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A shortage of rubber during
WWII lead to a discovery that would make a young inventor famous.
In 1925, an enterprising young man named Howard Frankland bought a filling
station in a new city and moved from Jackson, TN to Tampa, FL to make
his fortune. He went to work right away, expanding his new filling station
to include a rubber-vulcanizing department and later adding equipment
that could recap rubber truck tires.
His brother, Frank Frankland, also became involved in the rubber tire
business when he moved to Tampa in 1930. Together they built the Pioneer
Tire Company. For the next few years, the two brothers continued to expand
their business in the changing markets of WWII.
But as the war continued, it became apparent there would be a staggering
shortage of rubber. Howard began thinking of ways to make use of the precious
waste-rubber dust that accumulated around the new Kraft-Neilson buffing
and tire-recapping machine.
He experimented with many different processes until he finally hit on
a success. By combining the rubber dust with cork, he could vulcanize
the composition into rubber balls. Howard and Frank began producing the
rubber balls under the name Hofran in a new factory on Habana Avenue.
The factory manufactured nearly 7,000 balls per day! The successful brothers
later sold their rubber ball factory to AMF and Voit.
The Franklands' first invention became a stepping stone to a patent and
another unique business opportunity. In 1957, Howard organized Rubber
Products, Inc. to produce personalized rubber mats. A year later, Howard's
son, Perry, was brought in to manage the newest product, a unique type
of color-flecked floor tile called "Tuflex".
"Don't worry, it's Tuflex" became the headline in ads placed
in sports magazines across the country. This new rubber floor became an
instant hit, with brisk sales in country clubs, ice rinks and gyms. The
revolutionary flooring bounced back from golf spike traffic while protecting
the cleats from wear. Sales quickly expanded with new uses.
Tuflex's 3/8"-thick floor tiles were sold in a variety of color
patterns in both 9" x 9" and 27" x 27" squares.
At the Rubber Products factory at 4521 W. Crest Avenue, rubber flooring
was the mainstay, but over the years specialty items came and went. The
company manufactured bridge pads, offset blocks, rubber molds for railroad
ties, "100-plus" carpet underlayment, baseball bases, parking
lot bumpers, a "Travel-Tee" designed to give golfers a portable
surface to hit golf balls and a "Drain Gun" to unclog sinks,
tubs and toilets.
In the early years of production, all rubber tile color patterns made
by Tuflex were named, not numbered. Names over the years included: Terrazzo,
Chiptone, Softone, Unitone, Stardust, Snowflake, Pelletone, Sunset, Pebble,
Misty, Country Club Green, Theatre Red and Reversible.
The success continued when the company, lead by Perry's son, Howard II,
and Frank's son, Fred, expanded the business into an international sales
and manufacturing powerhouse.
Today, Fred leads Tuflex Rubber Products into its fifth decade of success.
The company has expanded globally into more than forty foreign countries
and has developed the use of the flooring in a wide range of applications.
Endorsed by professional sports figures, Tuflex in one of the most popular
floors in athletic facilities in the nation. Today, Tuflex is the sports
floor for many football, basketball, hockey, and baseball teams including
dozens of professional franchises in the NFL, NHL, NBA, MBA and WNBA.
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