8 0 s , ▁there ▁were ▁some ▁ 3 4 ▁found ries ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States . ▁In ▁ 1 8 9 2 , ▁ 2 3 ▁found ries ▁were ▁brought ▁together ▁to ▁form ▁the ▁American ▁Type ▁Found ers ▁Company . ▁ ▁Key ▁to ▁the ▁success ▁of ▁this ▁mer ger ▁was ▁the ▁inclusion ▁of ▁Mac K ell ar , ▁Smith s , ▁& ▁Jordan ▁Co . ▁of ▁Philadelphia , ▁with ▁assets ▁of ▁over ▁$ 6 ▁million , ▁the ▁C inc inn ati ▁Type ▁Found ry ▁of ▁Henry ▁Bar th , ▁which ▁brought ▁with ▁it ▁the ▁pat ents ▁to ▁his ▁Bar th ▁Type c aster , ▁and ▁Bent on , ▁Wal do ▁Found ry ▁of ▁Mil w au kee , ▁which ▁included ▁L inn ▁Bo yd ▁Bent on ▁and ▁his ▁all - important ▁Bent on ▁P ant ograph ▁which ▁eng ra ved ▁type ▁matrices ▁directly ▁instead ▁of ▁using ▁p unch es ▁and ▁allowed ▁the ▁optical ▁scaling ▁of ▁type . ▁With ▁the ▁inclusion ▁of ▁the ▁Bar th ▁C aster ▁and ▁the ▁Bent on ▁P ant ograph , ▁A TF ▁immediately ▁became ▁the ▁largest ▁and ▁the ▁most ▁techn olog ically ▁advanced ▁found ry ▁in ▁the ▁world . ▁ ▁Cond itions ▁for ▁the ▁first ▁few ▁years ▁were ▁cha otic : ▁while ▁ 1 2 ▁found ries ▁ceased ▁separate ▁operations ▁immediately ▁member ▁found ries ▁continued ▁to ▁operate ▁as ▁if ▁they ▁were ▁independent ▁fir ms . ▁Real ▁cons olid ation ▁did ▁not ▁begin ▁until ▁ 1 8 9 4 , ▁when ▁Robert ▁W ick ham ▁Nelson , ▁principal ▁owner