Background
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, most phenol used by American manufacturers was imported from the United Kingdom. It was used to produce, among other things, Thomas Edison's "Diamond Disc" phonograph records (which were not made from shellac like other disc records of the time), the salicylic acid used to make Aspirin, and the high explosive trinitrophenol. British phenol was soon being used almost exclusively for making explosives for the war effort, leaving little for export. By 1915, the price of phenol rose to the point that Bayer's aspirin plant was forced to drastically cut production; this was especially problematic because Bayer was instituting a new branding strategy in anticipation of the expiry of the aspirin patent in the United States. Counterfeiters and Canadian importers and smugglers were stepping up to meet demand for aspirin, and the war had disrupted the links between the American Bayer plant (in Rensselaer, New York) and the central Bayer headquarters in Germany. Thomas Edison was also facing phenol supply problems; in response, he built a factory near Johnstown, Pennsylvania capable of manufacturing twelve tons of phenol per day. Edison's excess phenol seemed destined for American trinitrophenol production, which would be used to support the British.
Read more about this topic: Great Phenol Plot
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