Bell and Howell history

By 1908, Bell and Howell refined the Kinodrome projector, the film perforator, and the camera and continuous printer, all for the 35mm film width.

Introduced in 1912, the design 2709 soon garnered the reputation as "the most precision film mechanism ever made" and was produced for 46 continuous years.

In 1914, Bell and Howell decided to permanently locate its offices on Larchmont Avenue in Chicago.

In order to meet the needs of a growing business during his absences, Bell hired Joseph McNabb as both bookkeeper and general manager in 1916.

Bell and Howell had expanded into the amateur movie market in 1919 when the company began developing 17.5mm equipment.

McNabb succeeded his father-in-law as president and led the company through the prosperity of the 1920s.

In 1921 McNabb and Howell were invited to Rochester, New York, by George Eastman of Eastman Kodak to observe experiments using l6mm reversal material.

In 1923 Bell and Howell manufactured the first spring-driven l6mm camera, beating Eastman Kodak by two years.

By 1925, when Bell & Howell had about 500 employees at its Larchmont Avenue plant, annual sales had reached $1 million.

Erected in 1929, the Bell & Howell building on Larchmont Avenue was designed by Pond and Pond architects, brothers who took on commissions for commercial projects in order to subsidize their other stream of work, creating settlement houses, including a few for Chicago’s landmark Hull House.

By 1930, Bell & Howell had about 500 employees at its Larchmont building, and annual sales had reached $1 million.

In 1932, the Filmosound 16mm sound-on-film projector was introduced, and the company pioneered a zoom lens called the "Varo." Also that year, the automatic production printer as well as the motor drive and magazines on Eyemo cameras first appeared.

Both a 16mm and 8mm perforator were manufactured in 1934, along with the 16mm continuous sound printer and the 8mm projector.

Percy, a graduate of the University of Chicago, had held a variety of positions in the company beginning in 1938.

Charles Ziebarth remained with the company until his death in 1942.

By 1945, sales amounted to $21.9 million, the highest in the company's history, while the number of employees increased to over 2,500.

One fortunate occurrence during these years was the purchase of the microfilm division of Pathe Manufacturing Company in 1946.

After a long tenure as president of Bell and Howell, Joseph McNabb died in January of 1949 and was replaced by his hand-chosen successor Charles Percy.

1950--70: Expansion and Diversification

In 1951, Bell and Howell was awarded its first Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for technical achievement.