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Wayne I. Pribble Papers

A description of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: DGI/MM
Date: 2006

Biographical History

Wayne I. Pribble was an American engineer, manufacturer, and author in the plastics field.

Pribble was a graduate of the General Electric Co. apprentice training program at Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was trained as a toolmaker but never practiced that profession and was instead employed as a mold designer by the Plastics Division of the General Electric Co. in Fort Wayne, 1937-1942. In 1942, he was promoted to product engineer and continued in that capacity until resigning in 1948 to form his own company.

Pribble formed Barrier-Pribble and Co., Inc. in 1948 with Alvis L. Barrier. In 1954, this company became Pribble Plastics Products, a custom mold maker specializing in thermosetting molding. Pribble Plastics Products closed in 1981 and was sold in 1983. Pribble went on to buy and sell hard-to-find used books and sell computer programs for Apple and IBM computers.

In collaboration with J. Harry DuBois, Pribble wrote the majority of the text for Plastics Mold Engineering, originally published by the American Technical Society of Chicago in 1946. The National Society of Plastics Engineers obtained publishing rights and issued a revised and enlarged text in 1965 as part of the Polymer Technology Series of SPE and published by Reinhold Publishing Company; a 3rd edition followed in 1978, and a 4th edition in 1987.

Pribble was a member of the Plastics Pioneers Association of the Society of the Plastics Industry, National Councilman for the Northern Indiana Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers, National Treasurer of the National Society of Plastics Engineers and recipient of the Society of Plastics Engineers Presidents Cup in 1948.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Wayne I. Pribble Papers includes the records of Wayne Pribble's companies, Barrier-Pribble and Pribble Plastics Products; mold drawings produced by Barrier-Pribble and Pribble Plastics Products; and drafts and papers related to Pribble and J. Harry DuBois' book, Plastics Mold Engineering.

Barrier-Pribble and Pribble Plastics Products contains company records, an annual appraisal, mold designs and records, a scrapbook, and related materials.

Drawings includes mold drawings for various plastic items and an index to the drawings.

Plastics Mold Engineeringpapers contains manuscripts, communications, research materials, purchasing orders and royalty receipts, galley proofs, reviewer comments and correspondences, and other materials related to the writing, editing, and publication of the book. The majority of materials are related to the 4th edition.

Arrangement of the Collection

Collection is arranged alphabetically by topic.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has numerous holdings in the areas of plastics and industrial design. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing. In particular, see also the J. Harry Dubois Papers.

Subject Headings

Persons

DuBois, J. Harry (John Harry), 1903-
Pribble, Wayne I.

Corporate Bodies

Barrier-Pribble (Firm)
Pribble Plastics Products.
Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.

Subjects

Plastics -- Molds.
Plastics industry and trade.
Thermosetting plastics.

Genres and Forms

Brochures.
Business records.
Correspondence.
Drafts (documents)
Drawings (visual works)
Manuscripts for publication.

Occupations

Authors.
Engineers.
Manufacturers.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Wayne I. Pribble Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Transfer from National Plastics Center and Museum, 11/06/2008. Originally, gift of Wayne Pribble, 1997.

Table of Contents

Barrier-Pribble/Pribble Plastics Products

Drawings

Plastics Mold Engineering papers

Inventory