The Carborundum Company, founded in 1891 by Edward Goodrich Acheson, was an American manufacturer of silicon carbide abrasives and refractory materials, long headquartered in Niagara Falls, New York. The company’s visual identity evolved over the twentieth century, from an early pictorial trademark featuring Niagara Falls and a Native American chief to a modern corporate symbol designed in the mid-1960s. Today, the Carborundum name survives as a brand of abrasives owned by Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc.
Design and History
Carborundum’s earliest known logo was a pictorial mark depicting a panoramic view of Niagara Falls emblazoned with the word “Carborundum,” with the head of an Indian chief above it. A sign bearing this design is preserved in the Charles Rand Penney Collection at the Niagara History Center.[1] The Niagara Falls Public Library’s Carborundum Company Collection also holds prints and negatives of this Native American logo, along with accompanying descriptive text about the logo and its artist.[2] A similar design, showing a waterfall with the word “Carborundum,” appears on a tool sharpener in the collection of the Heinz History Center, which is marked “THE CARBORUNDUM COMPANY … NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK.”[3]
In the mid-1960s, the company introduced a new corporate identity. A corporate identity manual titled “The System of Corporate Identification” was published by the Carborundum Company in 1966.[4] The symbol for this system was designed by A.R. Dentale, as documented in the archival record of the manual held at York University.[5] A separate account identifies Richard De Natale as Carborundum’s Communication Manager, noting that his Carborundum logo and Corporate Identity Manual were well publicized to the design community in Australia.[6]
The Carborundum Company was acquired by Kennecott Copper in 1978, then by Standard Oil of Ohio (Sohio) in 1981. During the 1980s, the company’s name was changed twice, to Sohio Engineered Materials Company and then Standard Oil Engineered Materials Company, before returning to the Carborundum name in 1988.[7] In 1995, the company was sold to Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. of France.[7]
Today, the Carborundum trademark is registered to Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc., based in Worcester, Massachusetts.[8] Saint-Gobain continues to market abrasives under the Carborundum brand name in markets including Colombia and Venezuela.[9]
Meaning and Symbolism
The early Carborundum logo’s imagery of Niagara Falls directly referenced the company’s location: the company moved to Niagara Falls in 1895 to take advantage of cheap hydroelectric power for its silicon carbide furnaces.[7] The name “Carborundum” itself was coined by founder Edward Goodrich Acheson, who assumed his new crystals were a combination of carbon and corundum (natural aluminum oxide); chemical analysis later showed them to be silicon carbide, but Acheson kept the name because he liked the sound of it.[7]
The Native American chief’s head that appeared above the waterfall in the early logo is documented in archival materials, but no source provides an official explanation of its intended symbolism.[2]
Typography and Design
Details about the typography of the 1960s Carborundum symbol are not documented in the available sources. The corporate identity manual from 1966, which would contain specifications for the symbol’s construction and usage, is held in library collections but its contents are not accessible online.[4]
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