During the Second World War, Columbia-Southern produced a line of 200 polymers.[5]CR-39 (CR for "Columbia Resins" and 39 denoting it as the 39th polymer) had qualities suitable for plastic lenses, making it the most noteworthy of the polymers.[6] CR-39 is commonly used in the manufacturing of plastic eyeglass lenses.
Ammonia was in short supply after the end of World War II; Columbia-Southern was expected to begin producing the chemical in late 1954.[7] Around that same time, the company had a grant program, which gave money to many universities to test new agricultural chemicals on an array of crops under varied conditions.[8]
It has been claimed that Columbia-Southern lost over $845,000 due to unpaid invoices and seizure of property because of Fidel Castro's government nationalization in Cuba.[9]