The predecessor company began in 1890 in New York and was renamed in 1905. Today, the company makes batteries in the United States and China and has production facilities around the world.
History
January 1899 Ever-Ready flashlight ad mentioning the proceedings against the alleged patent-infringing rival companies
In 1896, Russian immigrant Conrad Hubert founded the American Electrical Novelty and Manufacturing Company to market battery powered devices.[2] On January 10, 1899, the company obtained U.S. Patent No. 617,592 (filed March 12, 1898) from David Misell, an inventor.[3] This "electric device" designed by Misell was powered by "D" batteries laid front-to-back in a paper tube with the light bulb and a rough brass reflector at the end.[4] Misell, the inventor of the tubular hand-held "electric device" (flashlight), assigned his invention over to the American Electrical Novelty and Manufacturing Company owned by Conrad Hubert.[3][5]
In 1914, The American Ever Ready Company became part of National Carbon Company. Hubert stayed on as the president. The trademark was shortened to Eveready.[2] Under National Carbon, the company continued to market various tubular flashlights, flask-shaped pocket lights, fountainpen flashlights, lighted clocks, lanterns, electric candles, cap and lapel lights, search lights, pistol lights, gas and range lighters, and tungsten batteries.[10] In 1917, National Carbon Company merged with Union Carbide to form the Union Carbide and Carbon Company.[11] From 1917 until 1921, Eveready used the trademark "DAYLO" for their flashlights and on their batteries. Into the 1930s, it sold "A," "B," and "C" radio batteries, Columbia Dry Batteries, and flashlight batteries.[12] B batteries were sold under the Layerbilt name.[13]
In 1937, a South African operation was established in Port Elizabeth.[14] By 1949, BEREC acquired the concern.[15]
Union Carbide Kenya Limited., based in Kenya, was established in 1967 to manufacturer and market Eveready batteries in Africa. It was renamed to Eveready Batteries Kenya Limited in 1986 and to Eveready East Africa Limited in 2004.[19]
Prior to March 1, 1980, the company's alkaline battery had been called the Eveready Alkaline Battery (1959–1968), Eveready Alkaline Energizer (1968–1974) and Eveready Alkaline Power Cell (1974–February 29, 1980). On March 1, 1980, it was rebadged under its current name, Energizer.[20]
In 1986, Union Carbide sold its Battery Products Division to Ralston Purina Company for $1.4billion. After the transfer, the division was named Eveready Battery Company, Inc., becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Ralston Purina.[21] By the end of 1987, Eveready held 58-60% percent market share, but that number had fallen to 40-45% by 1989 thanks to competition from Duracell.[22][23] In December 1988, Eveready's European unit acquired Cofinea, a French company that made Wonder and Mazda batteries.[24]
Eveready announced its first lithium AA battery in 1988 and began selling it in December 1992.[25][26] The company introduced its first mercury-free Battery in 1990.[27]
In 1992, it bought the British Ever Ready Electrical Company (manufacturer of Gold Seal and Silver Seal batteries) from Hanson Trust,[28] bringing its former subsidiary back under common ownership. Hanson retained its South African division at the time but ultimately sold it to Duracell in 1996.[29][30]
By December 1998, Eveready's market share had fallen to 30% against Duracell's 50%.[31] In June 1999, Ralston Purina announced it would spin off the Eveready business.[32] By September, it was announced that Eveready would sell its rechargeable battery division, though it retained a minority stake.[33]
Ralston completed its spin off Eveready in April 2000. The business unit was renamed Energizer Holdings, Inc., with Eveready Battery Company, Inc continuing as a subsidiary.[34]
Facilities
The company's initial factory opened in the 1890s and was located near Edgewater Park in Cleveland, Ohio.[35] The manufacturing plant was closed in 1978 and all operations shut down in 1997.[36] The site was put up for sale in 1999[37] and later turned into the Battery Park housing development.[35]
Eveready inherited its Fremont, Ohio plant when National Carbon Company acquired the company in 1914. The facility produced hearing aid batteries, aluminum-air batteries, C and D zinc-carbon batteries, and six-inch dry cell batteries at various times. It was closed in March 1998 following the decline in demand for zinc-carbon batteries.[38]
Eveready opened a plant in Bennington, Vermont in 1942 and a facility in St. Albans in 1947. The St. Albans plant closed in 2013.[39] After nearly 80 years of operation, it was announced in October 2019 that the Bennington facility would close. Production operations moved to a new facility in Portage, Wisconsin.[40]
In 1967, Union Carbide opened an electrolytic manganese dioxide plant in Marietta, Ohio. Three ferromanganese-alloy furnace departments were sold in 1981. A fire in April 1987 kept the facility closed for over a year.[41]
In 1971, Eveready opened a facility in Maryville, Missouri. It was underwent five expansions from 1973 to 1997 before ultimately closing in 2013 due to a drop in demand of disposable batteries.[42]
In 1941, after the United States entered World War II, the slogan changed to "Change your batteries, get a nickel!" to encourage economic growth.
