Car History. 03 The Birth of Rubber

 One of the most important parts of an automobile is the tire, which is made of rubber. It is impossible to talk about cars without mentioning rubber. Around 1770, the English chemist Joseph Priestley was handling a lump of natural rubber when he accidentally dropped it onto a piece of paper.

When he picked it up, he noticed that the writing on the paper had become faintly erased. Thus, the eraser was born.

From then on, rubber began to be used in England and France as an erasing material, and thanks to its hardness, flexibility, abrasion resistance, and sound-absorbing qualities, it was applied to balls, raincoats, rubber tubes, and many other fields.

However, because rubber changed too easily with temperature, it was still not suitable for use in automobile tires.

The technology that solved this limitation was discovered quite accidentally by an American named Charles Goodyear.

Charles Goodyear

Goodyear purchased the patent rights for sulfur treatment from Nathaniel M. Hayward, who in 1834 had discovered that adding sulfur to rubber improved its elasticity. oodyear was working on making rubber practical by developing a material that would remain consistently hard regardless of heat. However, simply adding sulfur did not give him the level of hardness he desired.

In the winter of 1839, in Connecticut, Goodyear—who was running a foundry—sat before a warm stove, holding rubber and sulfur, deep in thought.

“How can I make rubber that is both hard and elastic? The method of combining natural rubber with sulfur has been the most effective in my research so far. If I can find the right way, I can create the rubber I want.”

At that very moment, the factory door opened, and a man shivering from the cold entered, loudly calling out:

“Brr, it’s freezing! Is anyone here? Is this Mr. Goodyear’s foundry?”

In a hurry, Goodyear placed the rubber and sulfur onto the stove and stepped out of the lab to greet the visitor.

“Yes, that’s correct. I’m the owner here. What brings you?”

He welcomed the guest and began a consultation.

After a long discussion, Goodyear escorted the man out. By then, it was time to close the factory. Returning to the lab to extinguish the stove, he found that the rubber and sulfur had burned together, giving off a pungent odor. 

Sighing, he muttered to himself:

“Ah, in my rush I’ve ruined perfectly good rubber and sulfur.”

Disappointed, he decided to leave the charred rubber until the next day, put out the embers in the stove, and closed the factory.

The next morning, upon arriving at the factory, Goodyear entered the chilly lab.

He picked up the burnt rubber from the stove, intending to throw it into the trash, when he suddenly felt something unusual.

“Hm? This feels different…”

Examining it closely, he realized the rubber had hardened more than any rubber he had ever seen. It did not change shape when pulled or bent. Even when placed near the stove for a long time, it did not become sticky.

At last, Goodyear realized this was the rubber he had been searching for. 

Lifting it up with excitement, he exclaimed:

“This is the rubber I’ve been looking for!”

Goodyear’s new invention became known as vulcanization, a process that gave rubber the durability needed for practical use. It played a decisive role in making rubber truly useful and marked the beginning of the history of tires—one of the most essential parts of the automobile.

After developing practical rubber, Goodyear and his close friend, fellow rubber enthusiast Hiram Hutchinson, explored business applications of the material.

Goodyear created the first version of the Goodyear tire, adding solid rubber to the rims of wooden wheels.

Meanwhile, Hutchinson used rubber to create what became the famous luxury Aigle boots, which later gained worldwide recognition. (It is said, half-jokingly, that this is why even in America there is a saying: “Choose your friends wisely.”)

Aigle Boots

In 1844, Goodyear obtained a patent for his vulcanization method, which produced high-quality rubber. However, he was constantly embroiled in lawsuits over patent infringement.

While others grew enormously wealthy from his invention, Goodyear himself died leaving behind debts of over $200,000.