Richard Berman Donates Patches Collection to NPMA

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — What started as a hobby turned into quite a collection for Richard Berman.

Berman, technical manager, Waltham Services, Waltham, Mass., spent the last 30 years collecting uniform patches from pest control companies across the United States, amassing a collection of more than 300.

“I started going to meetings, seeing different patches, and how (companies) portrayed their business,” Berman said. “Some were very colorful and creative. (They shared) how  creative they can be.”

As part of this year’s PestWorld conference, which celebrated the National Pest Management Association’s 75th anniversary, Berman and Clarke Keenan, owner/president, Waltham Services, assembled some of the patches and donated them to NPMA.

The patches, which were applied to company uniforms before the rise in popularity of stitched-on designs, come from companies across the United States and Canada. One from Abell Waco, which became Abell Pest Control in Toronto, Canada, is made entirely from metal beads. The patch from Willington Pest Control (like every patch that company used) is entirely handmade.

The collection also includes two large circular patches, which were sewn onto the backs of uniforms. “It’s a little harder to collect those,” Berman said.

Berman said the word “American” was a popular choice for companies, as was the image of an eagle, black widow spider and the company’s home state.

“I had the opportunity to run across lots of different people,” Berman said, through his involvement with the national association and various state groups. The patches allowed him to “show little companies that you can have a nice, professional image just like a large company,” he said.

One of his favorite patches is from Pest Doctors: It’s a circular red field with gold stitching that shows a man pushing a dead insect on a gurney. It reads “All our patients die.”

“I like the expression of all our patients die, but you couldn’t say that today,” Berman said.

To see more, larger images of the patches, visit www.pctonline.tv.