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Sprague Electric Company was an electronic component maker founded by Robert C. Sprague in 1926. It was best known for making a large line of capacitors used in a wide variety of electrical and electronic in commercial, industrial and military/space applications. Other products include resistive components, magnetic components ( and coils), filter assemblies, semiconductors and integrated circuits.
Sprague found a sustainable product line in capacitors. The increase in the types of radios using AC created demand for many different types of capacitors. By 1929, Sprague Specialties Company needed a bigger facility, and in 1930 Sprague purchased a plant on Beaver Street in North Adams, MA, in Berkshire County. When local residents heard the company was expanding, Sprague received all kinds of incentives from the banks and other businesses to relocate there. Sprague chose the area because he wanted to open a shop where his father Frank had grown up.
By the mid-1930s Sprague had become a recommended source for capacitors by radio manufacturers, radio repair and many electrical applications. As the size of the company grew there was a desire from the manufacturing workers to form an organized labor union. The Wagner Act prohibited company unions. In 1937 the company agreed with the workers to form an independent union, the Independent Condenser Workers Union.
From 1936–1944, the Sprague Specialties Company sales increased seven-fold, however expansion put a damper to profits. For many years the company sustained losses. Robert felt strongly connected to his company and to the people of North Adams, and always tried to consider the company's effects as the largest employer in town.
By 1942 the Sprague Specialties Company had relocated to the abandoned Arnold Print Works Facility on Marshall St. This became the main facility, and eventually consisted of 26 buildings that were interconnected by tunnels and bridges. Former employees remember the complex layout and interesting ways to get from one department to another. Previous to the Sprague Specialties Company, the Arnold Print Works had been the largest employer in North Adams, operating in the area from 1860–1942.
In 1942, the company's name was changed from Sprague Specialty Products to Sprague Electric. The Sprague Electric name would remain until its last owner Penn Central started to sell off pieces of its Sprague division in the early 1990s.
One of Sprague Electric's biggest contributions to the war effort was in the manufacturing of the variable timing proximity fuse. The proximity fuse was a small transmitter (and in some cases a receiver) built on a bomb or artillery shell that would detonate the bomb or shell before impact, causing greater destruction. Sprague Electric continued to make capacitor and resistive components to meet military requirements of quality and reliability. Robert C. Sprague was also a member of War Production Board for the Advisory Committee on Capacitors (1942-1945).
During the Second World War, Sprague invented the tantalum capacitor. The use of tantalum allows capacitors to achieve high values of electron storage or capacitance along with higher operating voltages, shrinking the capacitor to a fraction of the size of a more conventional design. Vishay Intertechnology, which currently owns the Sprague capacitor brand, calls their tantalum capacitors the Sprague tantalum.
Sprague Electric flourished during the Cold War and the Space Race because of their reputation and experience in the building of military components. However, by 1954 most of Sprague Electric's sales and profits were from the TV and radio markets; military products sales were second. Sales reached almost $50 million. Also in 1954, the company built new capacitor plants in North Carolina and in the US territory of Puerto Rico. It was the beginning of Robert C. Sprague's dream to make Sprague Electric into a major corporation; this expansion would continue into the late 1960s.
Sales of Sprague Electric products remained steady from 1954-1958 at just below $50 million. The company continued to expand its product base by opening a semiconductor plant in New Hampshire in 1957 and a magnetics plant in California. As the company grew, union membership (Independent Condenser Workers Union #2) grew as well. By November 1956 straight hourly workers wages were tied to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index. Additionally, workers received better benefits. The Sprague Log recorded in this in a "Special Negotiations Supplement."
By 1960 Sprague Electric had manufacturing plants in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Vermont, Wisconsin, Virginia, Maryland and California. Many were involved in making capacitors that used thin film technology. This proved to be a very important product for Sprague Electric. These plants also produced magnetic products (, inductors etc.). With advances in transistor and integrated circuit technology (later computer chips) resistance to noise interference became a factor. Magnetics played a role in reducing noise interference.
Sprague got into the semiconductor business in the late 1950s, somewhat later than the already established semiconductor firms. Fairchild Camera (directed by Robert Noyce) had marketed the first commercial integrated circuit as early as 1963. Sprague wanted to be an early participant into this young product. They set up a group at the New Hampshire facility where thin film capacitors were made. In 1965 Sprague Electric acquired Micro Tech (Sunnyvale, CA), a manufacturer of semiconductor equipment for fabrication.
By 1966 Sprague opened a brand new facility in Worcester, MA dedicated to semiconductor and integrated circuit fabrication. The new factory was headed by Dr. John L. Sprague, the youngest son of Robert C. Sprague. John Sprague was a graduate of Stanford University, and specialized in semiconductor development. Eventually the Micro Tech was moved to the same area. However Sprague's plans for Micro Tech never blossomed, and they wound up making capacitors. Robert C. Sprague's heavy investment in the semiconductor business reduced income for the company.
Sales of Sprague Electric products were $100 million by 1966 and the workforce increased to over 12,000. As the company grew, management was reorganized, and more expansion occurred, in the form of external partnerships. However, this rapid expansion served to keep profits down. Additionally, expansion did not have much impact on wages, benefits and working conditions. As one local historian put it, Robert Sprague's view of his employees was "paternalistic". In March 1970 a major labor strike started and affected all areas of the company. The strike lasted 10 weeks and was ultimately settled by a federal mediator. While Robert C. Sprague and the Union representatives shook hands after the settlement, the results had a negative effect on future of the company, its management and employees.
After Sprague Electric's permanent closing in North Adams, the population of North Adams dropped by 4,000 and the unemployment climbed to 14%. The biggest employer was gone and the site was rusting and decaying. The Sprague Electric Company's Long Goodbye Pt1-4 Removal and cleanup of the industrial waste, including carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were also lingering problems. In 1996, 17 homes were demolished on Alton Place, Avon and West Main Streets in the Braytonville area due to the vaporizing of a toxic trichloroethylene (TCE) plume of groundwater seeping west from the Brown Street site. TCE Contamination: North Adams, Massachusetts
In 1999, after years of demolition, cleanup, restoration, and construction, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) opened. Twenty-five of the 26 original buildings were restored, including many of the interconnecting bridges and tunnels. The Marshall Street site was listed in the National Historic Register. MASS MoCA is the largest contemporary art museum in the United States. Its location is a multiuse site, with the museum, offices, businesses, and recreation and special activity areas.
In the late 1960s, capacitors developed quickly as better materials, such as mylar, were used in their production. Capacitors became more reliable, smaller, and able to withstand higher voltages. Sprague Electric's "Orange Drop" capacitors were well received by manufacturers and designers. They set the standard for "modern" capacitors in appearance and performance.
The revival of interest in vacuum tube amplifiers brought the mystique of having the right electronic components for top performance. Sprague Electric components had a long history of name recognition, quality, and brand loyalty. Additionally, the Sprague "Bumble Bee" capacitors that were found in the original Gibson Les Pauls are commonly sought after by guitarists today in search of that original Les Paul tone.
, some designers and restorers use only Sprague/Vishay Orange Drops or other Sprague capacitors. After the breakup of Sprague Electric, the Orange Drop Capacitor line was continued by SBE Inc until 2012, when the Orange Drop product line was sold to Cornell Dubilier.
Sprague capacitors were used in a prototype Apple-1 computer.
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