Creator Record
Metadata
Name |
R. E. Dietz Co. Ltd. |
Other names |
Dietz, Brother and Company 1840-1855 Dietz and Company 1855- R. E. Dietz Co. Limited |
Dates & places of birth and death |
Robert Edwin Dietz (b. 18__-d. ) |
Occupation |
Manufacturer of hurricaine lanterns, kerosene lanterns, calcium carbide headlights and tail lights, safety lighting items. |
Notes |
At the age of 22, in 1840, Robert Edwin Dietz bought a small lamp and oil shop in Brooklyn, New York. His brother William assisted him and it was called "Dietz, Brother and Company". One of their first products was a candle lantern. Other products that they later made were sperm whale oil lamps, girandoles, hall lamps, and chandeliers. Three more Dietz brothers joined the company in 1855, and the name became Dietz and Company. That same year, the brothers built a large factory in New York City, which was later destroyed by fire in 1871. The next year, in 1856, Dietz patented a flat wick burner to burn coal oil (kerosene), which was a much cheaper fuel. In 1868, Robert E. Dietz sold his interest in Dietz and Company and partnered with Absalom Smith to form a new company, Dietz & Smith. When Smith purchased 6, 000 velocipedes (a mid 19th century bicycle) on company credit, Dietz decided he was a bad business partner, bought Smith's interest, and continued the company as R.E. Dietz. In June 1897, a devastating fire destroyed the R.E. Dietz factory in New York City. To avoid going out of business, R.E. Dietz merged with the Steam Gauge and Lantern Company of Syracuse, and eventually the company's manufacturing moved to Syracuse. In 1906, Dietz began making acetylene gas headlights and taillights for automobiles and trucks. Calcium carbide was used to make acetylene gas for illumination purposes, but calcium carbide lamps did not last long as a lighting technology. In 1956, the company president, Gerry Dietz, established R. E. Dietz Ltd. in Hong Kong. |
Places of residence |
New York City Syracuse, New York |
