The Day-Glo Color Corporation (f. 1946) was created as Switzer Brothers, Inc. by Robert Switzer (1914-1997) and his brother, Joseph Switzer (d. 1973). While students at the University of California at Berkeley, the Switzer brothers experimented with mixing fluorescent compounds and shellac in the family bathtub. These experiments produced colors far brighter than normal that had the effect of glowing under ultraviolet or black light. The Switzer brothers initially sold these paints and dyes to magic shows and stage shows. In 1935 the Switzer brothers licensed the Cleveland, Ohio, based Continental Lithograph Corporation to make, use, and sell photoluminescent products (including the daylight fluorescent products) and moved to Cleveland. Continental Lithograph formed the Conti-Glo Division to handle these new products with Robert Switzer serving as manager and Joseph serving as research director. The Switzer brothers held all patent rights to the fluorescent paints and dyes. In 1936, Robert Switzer was awarded a patent when he applied his knowledge of fluorescent dyes and paints in a method to determine flaws in metal machine parts.
During World War II, these paints and dyes were used extensively by the Allied military. Troops in North Africa used fluorescent signal panels to identify themselves as friendly to Allied bombers. The Switzer brothers' fluorescent materials also allowed Allied warplanes to operate at night in the Pacific and were used to detect hidden flaws in airplane engines and parts. The Switzer brothers left Continental Lithograph after the war and formed their own company, Switzer Brothers, Inc., in 1946. This new company was the sole source licensed under the Switzer patents to process daylight fluorescent fabrics and manufacture daylight fluorescent devices.
In 1947, the Day-Glo trademark was registered in the United States and has dominated the market ever since. Switzer Brothers, Inc. introduced the brilliance of Day-Glo colors to the graphic arts industry on glowing billboards, bus cards, and window displays produced with silk screen inks. In 1959 Proctor and Gamble decided to make a change from conventional to fluorescent color on their Tide detergent carton, using Day-Glo printing inks. Sales of Tide surged, and Day-Glo colors became a standard in product advertising and packaging. During the 1960s, Day-Glo introduced the first one-impression fluorescent litho-letterpress inks, the first fluorescent toners for flexographic inks, and the first "extra strength" litho-letterpress ink. In 1969 Switzer Brothers, Inc. changed its name to the Day-Glo Color Corporation.
By the 1980s, the Day-Glo Color Corporation had established itself as the world leader in the development and manufacture of daylight fluorescent dyestuffs, pigments, inks, and paints of many types in a wide range of colors. It supplied approximately 57% of the American fluorescent printing and plastics market and 80% of the American fluorescent paint market. It was also a major supplier of fluorescent flaw detection products. In 1982, the Day-Glo Color Corporation supplied approximately 18% of the world fluorescent market outside of the United States and Canada.
In 1986 the Day-Glo Color Corporation was sold to the Nalco Chemical Company. Members of the Switzer family used some of the proceeds of the sale to establish the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation. The foundation provides scholarships to graduate students pursuing degrees in the environmental sciences.
The Day-Glo Color Corporation Records, (1930-1991), consist of agendas, annual reports, articles of incorporation, blueprints, brochures, budgets, bylaws, color guides, contracts, correspondence, fabric samples, financial statements, handbooks, histories, interview transcripts, legal documents, lists, magazine clippings, manuals, memoranda, minutes, newsletters, newspaper clippings, notebooks, notes, outlines, photographs, press releases, publications, questionnaires, reports, reprints, resolutions, scrapbooks, speech texts, stock certificates, and tax returns.
This collection is of value to researchers studying the history of Cleveland, Ohio and the Day-Glo Color Corporation. Researchers interested in Robert Switzer and Joseph Switzer will also find this collection useful. This collection is also of value to researchers studying the history of the creation and development of fluorescent paint and dyes by the Switzer brothers and the printing and industrial uses of these materials. Researchers interested in business and industrial history in Cleveland will find this collection useful. This collection also documents the military uses of fluorescent paint and dyes beginning in World War II, and the impact Day-Glo paints and dyes had upon the advertising and marketing industries in the United States and internationally. Researchers interested in the predecessor companies of the Day-Glo Color Corporation, such as Switzer Brothers, Inc. and Conti-Glo, will find this collection of interest.
The collection has been retained in general original order and is arranged in eight series.
All audio and video cassette tapes have been removed to the audio-visual collection. Photographs that were included in scrapbooks have been retained with the collection; all other photographs have been removed to the photograph and print collection.
The researcher should also consult MS 4781 Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation Records.
Processed by Margaret Burzynski-Bays in 2003
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4878 Day-Glo Color Corporation Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Robert and Patricia Switzer, 1993
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.