In the 1970s, actor Robert Conrad was the spokesman for Eveready Alkaline Power Cells, in which he compared his tough physique to the performance of the battery placed on his shoulder, and daring someone to knock it off.[45]
In the early 1980s, it utilized the slogan, "Energized, for life!", showing people using Energizers in everyday situations.[46][47]
In 1985, the company highlighted an advertising campaign best known for Mary Lou Retton averring: "It's supercharged!"[48]
In the late 1980s, there was an Australian advertising campaign featuring Mark 'Jacko' Jackson and his pitch line "Energizer! It'll surprise you! Oi!".[49]
Since 1988, the well-known Energizer Bunny has been featured in its television ads. The bunny was based on the similar Duracell Bunny. Initially, ads had the Energizer Bunny interrupting what seemed like other brands' commercials.[50] Later, the bunny would appear in competition with inferior rival battery Supervolt, which was based on Duracell. In 1991, it made the jump to print advertising.[51] Outside the United States and Canada, the company uses an anthropomorphic AA battery named Mr. Energizer as its mascot.[52][53][54]
Both the Eveready and Energizer marks are used under license by auto parts magnate Pep Boys for their in-house car batteries.[55] The Energizer logo used by Pep Boys is similar to the 1980s-era logo first used with the consumer dry cell batteries.
Both Eveready and Energizer are marketed as different brands in some markets in Asia. This has led to the availability of both "Eveready Gold" Alkaline batteries and Energizer Alkaline batteries on store shelves. However, both target different market segments and Eveready batteries tend to be marketed for lower end devices, while Energizer batteries are marketed for power-hungry devices and are priced accordingly.
The Puttermans are a fictional family that appeared in a series of advertisements for Duracell from 1994 to 1996.
Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is an American chemical company. UCC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers before reaching consumers. Some are high-volume commodities and others are specialty products meeting the needs of smaller markets. Markets served include paints and coatings, packaging, wire and cable, household products, personal care, pharmaceuticals, automotive, textiles, agriculture, and oil and gas. The company is a former component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Duracell Inc. is an American manufacturer of alkaline batteries, specialty cells, and rechargeables; it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 2016. The company has its origins in the 1920s, through the work of Samuel Ruben and Philip Mallory, and the formation of the P. R. Mallory Company.
Energizer Holdings, Inc. is an American manufacturer and one of the world's largest manufacturers of batteries, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces batteries under the Energizer, Ray-O-Vac, Varta, and Eveready brand names and formerly owned several personal care businesses until it separated that side of the business into a new company called Edgewell Personal Care in 2015.
An alkaline battery is a type of primary battery where the electrolyte has a pH value above 7. Typically these batteries derive energy from the reaction between zinc metal and manganese dioxide.
Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri,–based American conglomerate with substantial holdings in animal feed, food, pet food, consumer products, and entertainment. On December 12, 2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlé's Friskies division to form Nestlé Purina PetCare Company.
