Alcoa
For 91 years, ALCOA was the unofficial moniker of The Aluminum Company of America. So what does The Aluminum Company of America have to do with America? According to their website, practically EVERYTHING.
Alcoa invented the aluminum industry, darling.
As a youth, future Alcoa founder Charles Martin Hall discovered a smelting process to cheaply produce aluminum. Today, the patented process using electrolysis is employed by every aluminum producer worldwide.
Charles Martin Hall founded the Pittsburgh Reduction Company in Pittsburgh, PA in 1888. By 1895, PRCo made their first product for the home economist: a tea-kettle that would not rust.
In 1907, PRCo officially changed its name to The Aluminum Company of America, and gave America the gift of aluminum foil in 1910. Throughout the entire 20th century, ALCOA had a hand in all manner of American industry: automobiles, aerospace, 2 war efforts, buses, windows, aluminum research & sustainability, public works, shipbuilding…and that just gets us to the mid-century mark!
Alcoa saw opportunity in post-war consumerism, and campaigned to become a household name through the magic of television. ALCOA sponsored Edward R. Murrow’s “See It Now” news show on CBS, to the tune of $50K per week.
By the 1960’s, ALCOA was a global company. Meanwhile, back in PA, Alcoa offered yet another first in their storied history: beer can pull tabs.
Maybe the big splash in pull-tab innovation eclipsed ALCOA’s entry into the aluminum Christmas tree industry. Their website offers no mention of it. Although the ALCOA logo appears prominently on the boxes of Metal Trees Corp., the connection is a mystery.
