Re: Somebody should tell \'em......
While searching for information on Burgess batteries I came across some interesting history, not just on Burgess, but also on RayoVac and Eveready. For those that missed the Burgess era, here's a picture of the familiar striped cell.
It seems that C.F. Burgess in the very early 1900s was running a company named Northern Chemical Engineering Laboratories, a small battery manufacturer contracted with Burgess, and he started the engineering arm of the French Battery Company. Burgess, not satisfied with the public perception that the newly invented 'flashlight' was an impractical novelty, developed a mass market flashlight that was accepted by the public. French Battery contracted with Burgess to sell both his batteries and his flashlights. Eventually they combined operations, with Burgess re-engineering the batteries sold by French. During world war I, they landed a contract to supply the bulk of the batteries used by the armed forces. During this time a fire broke out in the French Battery facilities and practically wiped them out. French and Burgess split and went their separate ways following that, with the French Battery Company headed by French, and of course the Burgess Battery Company headed by Burgess. Both were successful beyond their dreams.
Another battery manufacturer, in the U.S., Eveready, that had originally enjoyed the lions share of the market began to feel the pinch, and the word was they initiated litigation against the others in an attempt to make themselves the sole battery manufacturer. Claiming a patent on the chemical process in use at the time, they attempted to shut down the others. Burgess developed a new formula that was superior. So superior it was, that Eveready's formula couldn't match it, and Eveready had to end up purchasing a license from Burgess in order to compete.
French Battery Company eventually changed their name and came to be known as RayoVac. RayoVac and Eveready targeted the basic user market, while Burgess targeted industrial and high volume users. Eventually, the targeting of the basic user created a more recognized branding, although Burgess's sales weren't hurt. Burgess would work with manufacturers to make specialized sizes, often times the sizes would not be available for any other product. Even now if you're into collecting of older products, you might find a requirement for a battery bearing a Burgess number, but they're unfortunately no longer available.After Burgess' death the Burgess line was purchased by Gould. Gould was heavily diversified and relied heavily on private labeled batteries for retailers such as Montgomery Ward, a market beginning to receive heavier competition from overseas competitors. The Burgess facilities received poor environmental studies due to oversaturation with heavy and hazardous materials, and workers were appearing to have a extra high rate of cancer. They started losing money and abandoned the Burgess product line.
I ran across an interesting forum with some comments by previous workers at Burgess.
You might enjoy reading it.