Charles Beseler Company
Encyclopedia
Charles Beseler Company is a Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania industrial company addressing four primary markets: public and corporate steel shelving and furniture, iron shelving and storage, shrink wrap packaging and silver halide
photography
(film photography
). The company now has two divisions left, its photo division and shrink wrap
packaging.
The company is a historic contributor to silver halide
photography. The company still sells photographic enlarger
s; one of the few remaining companies to market the device.
s and stereopticon
s.
Beseler died in 1909, but his company remained and then moved to New Jersey in 1919.
The company manufactured photographic enlargers and other photographic equipment throughout the 20th century. It also imported the Topcon
line of cameras into the US during the time that company made cameras.
Following a three-way merger in 1987, the company introduced other industrial lines to its business, and assumed new ownership.
Around 2004, the president died and ownership passed to his wife, with the previous CEO taking on the role of president.
Silver halide
A silver halide is one of the compounds formed between silver and one of the halogens — silver bromide , chloride , iodide , and three forms of silver fluorides. As a group, they are often referred to as the silver halides, and are often given the pseudo-chemical notation AgX...
photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
(film photography
Photographic film
Photographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film...
). The company now has two divisions left, its photo division and shrink wrap
Shrink wrap
Shrink wrap, also shrinkwrap or shrink film, is a material made up of polymer plastic film. When heat is applied it shrinks tightly over whatever it is covering. Heat can be applied with a hand held heat gun or the product and film can pass through a heat tunnel on a conveyor.-Composition:The...
packaging.
The company is a historic contributor to silver halide
Silver halide
A silver halide is one of the compounds formed between silver and one of the halogens — silver bromide , chloride , iodide , and three forms of silver fluorides. As a group, they are often referred to as the silver halides, and are often given the pseudo-chemical notation AgX...
photography. The company still sells photographic enlarger
Enlarger
An enlarger is a specialized transparency projector used to produce photographic prints from film or glass negatives using the gelatin silver process, or from transparencies.-Construction:...
s; one of the few remaining companies to market the device.
History
The name Charles Beseler Company comes from Charles Beseler, a businessman in Germany in the 19th century who sold magic lanternMagic lantern
The magic lantern or Laterna Magica is an early type of image projector developed in the 17th century.-Operation:The magic lantern has a concave mirror in front of a light source that gathers light and projects it through a slide with an image scanned onto it. The light rays cross an aperture , and...
s and stereopticon
Stereopticon
A stereopticon is a slide projector or "magic lantern", which has two lenses, usually one above the other.These devices date back to the mid 19th century, and were a popular form of entertainment and education before the advent of moving pictures...
s.
Beseler died in 1909, but his company remained and then moved to New Jersey in 1919.
The company manufactured photographic enlargers and other photographic equipment throughout the 20th century. It also imported the Topcon
Topcon
Topcon is a Japanese manufacturer of optical equipment for ophthalmology and surveying. Their headquarters are in Itabashi, Tokyo. They are affiliated with Toshiba, which holds 40% of Topcon's stock.-History of Topcon:...
line of cameras into the US during the time that company made cameras.
Following a three-way merger in 1987, the company introduced other industrial lines to its business, and assumed new ownership.
Around 2004, the president died and ownership passed to his wife, with the previous CEO taking on the role of president.