Charles Beseler Company is a

Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania Stroudsburg is a borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. It lies within the Poconos region, approximately five miles (8 km) from the Delaware Water Gap at the confluence of the Brodhead, McMichaels and Pocono Creeks in Northeastern Pennsyl ...

industrial company addressing four primary markets: public and corporate steel shelving and furniture, iron shelving and storage, shrink wrap packaging and

silver halide A silver halide (or silver salt) is one of the chemical compounds that can form between the element silver (Ag) and one of the halogens. In particular, bromine (Br), chlorine (Cl), iodine (I) and fluorine (F) may each combine with silver to prod ...

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

( film photography). The company now has two divisions left, its photo division and

shrink wrap Shrink may refer to: Common meanings *Miniaturization *Shrink, a slang term for: ** a psychiatrist ** a psychoanalyst ** a psychologist Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shrink'' (album), album by German indie rock/electronica group The Notwist ...

packaging. The company is a historic contributor to

photography. The company still sells photographic

enlarger An enlarger is a specialized transparency projector used to produce photographic prints from film or glass negatives, or from transparencies. Construction All enlargers consist of a light source, normally an incandescent light bulb shining thou ...

s; one of the few remaining companies to market the device.

History

The name Charles Beseler Company comes from Charles Beseler, a businessman in Germany in the 19th century who sold

magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...

s and

stereopticon A stereopticon is a slide projector or relatively powerful "magic lantern", which has two lenses, usually one above the other, and has mainly been used to project photographic images. These devices date back to the mid 19th century, and were a popu ...

s. Beseler died in 1909, but his company remained and then moved to New Jersey in 1919. The company manufactured photographic enlargers and other photographic equipment throughout the 20th century. It also imported the

Topcon is a Japanese manufacturer of optical equipment for ophthalmology and surveying. History September 1932—TOPCON was established based on the surveying instruments division of K. Hattori & Co., Ltd. (currently SEIKO HOLDINGS CORPORATION) in or ...

line of cameras into the US during the time that the company made cameras. Following a three-way merger in 1987, the company introduced other industrial lines to its business, and assumed new ownership. Around 2004, the president died and ownership passed to his wife, with the previous CEO taking on the role of president.

Role in education

From as early as the 1990s and as of the 2000s, the Charles Beseler Company was a supplier to high schools for photography classes in Minnesota and Ontario.

References

External links

Beseler Official Website
Companies based in Monroe County, Pennsylvania Companies with year of establishment missing Manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania {{industry-company-stub