Bell and Howell history

Introduced in 1912, the design 2709 soon garnered the reputation as "the most precision film mechanism ever made" and was produced for 46 continuous years.

In 1914, Bell and Howell decided to permanently locate its offices on Larchmont Avenue in Chicago.

In order to meet the needs of a growing business during his absences, Bell hired Joseph McNabb as both bookkeeper and general manager in 1916.

Bell and Howell had expanded into the amateur movie market in 1919 when the company began developing 17.5mm equipment.

McNabb succeeded his father-in-law as president and led the company through the prosperity of the 1920s.

In 1921 McNabb and Howell were invited to Rochester, New York, by George Eastman of Eastman Kodak to observe experiments using l6mm reversal material.

In 1923 Bell and Howell manufactured the first spring-driven l6mm camera, beating Eastman Kodak by two years.

By 1925, when Bell & Howell had about 500 employees at its Larchmont Avenue plant, annual sales had reached $1 million.

Erected in 1929, the Bell & Howell building on Larchmont Avenue was designed by Pond and Pond architects, brothers who took on commissions for commercial projects in order to subsidize their other stream of work, creating settlement houses, including a few for Chicago’s landmark Hull House.

By 1930, Bell & Howell had about 500 employees at its Larchmont building, and annual sales had reached $1 million.

In 1932, the Filmosound 16mm sound-on-film projector was introduced, and the company pioneered a zoom lens called the "Varo." Also that year, the automatic production printer as well as the motor drive and magazines on Eyemo cameras first appeared.

Both a 16mm and 8mm perforator were manufactured in 1934, along with the 16mm continuous sound printer and the 8mm projector.

Percy, a graduate of the University of Chicago, had held a variety of positions in the company beginning in 1938.

Charles Ziebarth remained with the company until his death in 1942.

By 1945, sales amounted to $21.9 million, the highest in the company's history, while the number of employees increased to over 2,500.

One fortunate occurrence during these years was the purchase of the microfilm division of Pathe Manufacturing Company in 1946.

After a long tenure as president of Bell and Howell, Joseph McNabb died in January of 1949 and was replaced by his hand-chosen successor Charles Percy.

1950--70: Expansion and Diversification

In 1951, Bell and Howell was awarded its first Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for technical achievement.

After the war, the company expanded into microfilm equipment and other products; annual sales passed $50 million in 1957.

The Inserting and Mailing Machine Company, maker of equipment for mail-order firms, insurance companies, and banks, was acquired in 1958.

With the purchase of Consolidated Electrodynamics Corporation, a research and development firm involved in aviation equipment, control systems, and electronic instrumentation, Bell and Howell sales increased to $114 million by 1960, while its staff grew to 7,590.

The success of the International Division was indisputable: in 1963 cumulative sales from the division jumped an amazing 67 percent over the previous year.

In January 1971, Peterson joined the Republican administration of President Nixon and was soon appointed Secretary of Commerce.

With profits in seemingly irreversible decline, Bell & Howell sold its photo-products group in 1979 to a Japanese partner at a loss of about $35 million.

That compared with earnings of $3.5 million, or 62 cents a share, on the sales of $151 million in the similar 1982 period.

And, as revenues stalled in 1988 at $600 million, Schultz became part of the management group that joined forces with Texas financier Robert M. Bass to undertake a $678.4 million leveraged buyout of Bell and Howell.

In September 1989, the company sold its textbook publishing division, Merrill Publishing, formerly one of its core businesses, for $260 million to Macmillan, Inc.

In 1990, William J. White, formerly president and CEO of Whitestar Graphics, Inc., a business forms company, was hired by Bell and Howell as its new chief executive.

In early May 1995, Bell and Howell once again went public, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BHW.

Elliott, Alan, “Bell & Howell Co: Making Archived Works Available on Internet,” Investor’s Business Daily, March 5, 1999.

In January 2000, the company, with sales nearing $1 billion, announced plans to create separate companies reflecting the firm's different interests.

In December 2002, Bell & Howell merged with Böwe Systec Inc. to form Böwe Bell & Howell, with two of its divisions now headquartered in Lincolnwood.