Unable to attract investors to the project, Edison financed
his own mines. The most promising site was at Ogden on the border
of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Edison moved there for five years
to work on the project and sunk some $3 million into it. It was
a massive undertaking, dependent upon a complicated system of ore-separation.
It also used an intricate procedure of conveyer belts and assembly
that influenced Henry Ford when he built his Model T business.
Unfortunately, the bottom fell out of the iron ore market
just as Edison was preparing to put his product on the market in
1891. The Panic of 1893 had weakened businesses and prices dropped
across the board. In addition, new deposits of pure iron ore were
found in 1892 in Minnesota, further ruining Edison's chances. The
eleven-year-long debacle drained Edison's personal finances and
came to be known as "Edison's Folly."
Analysis
The 1890s were a transitional period for Edison. With
so many projects and businesses, he no longer had the freedom of
the lone inventor. He took a new interest in manufacturing and
production, recognizing that the real profitability lay in those
two elements of the invention business. For years Edison had done
the inventing while his financiers and business interests made
the real money. Now he determined to control his own inventions
and business decisions. The West Orange facility was less romantic
and dynamic than the laboratory at Menlo Park, but it fit in well
with the direction of Edison's vision.
The phonograph is a good example of what happened more
and more toward the end of Edison's inventing life. In order for
Edison to see the profitability of one of his inventions, a competitor
had to lead the way. This had very little to do with Edison's capabilities
as a businessman or an inventor. In addition, sometimes he did
not want to use his devices in the ways competitors were using
them. Bell saw the marketability of the phonograph in the idea of
a music box. Edison wanted to use the phonograph for educational
purposes and resisted the idea of marketing it as a music device.
Despite his initial neglect of the phonograph, Edison
quickly asserted his rights when it appeared that he would be threatened
by a competitor. Therefore, when Bell began encroaching on his
invention, Edison shook off his anger about the potential uses
of the phonograph and set about claiming his share of the market.
The ore-milling fiasco is an unfortunate chapter in Edison's inventing
life, but what is remarkable is the way he bounced back afterwards.
In 1897 he even established an ore-milling syndicate in London.
And he recognized a potential market in one of the by-products
of ore-milling–cement. In June 1899, soon after the closing of
the Ogden plant, he founded the Edison Portland Cement Company.
The business was the fifth largest cement producer in the United
States by World War I.
Ad-free experience
Study Guides for 1,000+ titles
Full Text content for 250+ titles
No Fear Translations of Shakespeare’s plays (along with audio!) and other classic works
Flashcards
Mastery Quizzes
Infographics
Graphic Novels
AP® Practice & Lessons
Note-taking
Bookmarking
Dashboard
