Dunlop Rubber Company

In 1888, John Boyd Dunlop created the first commercially viable pneumatic tyre, from an idea he had whilst watching his son ride a tricycle. Dunlop patented the idea, giving his fledgling Dunlop tyre company a head start over automotive competitors who had already recognised the tyre’s many advantages. Ten years later, Dunlop’s invention had almost entirely replaced solid tyres.

In 1889, Dunlop opened its first tyre plant in Dublin and its first factory in Birmingham just two years later. From there, Dunlop’s growth from pioneer to successful multinational corporation was swift. The company was extablished in Germany, France, Canada, Australia, USA, and production facilities throughout the globe, for example, Japan’s first ever tyre plant at Kobe.

The company’s Dunlop Film Unit [qv] produced a cinemagazine series, Montage, to promote the work of the company in the early 1960s.

Sources

http://www.dunloptyres.co.uk/dunlop/history/; Accessed 22/4/2006: NoS Number 349554; Montage Number 1; Date released 1960: NoS Number 349580; Montage Number 8; Date released 1963.