Brief History of the Charles Supper Company

X-ray diffraction, or more specifically crystallography, is the study, by x-ray, of the structure of crystals.  It is a field basic to almost all ranges of science and it is today used in research of cancer and protein cells, by scientists working in space research and technology and by government agencies, Universities, private industry and other institutions working in all fields of biology, physics, mineralogy and chemistry.

Charles Supper Company was incorporated in 1946 by Mr. Charles E. Supper, for the primary purpose of developing and manufacturing x-ray diffraction cameras and related accessories.

Mr. Supper had worked with professor M.J. Buerger and other scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Professor Buerger  conceived the idea of a single crystal x-ray camera which he named the Precession camera.  Mr. Supper was instrumental in designing and building of the first of these cameras in 1940.  Buerger had great success with the instrument and published several papers as well as a book concerning his invention.  Others soon became interested and by world war II years, Mr. Supper was building more of these cameras in his spare time, nights, Saturdays, Sundays and which were quickly purchased by research laboratories who were doing government research.  At that time, as today, the Atomic Energy Commission, and in particular, the Union Carbide Nuclear Laboratory at Oak Ridge were prime customers.

During this same period Mr. Supper also redesigned the old German Weissenberg camera and made it commercially available.

It was not long before he could no longer build enough cameras in his spare time to equal the demand and he left M.I.T. and incorporated his business. He hired one man, rented the 1800 square feet basement of a commercial building in Newton Center, purchased a few basic machines out of the $10,000.00 he had managed to save and borrow and commenced his operation.

The success of Charles Supper Company has been due to the integrity of its founder who has insisted on the highest quality and standards of precision workmanship.  The goodwill he has created for the company has made an unsurpassed reputation amoung its customers and among his employees.