Jinx
November 4, 2004, 3:05am
1
When were maghic markers invented? Did they exist in the late 1950’s-early 1960’s? And, when did they become common household items? - Jinx
The first marker was probablythe felt tip marker, created in the 1940’s. It was mainly used for labeling and artistic applications. In 1952, Sidney Rosenthal began marketing his “Magic Marker” which consisted of a glass bottle that held ink and a wool felt wick. By 1958, marker use was becoming common, and people used it for lettering, labelling, marking packages, and creating posters.
According to the now defunct Magic Marker website:
" In 1952, inventor Sidney Rosenthal developed and began marketing the first felt tip marking device. A chubby, squat glass bottle to hold ink with a wool felt wick and writing tip [this describes the unusual appearance of the first magic markers], Rosenthal named his new marking device Magic Marker because of its ability to mark on almost every surface… In 1989, Binney & Smith, best known for its Crayola products, and the leading children’s marker manufacturer, enters into a licensing agreement for exclusive rights to the Magic Marker brand name… In 1991, after three years of product development, Binney & Smith introduces a revamped, redesigned and improved Magic Marker line that includes highlighters and permanent markers [magic markers become thinner]… !n 1996, fine point Magic Marker II DryErase markers are introduced for detailed writing and drawing on white boards, dry erase boards and glass surfaces."
Source: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpen.htm
Magic Markers sound so innocent and harmless, but your question reminded me of news articles I read years ago about the Magic Marker factory closing down in Trenton.
A little poking around turned up this article :
On Calhoun Street, right across from the Monument School, there is the former Magic Marker factory site.
Gould Batteries came first, leaking toxic waste into the ground. When the Magic Marker factory took its place, children from the school would climb the fence to grab discarded markers.
The children would run through ground covered with battery acid. Today, under the Brownfields regulation (which means a site can be sold even if it is not completely pristine), the site is covered with cement and “cleaned.” But there are no new buildings there.
Totally unrelated, I read further in the article and saw this:
On Lalor Street, there is an empty lot where someone parked trailers filled with toxic waste for companies who didn’t want to pay to have it dumped safely, expensively and legally.
Lalor Street, is where in the early 1970s Champale, a company that made malt liquor, put toxic waste barrels in the roofs and attics of the row homes they owned.
The kicker is, my best friend lives on Lalor Street, in one of those very row homes :eek:. Next time I stop by for pizza and a movie I’ll have to share this with him.