Optical Pioneers
John Jacob Bausch...turning rubber into gold
By Joseph L. Bruneni

Bausch & Lomb, one of the world's major optical manufacturers, owes its beginning to the early 1860s when company founder John Jacob Bausch picked up a piece of rubber from the road on his way home. Bausch was a tenacious fellow who persevered through whatever problems came his way. Born in Germany in 1830, he became an optical apprentice.

Moving to Switzerland, he began making spectacles and selling them for six cents a pair, producing six pairs a day. Then, Bausch emigrated to Rochester, N.Y., where he worked in a wood-turning establishment. In 1853, he married Barbara Zimmerman, and seven weeks later, lost two fingers in a work-related accident. All the couple had was $7.50--his wages from the previous week.

Bausch's friend Henry Lomb took up a collection and brought the couple $28. Bausch then wrote to his brother in Germany, asking for finished eyeglasses that he would pay back over a six-month period. Advertising locally, he began selling finished glasses from his home.

John Bausch on the left with friend and partner Henry Lomb, in a picture taken in 1899

THE NEW SHOP

Opening an optical shop and needing more goods, he approached his pal Henry Lomb. Lomb was unmarried and had saved $62. Bausch borrowed the entire sum with an unusual gentlemen's agreement: If the business grew to where it could support a partner, Lomb would come in as an even partner. Bausch then went to Germany to raise more money while Lomb ran the business. Returning, Bausch traveled and sold eyeglasses in nearby towns while Lomb ran the store. Meanwhile, Lomb moved in with the Bausch family and put more money in the business.

By the time the Civil War began, Bausch owed Henry Lomb $1,000. The Civil War was a turning point because Lomb went in the Army and sent most of his pay back to Bausch.

FRAME PRODUCTION

Bausch was making frames out of horn. When he picked up that piece of hard rubber, he wondered if it might work for spectacle frames. He began making rubber frames by heating them on his kitchen stove. The frames sold well, and by the time Capt. Lomb came back home, the company had $800 in the bank.

Turning and polishing materials required lots of foot-power. Moving to a small building that had water power from the Genesee River meant no more foot pedaling. The two partners then built the first power machinery in America for grinding lenses.

The company was making profits from their rubber frames. Operating under the name Vulcanite Optical Instrument Co., they began manufacturing microscopes and changed the name to Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.

They began manufacturing microscopes in 1874 and soon rivaled the best produced in Europe. Bausch's son Edward won many awards, including one from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. And, when World War I made importing glass impossible, son William Bausch found a way to produce optical glass here. For the rest of their careers, both sons remained with their father's company.

Henry Lomb died in 1908, but John J. Bausch remained active head of the company for 75 years. He continued working until a few months before his death at age 96 in 1926.