Edison and Ford Winter Estates - Rubber Laboratory

Rubber Laboratory

During the period of 1914-1918 (World War I), Edison became concerned that the cost of rubber was going to drastically rise. He was aware that the cost of production and transportation of this good would, over time, go up, so he began to work with Harvey Firestone and his already good friend Henry Ford to try to find a crop that could grow quickly and, above all, contain enough latex to support his research endeavor. In 1927, the three men contributed $25,000 each and created the Edison Botanic Research Corporation in an attempt to find the "solution" to the rubber crisis. In 1928, the final location of the EBRC was constructed and was the predominant laboratory utilized in this corporation. It was in Fort Myers, Florida that Mr. Edison would do the majority of his research and planting of his exotic plants and trees, sending any results or sample rubber residues up to West Orange, New Jersey, to his large Thomas A. Edison "Invention Factory".

It was not until later in Edison's life (around 1928) that they finally deduced that the weed Goldenrod (Solidago leavenworthii) was the best producer of latex. Much work would be conducted for months on this plant after this conclusion came about. From distillation of chemicals, to the vulcanization of the wet residues produced, anything and everything was attempted by Edison and his workers.

Although herculean efforts were put forward to the EBRC (both financially and physical labor from the workers), the project failed to find the solution they were looking for. The office/laboratory in Fort Myers shut down in 1934 and the remaining laboratory in West Orange diminished in 1936. Despite Edison's desires, the research was not able to produce rubber from a plant on a large enough scale to deem it economically feasible or commercially successful.