Meade history

Authorized by an Act of Congress in May 1917, it was one of 16 cantonments built for troops drafted for the war with the Central Powers in Europe.

In 1918 the Management Engineering and Development Company was established in Dayton as a separate firm to supervise engineering of new Mead plants and to market Mead's engineering services to other paper companies.

In 1920 Mead bought out the other owners of Kingsport Pulp.

In 1921 the Mead Sales Company was established as a separate corporation to sell white paper produced by Mead mills and other United States and Canadian mills.

Tank Corps Joe Around 1923, the famed tank riding dog, Old Joe, befriended the Soldiers who manned the infantry's light tanks.

By 1925 Mead research led to the discovery of the semi-chemical pulping process by which wood chips from which tannin had been extracted could be converted into paperboard.

In 1927 The Mead Paperboard Corporation was founded as a holding company for the paperboard operations, including the Sylvia Paperboard Company, The Harriman Company, The Southern Extract Company, and the Chillicothe Company.

The Mead Corporation was incorporated on February 17, 1930, and George Mead was appointed president.

Two major purchases were Dill & Collins in 1932 and Geo.

In 1935 Mead's common and preferred stock were listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1938 Mead entered two joint ventures in an effort to reduce its dependence on imported pulp and to enter the kraft linerboard business.

The Cooks and Bakers School supplied bread for the entire Post (approximately 20,000 people including families of married men). In 1942, the Third Service Command opened the Special Services Unit Training Center where Soldiers were trained in all phases of the entertainment field.

In September 1943, the first shipment of 1,632 Italian and 58 German prisoners arrived at Fort Meade.

In 1945 Mead's assets had risen only $2.1 million from a prewar figure of $37 million.

The companies first collaborated in 1946 to found the Macon Kraft Company to build and operate a paperboard mill in Macon, Georgia.

Mead saw a rapid succession of presidents after Fergusen, who in 1948 became chairman of the board and handed the presidency on to Charles R. Van de Carr, Jr.

The year 1955 marked the beginning of a new period of growth for Mead, as the company diversified beyond its traditional paper products.

The specialty paper division, which produced papers for filters and insulation, was started with the purchase of Hurlburt Paper Company of South Lee, Massachusetts in 1957.

Mead and the FTC settled in 1965 when Mead signed a consent decree, agreeing to sell off seven of its plants over five years and place a ten-year moratorium on paperboard acquisitions.

A second important development occurred on January 1, 1966, when the Second United States Army merged with the First United States Army.

Mead sold off facilities such as the corrugated-shipping-container plant it had built at a cost of $3.5 million in Edison, New Jersey in 1967, but which had never made a profit.

Mead's aggressive expansion of its wholesale force provoked a 1968 suit by the Justice Department.

In 1969 Mead bought a furniture maker.

Throughout the 1970's and 80's Meade Instruments continued to develop new and exciting telescopes for amateur astronomers.

In 1971 the Escanaba mill was operating at a loss despite a $15 million investment in upgrading the plant.

60 mm Achromatic Refracting Telescope, 1972 (55,426 bytes)

In 1973 John introduced a selection of 0.965" (Japanese standard), 1.25" (American Standard), 2" eyepieces under the Meade name.

Despite these far-flung interests, in 1974, about 24 percent of Mead's pretax earnings came from paper, 35 percent from paperboard, and 5 percent from wholesaling.

In 1975 Meade Instruments became incorporated in Delaware.

1977 John did more than import and resell telescopes, he developed a good working relationship with his Japanese partner and became involved in developing custom focusers and accessories that gave the Meade products an edge in the United States market.

In 1979 Mead ranked fourth among forest products companies and hit its all-time earnings peak of $5.19 a share while fending off an unwanted takeover by Occidental Petroleum Corporation.

Through the 1980's the sales of Meade SCT's grew rapidly as did the overall demand for these advanced, relatively compact and user friendly telescopes.

Several hundred years ago when Company Seven first explored the possibility of offering consumer telescopes our first product line became Meade Instruments! By 1982 Company Seven became interested in offering a well integrated product line of Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.

By 1984 Meade introduced their LX3 Drive System, a Quartz 12 volt DC drive system with drive corrector which was incorporated in their 8" and larger SC telescopes, and later on in their Schmidt-Newtonian telescopes.

Celestron had in fact dramatically increased production and lost much quality control as the Comet Halley visit of 1985 approached.

Mead also sold its share of the Brunswick pulp and paper mill in August of 1988 and sold its recycled products business to Rock-Tenn Company in 1988.

The Modern Era In August 1990, Fort Meade began processing Army Reserve and National Guard units from several states for the presidential call-up in support of Operation Desert Shield.

After ten years as chairman and CEO, Burnell Roberts retired in 1992 and was replaced by Steven Mason, who had been president and vice-chairman.

Left: Meade 16" LX-200 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope with Computer Controlled "Go To" Fork Alt-Az Mount on optional Permanent Pier, 1994 (142,489 bytes)

Left: Meade ETX 90 Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope, 1996 (33,254 bytes)

Going Public In April 1997 John Diebel took Meade Instruments Corporation public with a stock offering.

By 1998 one could not buy a science oriented magazine without finding advertisements for the ETX. And one could not find a Mall where some store did not sell Meade featuring the ETX 90.

In July 1999 the Astronomical League "President's Award" was presented by Chuck Allen to John C. Diebel.

With the slowdown in the United States economy since year 2000 Meade has used the time to improve the products they make now, and make the acquisitions that will be their springboard into other markets too.

In December of 2001 a Vice President from Meade Instruments visited our Laurel, Maryland showroom.

By Fiscal Year 2002 Wal-Mart (including Sam's Club) would come to account for about 13% of Meade's net sales.

By 2003 Meade employment was listed as being up to 450.

Meade was finally able to quit his job by January 1, 2018–and then it was full speed ahead.