1962
General information
Commodore was operating as a supplier of office machines for small and medium sized businesses. Commodore's main product lines in 1962 were portable typewriters and adding machines being sold in Canadian department stores such as Robert Simpson, Simpson-Sears, Eaton, Hudson Bay and many others. In the United States, Commodore Business Machines, Inc was leasing space in top department store chains such as Macy's and Bamberger's, Gilcrist and Litt Brothers. These departments were staffed by Commodore's own personnel.
Commodore expanded into the field of copying machines by creating two new subsidiaries: Commodore Drycopy, Inc. (New York) and Commodore Drycopy, Ltd. (Toronto). Commodore studied the three major copying technologies of the day: diffusion transfer, electrostatic and thermographic, and decided to enter the thermographic market. There were already over 100 different manufacturers of diffusion transfer copying machines so competition would be harsh in that market and the electrostatic method was considered to be too expensive for the small to medium sized business customers. Further, the thermographic machines required special thermal-sensitive transfer sheets which Commodore saw as a recurring revenue source well beyond the initial sale of the copying machine.
Notable company events
- Commodore Portable Typewriter Company, Ltd was renamed to Commodore Business Machines (Canada), Ltd and converted to a publicly traded company by Supplementary Letters Patent on February 7, 1962.
- The first public offering of the company's shares was made on June 29, 1962 and consisted of 300,000 common shares offered at $2.50 each, listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange of Montreal. This offering was underwritten by the Toronto brokerage firm Barrett, Goodfellow & Company.<ref>Report of The Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Failure of Atlantic Acceptance Corporation Limited, p.323</ref>
Products
A full list of all products is not available, but the Commodore Drycopy, "Quick" electric adding machine, a mechanical adding machine and the newest designed portable typewriter were highlighted in the 1962 annual report and are shown in this picture.
Revenue and profit
Revenue | $3,575,419.29 |
Net profit | $150,938.34 |
Officers and Directors
Jack Tramiel | President |
Manfred Kapp | Secretary-Treasurer |
Benjamin Oremland | Attorney |
Harry Wagman | Certified Public Accountant |
Carman George King | Investment Dealer |
Carl Morton Solomon | Solicitor |
Corporate entities and subsidiaries
Location | Corporate Entity |
---|---|
Toronto, Ontario | Commodore Business Machines (Canada) Ltd. |
Commodore Drycopy Ltd. | |
New York, N.Y. | Commodore Business Machines, Inc. |
Commodore Drycopy, Inc. |
June 30, 1962: Commodore Business Machines (Canada), Ltd. Annual report to shareholders