grown up.īy the mid-1930s Sprague had become a recommended source for capacitors by radio manufacturers, radio repair and many electrical applications. When local residents heard the company was expanding, Sprague received all kinds of incentives from the banks and other businesses to relocate there. By 1929, Sprague Specialties Company needed a bigger facility, and in 1930 Sprague purchased a plant on Beaver Street in North Adams, MA, in Berkshire County. The increase in the types of radios using AC created demand for many different types of capacitors. Sprague found a sustainable product line in capacitors. Capacitors are also useful in high power applications like motors, and soon Sprague turned his attention those areas as well. The type of insulating material determined the capacitor's capacitance and maximum voltage. ![]() Early capacitors were two pieces of metal foil wrapped between wax paper or any other type of suitable insulation material. Mini condensers were commonly used in radio applications for noise filtering, signal coupling and tone controls. One of his first products was the mini condenser (an old name for capacitor). Sprague used $25,000 of his savings to open Sprague Specialties Company at his home in Quincy, MA, in 1926. Other products include resistive components, magnetic components ( transformers and coils), filter assemblies, semiconductors and integrated circuits. Sprague was best known for making a large line of capacitors used in a wide variety of electrical and electronic in commercial, industrial and military/space applications. Sprague Electric Company was an electronic component maker founded by Robert C. Sprague Specialties Company (1926 to 1942)Īcquired by General Cable in 1978, in turn acquired by Penn Central in 1982, sold off in early 1990s Site of Sprague Electric headquarters in North Adams, Massachusetts now owned by MASS MoCA
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |