Two "Polychromers" Reunite 50 Years Later.... a letter from Don Leo

In my first job in Corporate America I started as a Lab Technician working for Ken-Ici Shimazu, Director of R&D, Polychrome Corp, Yonkers NY in the Special Products Laboratory. During that two year period I learned how to formulate new products, scale them up in the pilot plant and conduct plant trials at co-manufacturers. The valuable experience I gained in those two years provided me with the skills and knowledge to further advance my career as a Food Chemist at General Foods and PepsiCo over the next ten years. I leveraged that technical expertise to advance my career for next thirty years in Sales and Marketing at Givaudan Flavors and Fragrances. In addition to providing the valuable skills I needed to succeed in business my colleagues at Polychrome became my friends , mentors and team mates. The collegial atmosphere and the diverse backgrounds of my colleagues influenced me in positive ways that stayed with me my entire career. Ken was a great boss and his mentorship means so much to me to this very day. Ken and I had a fantastic lunch ( sushi of course) and talked at length and shared memories about the "good old days" as well as both of our families. Ken invited me into his home where we sipped green tea and sampled Japanese sweets and treats. It was a wonderful reunion in every aspect. Fifty years is a long time for sure but being with Ken that day felt like it was yesterday. I am so thankful for my two years at Polychrome. It laid the foundation for a long happy career in chemistry and business.... Donald Leo Laboratory Technician Special Projects Lab Polychrome Corp Photo: Ken and Don conducting a Chrome Guide plant trial in Millerton NY Spring 1974

Berwick photos from Mr. Kawaguchi

Mr Takeshi Kawaguchi, a DIC engineer who were part of the engineer group who stationed in US had some photo collection from his visit to Berwick facility on July 21, 1989.

1978 Polychrome International Today Newsletter

Doug Chu, Simon's son was helping his dad to "declutter" his papers and found this a 1978 Polychrome Int. Today Newsletter. It has a lot of interesting cobtents and brings back memories. It is in a large format and may not be suitable for reading on phone but hope many readers have an access to a computer with a large screen to go through all the contents and pictures. By the way Simon is going to be 92 this coming Feb. and doing great according to Doug. Thanks Doug for your contribution.

100 years of service to Polychrome

Simon Chu,JenChi Huang, JB Huang and I met again for a Japanese lunch at Sazan restaurant in Ardsley NY, our usual hideout. These four represents approximately 100 years of combined service to Polychrome Corporation. As usual it was good to seeing each other and catching up on the recent news such as of grandchildren ( and great grand children in case of Simon), health reports such as aches and pains and a bit of Polychrome related news such as three production plants, in Columbus, Katzenstein and Gunma still operating while Agfa and Fuji cut back their non-domestic production sites.

Polyline May 1973

Polyline May 1973 issue was found inside a book totally unrelated Polychrome. So it is now uploaded for your review. I am hopeful that in case you find something interesting for this archive you will consider sending me the content rather than throwing it away as old junk!

DIC engineer Mr. Kawaguchi accompanied Mr. Nonaka (then in charge of graphic arts div. at DIC), Dr. Oe (R&D director then, later became President of DIC) to tour US,German and English plants. There they met members of Polychrome, Bittner, Kaps, Sens and Hitomi of DIC who was then stationed in Katzenstein. The photo is the Katzenstein brochure handed out during their visit.

Polychrome legacy continues

Those ex Polychromers who did not follow the world of presensitized plates past Kodak Polychrome Grahics days may be interested in learning how our past efforts are still influencing the industry today. Today the three former Polychrome production sites in the USA, Europe and Japan are all in production and the China 2FF plants we licensed our technology in 80' and are active now under the Lucky Huaguang Graphicsname boast production capacity of 175msqm in their web site. (http://hg.luckyfilm.com/en/Page/index.html?cate=330). On the other hand once mighty Agfa ceased production in Branchberg NJ, Leeds UK and recently announced the sale of entire Agfa Graphics to a private investment company Aurelius group (https://www.agfa.com/corporate/news-item/agfa-gevaert-group-completes-the-sale-of-its-offset-solutions-division-to-aurelius-group/). Announcements were made on the closure of Fuji plant in Europe and the USA (https://www.printcan.com/news/2022/20221130984.shtml, https://petapixel.com/2021/07/01/fujifilm-to-close-four-u-s-photo-equipment-plants-and-cut-400-jobs/#:~:text=Fujifilm%20has%20announced%20that%20it,by%20the%20fall%20of%202022.) making the Columbus factory of our Polychrome (now Kodak) to be the only plate factory in the US. This all happened within the quarter century since the name Polychrome disappeared from the American Stock Exchange, it will be interesting to see what change will come during next quarter century! (My goal of living till age 100 years with good health is not sufficient to see this change!)