The Energizer Bunny is the mascot of Energizer batteries in North America. It is a pink mechanical toy rabbit with an Energizer battery on its left knee wearing sunglasses and blue and black striped flip-flops that beats a bass drum bearing the Energizer logo.
The Duracell Bunny is an anthropomorphic pink rabbit powered by Duracell batteries and trademarked for use in all parts of the world except Turkey, The United States and Canada. Advertisements, which may feature one Duracell Bunny, or several, usually feature the bunnies competing in some way; for example, in a game of football, a drumming competition or a race. In advertisements, the Duracell Bunny is either a standard battery-powered toy, a stop-motion puppet, or a CGI-animated character.
Lewis Frederick Urry was a Canadian-American chemical engineer and inventor. He invented both the alkaline battery and lithium battery while working for the Eveready Battery company.
The AA battery is a standard size single cell cylindrical dry battery. The IEC 60086 system calls the size R6, and ANSI C18 calls it 15. It is named UM-3 by JIS of Japan. Historically, it is known as D14, U12 – later U7, or HP7 in official documentation in the United Kingdom, or a pen cell.
A D battery is a standardized size of a dry cell. A D cell is cylindrical with an electrical contact at each end; the positive end has a nub or bump. D cells are typically used in high current drain applications, such as in large flashlights, radio receivers, and transmitters, and other devices that require an extended running time. A D cell may be either rechargeable or non-rechargeable. Its terminal voltage and capacity depend upon its cell chemistry.
The C battery is a standard size of dry cell battery typically used in medium-drain applications such as toys, flashlights, and musical instruments.
A zinc–carbon battery (or carbon zinc battery in U.S. English) is a dry cell primary battery that provides direct electric current from the electrochemical reaction between zinc (Zn) and manganese dioxide (MnO2) in the presence of an ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) electrolyte. It produces a voltage of about 1.5 volts between the zinc anode, which is typically constructed as a cylindrical container for the battery cell, and a carbon rod surrounded by a compound with a higher Standard electrode potential (positive polarity), known as the cathode, that collects the current from the manganese dioxide electrode. The name "zinc-carbon" is slightly misleading as it implies that carbon is acting as the oxidizing agent rather than the manganese dioxide.
Eveready Industries India Ltd. (EIIL) is an Indian company that manufactures and markets batteries and lighting products. The Eveready brand has been present in India since 1905. It also manufactures photogravure plates, castings, carbon electrodes and related products.
Eveready East Africa is a Kenyan manufacturer and marketer of battery brands. It is headquartered in Nairobi, while maintaining a plant in Nakuru, Kenya.
P. R. Mallory and Co Inc was a US producer of dry cell batteries, electronic components including electrolytic capacitors, and audible warning devices ("Sonalert"). It also was the parent firm of Mallory Batteries Ltd., an Irish producer of Ever Ready batteries. British Ever Ready had a large stake in it by World War II and had a close relationship with Mallory by the late 1960s.
The British Ever Ready Electrical Company (BEREC) was a British electrical firm formed in 1906 as the export branch of the American Eveready Battery Company. In 1914 it became independent of its American parent company.
The National Carbon Company was a dominant American manufacturer of batteries and lighting products in the early 20th century. It was founded in 1886 by the former Brush Electric Company executive W. H. Lawrence, in association with Myron T. Herrick, James Parmelee, and Webb Hayes, son of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes, in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1890, National Carbon merged with Thomson-Houston, Standard Carbon, and Faraday Carbon. In 1906 it invested in what became the Eveready Battery Company, which it purchased in 1914. National Carbon was acquired in 1917 by Union Carbide.
Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc., is an American diversified company headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin. It was established in 2005 as the successor to Rayovac Corporation.
A lantern battery is a rectangular battery, typically an alkaline or zinc–carbon primary battery, used primarily in flashlights or lanterns. Lantern batteries are physically larger and consequently offer higher capacity than the more common flashlight batteries. Lantern batteries comprise multiple cells inside a housing.
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