The machine known throughout the world as the œCement Gun and its integral process Gunite, followed a curious route since its invention in 1909,originally for recreating animal skeletons, by naturalist Carl Akeley. Introduced at the Cement Show in New York in 1910, the machine and the process became an almost immediate success as a construction tool that was as unique as it was versatile. The first 5 years of its career saw several changes and improvements in the œgun, as experience and testing begat modifications to suit the many uses in civil and industrial applications. Crossing the Atlantic in 1915, the Gunite process spread quickly throughout the world, and by 1922, the Cement Gun Company and the process was global, before the term was popular or even understood, Gunite, as a useful and important construction method, flourished through the 1920s, 30s and 40s in all of the industrial centers of the world. By 1950, nearly 5000 machines had been delivered to projects or contractors in every state and more than 120 countries.
The contracting activities of the Cement Gun Company pro-vided nearly unlimited opportunities to prove the versatility and technical characteristics of pneumatically applied concrete. While it may seem that there is a great deal of emphasis on the company itself and its activities, one must remember that they were the only ones engaged in the production AND use of the machine for many years. Affiliate concerns were formed in Eu-rope to service the countries of the world that had industrial and construction needs. A continuous effort of testing, com-paring and communicating results and procedures was a main-stay of the global company™s activity. As independent contrac-tors and franchises were started, standards established by the Cement Gun Company and recognized testing and specifying