Skip to main content

Edison Portland Cement Co - 1900's-20's dated Stock Certificate with Beautiful Vignette of Thomas Alva Edison

Inv# GS1104   Stock
State(s): New Jersey
Years: 1900-20's
Color: Brown

General Stock printed by American Bank Note Company, Philadelphia. Superb young portrait of Edison. Great graphics! One of Edison's important companies. Scarce! The Edison Portland Cement Company was a venture by Thomas Edison that helped to improve the Portland cement industry. Edison was developing an iron ore milling process and discovered a market in the sale of waste sand to cement manufacturers. He decided to set up his own cement company, founding it in New Village, New Jersey in 1899, and went on to supply the concrete for the construction of Yankee Stadium in 1922.

In 1881 Edison formed the Edison Ore-Milling Company and tried for many years to make that business a success. The demand was not existent, though new technological innovations that Edison brought to the industry the company could not compete with operations in the Midwest. Despite continual investment, with Edison selling shares in General Electric, the company suffered huge losses. Eventually, the ore-crushing technology was sold to other mine owners. Edison made significant improvements to the production process of cement. His mill in the valley of the Delaware River in New Jersey featured the first long, rotating kilns in the world. While the standard length was between 60 and 80 feet, Edison's kilns were up to 150 feet. To improve his financial stability he licensed the kilns to other manufacturers, but this helped his competitors to improve their production. Eventually, the industry became saturated and Edison's business was not particularly profitable.

The Edison Portland Cement Company was barely surviving financially until a new contract was won in 1922. Production began on the original Yankee Stadium on May 5, 1922, and was completed in just 284 working days. Built in The Bronx, New York City, New York, the stadium was home to the New York Yankees until 2008. During the course of the construction 45,000 barrels of cement, 30,000 cubic yards of gravel, and 15,000 cubic yards of sand were mixed by 500 men who produced 35,000 cubic yards of concrete. When the building underwent renovations from 1973 the walls were left untouched because Edison's concrete mix was seen to be hard and durable enough to remain intact. The stadium was closed for several years of renovations from 1973, reopening in 1976. From then it remained in use until 2008; the new Yankee Stadium opened the following April. The original was demolished in 2010. The company only lasted a few years after the construction of the Yankee Stadium, falling victim to the Great Depression. Read more at Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_Portland_Cement_Company

Read More

Read Less

Condition: Excellent

A stock certificate is issued by businesses, usually companies. A stock is part of the permanent finance of a business. Normally, they are never repaid, and the investor can recover his/her money only by selling to another investor. Most stocks, or also called shares, earn dividends, at the business's discretion, depending on how well it has traded. A stockholder or shareholder is a part-owner of the business that issued the stock certificates.

Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.
Price: $94.00