Presto Appliances history

By 1908, however, the company had settled into manufacturing 50-gallon retorts, or steam pressure cookers, for the canning industry.

The company installed an aluminum foundry in 1915 for the specific purpose of manufacturing large-size pressure canners for home use.

The business rapidly grew when the United States Department of Agriculture determined in 1917 that pressure canning was the only safe method for canning low acid foods without the risk of food poisoning.

By 1930, annual net income had surpassed $1 million on revenues of more than $12 million.

By 1935, in the midst of the Great Depression, the National Pressure Cooking Co. was selling 60,000 pressure cookers annually, mostly for home canning by farm households.

The “Presto” Pressure Cooker was introduced at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

Worse, Presto was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which wanted to know if the company’s huge cash reserve made it subject to reporting requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Consumer acceptance of the Presto® Pressure Cooker was so great, that by the end of 1941, it ranked among the largest producers of housewares dollar volume in leading stores throughout the country.

Everett R. Hamilton, then president and majority owner of the company, managed to land a $3 million government contract to make artillery fuses, but Hamilton died of a heart attack in February 1942, before the conversion to defense work could be completed.

In 1946, the National Pressure Cooker Co. also formed a subsidiary, the Martin Motors Division, to manufacture outboard motors developed by George W. Martin, a former professional outboard-racing champion.

In 1948, Outboard, Marine and Manufacturing introduced the first outboard motor with a separate fuel tank and a shift lever that allowed the operator to select forward, reverse, or neutral.

In 1949, the company also introduced its first electric appliance, a steam iron with the Presto brand name that could use tap water instead of distilled water.

In a “Talk of the Town” column in a November 1950 New Yorker magazine, company spokesman Russell Bloomberg remarked on the versatility of the deep-fryer: ’ ’The Fryer fills a much needed want for Mrs.

2627997, February 10, 1953, Edward H. Wittenberg, Eau Claire, WI, assignor for National Pressure Cooker Company, Eau Claire, WI, for “Safety lock for pressure cookers”

He married into the Phillips family, became president of the company in 1954, and later its chairman.

In 1955, National Presto expanded its defense work to include airplane components for the United States Air Force.

In 1956 National Presto introduced a ground-breaking new concept in electric cooking.

However, by 1958, the government had cut back sharply on orders for artillery shells, and employment at Presto in Eau Claire had fallen to about 500.

In 1959, the Army Ordnance Corps abruptly cancelled its contract with National Presto for artillery shells.

National Presto shut down its defense operations in Eau Claire in 1960, but contracted with the government to maintain the manufacturing equipment in a state of semi-readiness.

The tide would soon turn again as the company resumed production of artillery shells in 1964, as United States ground troops were being sent to Vietnam.

On March 3, 1969, National Presto Industries, Inc. was admitted to the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol NPK. It was a prestigious advancement in terms of company recognition and a mark of the integrity of its products and finances.

A second manufacturing plant for consumer products was built in Alamogordo, New Mexico, in 1971.

At the height of United States involvement in Southeast Asia, employment at the defense plant in Eau Claire reached 3,000, a figure that fell off dramatically after the United States withdrew from Vietnam in 1973.

In 1974 the company produced the PrestoBurger, an electric hamburger cooker that broiled a single patty of meat in less than three minutes.

The company was quick to follow with the 1976 introduction of a new concept in deep fryers.

Upon his death in 1978, Phillips was memorialized in Eau Claire by the numerous educational and health-care facilities that bore his name.

In 1988, National Presto introduced the SaladShooter, an electric slicer/shredder.

The SaladShooter® met with such overwhelming success that its name quickly became a household word throughout the country and led to the successful introduction of a larger, more powerful model, the Professional SaladShooter® electric slicer/shredder in 1990.

In 1991, National Presto introduced the Tater Twister potato peeler.

In 1992, a federal district court jury found Black & Decker guilty of infringing on National Presto’s patent and awarded the company $2.35 million in damages.

In 1993, a federal jury found West Bend guilty of patent infringement and awarded National Presto $230,000 in damages.

His daughter, Maryjo Cohen, took over as the CEO in 1994, and between them, they controlled 30 percent of Presto’s stock.

In 1995, the decision went to the United States Court of Appeals, where justices upheld the lower court’s finding of patent infringement.

The History of National Presto Industries, Inc., Eau Claire, Wise.: National Presto Industries, Inc., 1996.

In a 1997 article for Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cohen noted that she didn’t think the shareholders were unhappy as Presto was still paying dividends despite sagging sales, and that her company was not one for the investor who wanted a quick run-up in value.

By the end of the year, Presto posted its annual sales at $114.7 million, a 7 percent increase over 1998.

Don Hoeschen, vice president of sales for National Presto, noted in a 1999 article for HFN, a trade journal for small appliance manufactures, that buyers of pressure cookers were interested in more user-friendly features.

In May of 2000, it was revealed that Wal-Mart, its largest customer, would drastically cut its purchases of Presto products the following year.

In March 2001 Presto acquired Amtec, a small munitions plant.

The ProFry™ immersion element deep fryer was introduced for the 2002 holiday season.

In 2005, National Presto celebrated its 100th anniversary.

In 2014 the single-serve coffee craze was in full swing when Presto unveiled the non-electric MyJo® single serve coffee maker.

A novel solution to an age-old problem attracted media attention to National Presto in 2017 with the launch of its 6- and 8-quart traveling slow cooker line.

Despite the problems caused by a worldwide pandemic in 2020, several innovative new products were introduced.