Berwick on Tweed factory, photos from Mr. Kawaguchi

Mr. Kawaguchi sent in his collectin of Berwick photos, very rare in this blog as I had no photos to upload before. Thank you Mr. Kawaguchi. Here is his comment and the pictures. K.S.................................................................................................. These are pictures of the Berwick factory. It was located in an industrial complex on the outskirts of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, 50 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland. The Tweed River runs nearby. The road from Edinburgh runs through typical Scottish countryside. The Polychrome factory was closed, but the building is still in use by other businesses. When I visited there, the factory was carrying out a PUMA project to improve productivity, and the statue of a puma was displayed. The office was decorated with pictures painted by local elementary school pupils.

Yonkers facility around 1988 from Mr. Kawaguchi

I received a note from Mr.Takeshi Kawaguchi with photos of Yonkers facility around 1988. Thank you very much Mr. Kawaguchi for sharing these memories. Dear Mr. Shimazu My name is Takeshi Kawaguchi. I was dispatched to Yonkers by DIC in 1988 to prepare for the construction of a printing plate factory in Gunma. I'm about 70 years old now, and retired. I sometimes file and sort photos I took before and upload to Google maps. While I was looking around Yonkers, New York on the Internet, I found your Polychrome archive. Thank you very much for creating such a precious record. Here are some pictures of the Yonkers factory while I was there. I would like to express my deepest thanks to all the Polychrome people. I remember you often kindly invited us for lunch. I also thank Mr. Simon Chu, whose business and leadership attitude greatly impressed me. If you know Jen-chi Huang's email address, please let me know, for I would like to convey my gratitude. I am not sure if your computer has a Japanese language environment, so I am writing this in English. Corona's outlook is completely unknown, and anxiety and confusion continue. I hope you are paying attention and staying healthy. Sincerely yours, Takeshi Kawaguchi

Photos of old Osterode factory ....from Mr. Kawaguchi

Mr. Kawaguchi of DIC, now retired, is sharing his collection of the photos he took while he was working in Yonkers. This photos of old Osetrode factory brings me memories. The factory was torn down after the launch of larger, modern and hight productivity factory in nearby Katzenstein. Now a local shopping center stands at the location.

More Robinsville photo from Mr. Kawaguchi

Dear Mr. Shimazu I send you additional photos of Robbinsville plant. I remember it was a long drive from Yonkers. As a workshop for cutting and packaging products, it was a very large and orderly plant. I think this archive is a precious place for people to be proud of and remember the time they have worked at Polychrome, so I am trying to choose the proper photos for it. Thank you very much Mr. Kawaguchi for sharing the memories of Robinsville facility which I never visited but I recognize some supervisor/staff apparently sent from Yonkers facility at that time. Ken

Robinsville in 1988

Mr.Takeshi Kawaguchi, an engineer from DIC who was sent to US in preparation for the new Gunma plant, now retired, shared with me his collection of photos he took during his stay with us. This is the Robinsville plant we operated briefly during the time we were seeking site for a new production plant. The Yonkers faciily was land locked by two streets, railroad truck and the Yonkers jail and had no potentiacl for providing enugh space for an expansion. We investigate many locations including Robinsville and Yardsville NJ before settling on the Columbus GA location. I belive we mad a right decision in settling on the Columbus, I understand that this is the only active plate production plant in entire USA currently as many others including original Kodak, Enco, Fuji plants had been closed. Thank you Kawaguchi-san for providing these pictures.

Nick J Profeta RIP

I am very sorry to pass on the information received from Ron Muzillo regarding the passing of Nick Profeta and here is a part of his obituary. Nicholas, 92, a resident of Paramus since 1981 and formerly of Garfield, passed away on Monday, December 13, 2021. Before retiring, Nicholas worked for Polychrome Corporation as Vice President, Administration and Secretary of the company. He was a parishioner of Our Lady of the Visitation R.C. Church, in Paramus, NJ. Nicholas was an Army National Guard veteran who served our country proudly during the Korean War Era. Beloved husband of 69 years to Carmen (nee Patalano). Loving father of Barbara Maher and her husband Michael and Joseph Profeta and his wife Lynn. Treasured grandfather of Nicholas Profeta (Andrew), Jessica Curry (Connor), James Maher (Kellyn), Christopher Maher (fiancée Olivia), Sabrina Maher, and Brittany Profeta. Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 am on Friday December 17, 2021, at Our Lady of the Visitation R.C. Church 234 N. Farview Avenue Paramus. Interment at George Washington Memorial Park, Paramus, NJ. As an expression of sympathy, memorial contributions in Nicholas's memory may be made to, The Glaucoma Foundation 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 700, New York, NY 10038. glaucomafoundation.org

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2022

I wish all my Polychrome friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2022. As of this writing I am in Tokyo and am worried about my relatives living in New York. Unlike in Tokyo right now where there are only a few infected by Corona, I hear there is a big wave of new variant spreading in the US> We see in TV news a big number of infected in Great Britain as well. I hope all of you are wearing mask and observing a good social distancing when you are out as this seems to be the big difference between Japan and elsewhee. I hope also we see a return of the happy corona-less time so that we can enjoy meeting each other again. Hal Pilcher who now lives in Germeny sent me the following greetings I would like to share with you. Thank you Hal for your greetings +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR IN GOOD HEALTH ​ ​Hal, my very best personal greetings, a great TAHNKY YOU for all your work you have for us, we - as Polychromers ​P.S.: Sorry for my late respons, asap I will write you more when public stress gets poorer. Please Ken, do not forget to mention the Great job they have done Van Linden, as ​leading manager * Günther Aurich ( ü = ue ) boss of sale * Herr Ing. Richter boss of ​engeneering and production All of of a sudden we saw us at the fair ground in Milano IT ​at the booth of LASTRA I sold pos.plates under my private label, into Austria Van Linden and Gunther Aurich importet Lastra plates into German. !!! the company AUFA gmbH was found by Aurich and Feistl, both are needed tobe honored. Aurich am pretty sure lives in Hamburg,GER but it is impossible for to find him since 25 Jears. A friend of mine was shortly in Hamburg also checked in the yellow pages without any result. "To my dear budy Günther if you read this lines possibly, bitte nehme Kontakt auf zu Mr. Ken Ici Shimazu. Have my next letter to you in mind siceseveral weeks, is still not written so far. Very best greetings, Hal

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