Jonathan Cass Stimson Business Records
name: label: Inventor
content: Stimson, Jonathan Cass, 1897-1951
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry
topic: label: Topic
content: Automobiles -- Safety measures
label: Topic
content: Automobile travel -- United States
label: Topic
content: Reflectors (Safety devices)
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by Mary Stimson Bowie and Gordon Bowie, 1997.
creator: label: Inventor
content: Stimson, Jonathan Cass, 1897-1951
setName: label: See more items in
content: Jonathan Cass Stimson Business Records
bioghist: label: Historical
content: In the 1920s, Jonathan Cass Stimson filed patents for a design and manufacturing process of an improved "central triple reflector" for automobiles. He founded the Stimson Reflector Company to manufacture his reflectors, which he sold to many automobile manufacturers, including General Motors and Ford. In 1929, he licensed his patents to American Gas Accumulator (AGA), a manufacturer of traffic control equipment. With this agreement, AGA received the exclusive rights to manufacture Stimson reflectors and sub-license the patents to other companies. Stimson continued to patent improved versions of his designs up to 1940, including a switch from glass to a plastic material trademarked as Stimsonite. He made additional agreements with AGA, licensing his newer patents, and AGA made an agreement with General Motors, allowing them to manufacture certain types of Stimson reflectors. After Stimson's death in 1951, AGA's Stimsonite division continued to operate and was subsequently acquired by Elastic Stop Nut Corp. and Amerace Corp. It was last acquired by Avery Dennison Corp. in 1999. Stimsonite-branded pavement markers are still manufactured under the Ennis-Flint brand by PPG Industries, Inc.

Sources

Avery Dennison, "The History and Values of Avery Dennison," https://reflectives.averydennison.com/en/home/purpose/history-values.html

Chicago Daily Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, March 9, 1951, Page A4, "Obituaries"

Chicago Daily Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, June 9, 1986, Page W6, "Marketing"

Jonathan Cass Stimson Business Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History, Washington D.C., Collections Catalog, Stimson Reflector, https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1316860

New York Times, New York, New York, December 1, 1951, Page 27, "Companies Plan Merger: Elastic Stop Nut in Agreement with Gas Accumulator Co."

PPG, "ENNIS-FLINT® by PPG STIMSONITE® Raised Pavement Markers," https://www.ppg.com/en-US/traffic/products/raised-pavement-markers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: .5 Cubic feet (1 box)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1926-1950
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collection transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Work and Industry in 2024.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1646
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Patents
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is unarranged.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Joshua Insel, intern, 2025.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Business records -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Patents
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Business records of Jonathan Cass Stimson, an inventor who created widely-used designs for automobile reflectors in the 1920s and 30s. Collection consists of agreements with American Gas Accumulator, General Motors, and others regarding licensing of Stimson's patents, copies of Stimson's patents from 1926 to 1938, an application file for a 1947 rejected patent, correspondence regarding the use of the trademark Stimsonite, promotional materials for Stimsonite reflectors, and a ring binder from the Stimson Reflector Company.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Other materials relating to Jonathan Cass Stimson can be found in the following collection:

Jonathan and Viola Stimson Automobile Trip Collection, NMAH.AC.1657