Conrad Hubert was an American inventor and businessman, born Akiba Horowitz in Minsk. He developed and commercialized early battery-powered lighting, founded the American Ever Ready Company, and helped establish the modern handheld flashlight industry. He later led the Yale Electric Corporation and left most of his estate to public-welfare institutions.
Background
Hubert was born Akiba Horowitz on April 15, 1855, in Minsk, Belarus, to a family engaged for several generations in wine production and distilling. Minsk was an important commercial center in the western part of the Russian Empire and had a substantial Jewish population during Hubert's childhood.
He attended Hebrew school until the age of thirteen. In 1868 he went to Berlin to study liquor-distillation methods, supporting himself through various jobs during approximately six years of study. In 1874 he returned to Minsk and joined his father's business, which expanded its operations to several Russian cities during the following fifteen years.
Hubert emigrated to the United States in the early 1890s and adopted the name Conrad Hubert. After arriving in New York, he worked successively in several small businesses, including a cigar store, restaurant, boarding house, farm, milk-wagon route, and jewelry store, before turning to electrical novelties.
Education
Hubert's documented education consisted of Hebrew-school instruction in Minsk and vocational study of liquor distillation in Berlin beginning in 1868. The Berlin training took place in a city that was a major European center of science, manufacturing, and technical education during the late nineteenth century. No university degree is documented.
Career
After returning to Minsk in 1874, Hubert became a partner in his father's wine and distilling business. He helped extend the enterprise to several cities in Russia and developed a reputation as a successful businessman before emigrating to the United States.
In New York, Hubert rebuilt his career through a succession of small commercial ventures and eventually operated a novelty business known as the American Electrical Novelty and Manufacturing Company. The late nineteenth-century electrical-novelty trade connected improvements in batteries, miniature lamps, and switching mechanisms with consumer products. Hubert marketed battery-powered devices and worked with inventor David Misell, whose 1898 portable electric-light invention was assigned to Hubert's company.
Hubert organized and led the American Ever Ready Company, which manufactured and sold battery-powered lights and other electrical devices. Early products included electric novelties and portable lights; the company's Ever Ready products helped move battery lighting from novelty merchandise toward practical consumer goods. The company name was changed to The American Ever Ready Company in the early twentieth century.
Hubert received patents for an electric gas lighter, portable lights, lamp designs, and other electrical devices. His 1900 electric gas-lighter patent combined illumination with an ignition mechanism, while later portable-light patents addressed casing, switching, battery access, and ease of operation. In 1914 he sold the Ever Ready business to the National Carbon Company.
After the sale, Hubert formed the Yale Electric Corporation and became chairman of its board. The corporation manufactured flashlights and batteries, extending his involvement in portable electrical products beyond the original Ever Ready enterprise. He remained associated with Yale Electric until his death in Cannes, France, on March 14, 1928.
Religion
Hubert was Jewish. His birth name was Akiba Horowitz, and his family belonged to the Jewish community of Minsk, then part of the Russian Empire. He attended Hebrew school during childhood, and his Jewish identity remained documented later in life.
Judaism is a monotheistic religious tradition centered on the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic interpretation, communal worship, ethical responsibility, and the preservation of religious learning. Hubert's philanthropic legacy also included support for religious, educational, medical, and charitable institutions.
Personality
Hubert was described as a retiring man who maintained a small circle of friends.
Connections
Hubert married in 1914, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1927. He died in Cannes, France, and was buried in New York City.
His will directed that approximately three-quarters of an estate valued at about $8 million be distributed for public welfare. Calvin Coolidge, Alfred E. Smith, and Julius Rosenwald were selected to determine the distribution, and thirty-three American institutions serving charitable, religious, medical, and educational purposes shared in the bequest.
