Chicago Manifold Products Co Inc history

At the age of twenty-two, McCormick invented a better reaper for harvesting grain, and patented it three years later, in 1834.

But the Panic of 1837 drove his business into bankruptcy, and he spent the next seven years paying off debts.

A nice little trade, distribution, and supply center for Great Lakes' farmers in 1850, Chicago had extended its hinterland into the Rockies within a few decades and developed into a world emporium before the turn of the century.

Deering’s factory on the north side employed at least 7,000, though McCormick was a larger company in total.After Cyrus McCormick died in 1884, his widow (twenty-six years younger than Cyrus) and his son Cyrus, Jr. took over the company and continued to build the business.

Cyrus’s brother Leander sold out to Cyrus, Jr. and his mother for $3.5 million around 1890.

In possession of but rudimentary manufacturing facilities at midcentury, Chicago formed the core of one of the most heavily industrialized regions on earth before 1900.

Finally, in 1902, George Perkins of the House of Morgan was able to work out a compromise, and McCormick, Deering, and three smaller companies merged to form the International Harvester Company, with 85% of the United States market for harvesting equipment.

By 1909, International Harvester was the 4th largest industrial company in America, measured by assets.

Arvin traces its roots to an Indiana partnership formed in 1919 to produce tire pumps.

In 1920 Arvin, who had applied for patents for his heater but lacked the capital to manufacture it, offered his product to Indianapolis Air Pump.

In 1921 Indianapolis Air Pump leaped into the national arena when Sparks secured a contract to produce tire pumps for Ford Motor Company.

In the spring of 1922 Ford Motor Company informed Sparks that it was planning to manufacture its own tire pumps, and soon afterward Redmond sold his interest in Indianapolis Pump and Tube to his two partners.

With sales expanding, in 1923 the company constructed its first new factory in Greenwood, Indiana, and closed its manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis.

In response, it began diversification efforts and in 1924 introduced a new foot accelerator pedal for automobiles and a cast-iron heater for Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge vehicles.

In 1925 the company separated its heater business from its tube operations and established a plant in Columbus to produce metal heaters, cast-iron manifold heaters, and a new product, automobile jacks.

In 1927 the Indianapolis Pump and Tube’s name was changed to Noblitt-Sparks Industries, Inc.

In 1928 Noblitt-Sparks installed its first nickel-plating units in its Columbus plant and began producing additional automotive parts, including brake levers, hub caps, and bent steel tubing.

The stock market crash of October 1929 had little initial effect on the company’s sales, which swelled to nearly $5 million by the end of that year.

In 1930 the “Chicago Industrial Area”—comprising a five-county area in northeastern Illinois and adjacent Lake County in northwestern Indiana—was the second largest manufacturing area in the United States, behind only the “New York City Industrial Area,” which had over twice as many people.

By 1931 Noblitt-Sparks began to feel the effects of the Great Depression.

Losses were trimmed slightly in 1932, the last unprofitable year in the company’s history.

In 1933 Noblitt-Sparks entered the car radio field, and two years later the first Arvin home radio was introduced.

In 1934 the company purchased facilities in Franklin, Indiana, and the following year began manufacturing automobile parts there.

With product lines expanding, total annual sales topped the $10 million mark for the first time in 1937.

In 1940 the company also began supplying Sears, Roebuck & Co. with home radios.

In 1941 Noblitt-Sparks began producing its first private-brand merchandise.

To facilitate its re-entry into civilian markets, in 1946 Noblitt-Sparks began a three-year factory expansion program.

In 1955 Arvin established a research and engineering department to foster the development of new products.

The more agile and innovative Deere & Company passed it up to become the biggest United States maker of agricultural equipment in 1958.

In a major step to boost automotive sales, in 1959 Arvin also entered the exhaust system replacement market.

One year later the company began marketing its patented Arvinyl, a vinyl-to-metal sheet laminate; by 1960 the company was the largest laminator in the country.

In 1962 Arvin entered the advance electronics field by acquiring Westgate Laboratory, Inc. (renamed Arvin Systems, Inc.), an original design and development corporation specializing in electronics, optics, and communications.

In 1972 Arvin bought General Tubes Limited of Toronto (later renamed Arvin North American Automotive of Canada), a manufacturer of automotive tubing and aftermarket exhaust pipes.

In 1973 the company also sold its Hong Kong production facility and consolidated radio manufacturing operations in Taiwan.

After 15 years of engineering work in the area of automobile emission controls, Arvin produced its first catalytic converter in 1974.

In 1976 Arvin debuted ARVEX, a new process for fabricating fiberglass-reinforced thermoplastic parts on traditional metalworking presses.

In 1984 Arvin and Bosal International of Germany formed the joint venture Bosal Industries, GmbH, to supply catalytic converters and tubular products to the European market.

In 1987 Loren K. Evans was elected president of Arvin.

Arvin’s tire valve product line was also expanded in 1988 when Schrader Automotive and Neotech Industries, Inc. (renamed Sentronics Ltd.) agreed to jointly develop and distribute electronic pressure measurement devices.

In 1990 Arvin-Tubemakers Pty.

As Arvin entered 1993, its exhaust systems and ride controls systems business held strong positions in the North American and European markets.

Still consistently ranked among the top ten largest privately owned companies, of any kind, in the world, Mars Incorporated ($35 billion revenue in 2017) stands in stark contrast to most of the cherished but long-defunct Chicago confectioners of yore—a graveyard of ex-rivals that includes Curtiss,