 Schlumbohm first visited the United States in 1931, in connection with attempts to sell patent rights related to the manufacture of carbon-dioxide, or ‘dry’, ice.Despite advice from business contacts that business conditions were desperate, Schlumbohm was confident enough, or desperate enough, to make the trip that same year.Once in the U.S, Schlumbohm was able to sell patents for vacuum bottle designs to the American Thermos Bottle Company for $7,000.