Embarking on the 100-year anniversary, Alliance Rubber Company of Hot Springs, AR
is the only U.S.A. based rubber band manufacturer. Richard Spencer’s father, William
Spencer, founded Alliance Rubber from his basement in Alliance, Ohio. William noticed
that the morning papers were not secured and would blow across the lawn. William found
that he could slice bands from inner-tubes of tires and place them around the newspapers
to secure them. He marketed them as newspaper bands.
Today’s rubber band manufacturing sports multiple lines of production plus the use
of a digital printer. Richard holds patents on the manufacturing of the popular rubber
wrist bands. His use of the digital printer allows him to print messages on the wrist
bands that do not distort when stretched.
Alliance’s use of innovative methods and new formulas allows for the enhancement of
rubber bands. They do import rubber that has been collected from the sap of the Hevea
brasiliensis tree in Brazil but they have also use a synthetic rubber. The synthetic
rubber is used in the making of the popular rubber wrist bands to combat rubber allergies.
