Business

June 3: The Birth of REO

In the mid 1960s a group of rockers formed the band R.E.O. Speed Wagon. It was a great live-performance band known throughout the Midwest. I personally saw them play at a bar in Champaign, IL in the late 60s and was impressed, but that name R.E.O. Speedwagon I just couldn’t figure out what it meant. Neal Doughty, one of the early band members came up with the name. While attending UofI in Champaign, one of his classes in electrical engineering was on transportation history. There he saw a work-horse of a truck that had been around for a long time. Not only could it haul stuff like nothing else, but its framework also powered many fire engines. The name of that beast was the REO Speedwagon, a name that dates back to the early 1900s.

The name REO Speedwagon, was the name given by its founder to his line of trucks. REO was the man behind the name: Ransom Eli Olds.

1897 Steam Powered Pirate on Florida beach being driven by Eli

On this day in 1864 Sarah Whipple Olds gave birth to Eli in Geneva, Ohio. His father, Pliny Olds, was a blacksmith, pattern-maker and a steam engine builder. Five years after Eli was born, he sold his business and home, took those proceeds and moved to Lansing, MI where he opened a successful steam and gas engine business. In time Eli joined his father and continued to build engines.

Eli would go on to first build some highly efficient steam engines, but he also saw the benefits of both gasoline and electrical powered engines. On August 21, 1897, he founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, Michigan and began building horseless carriages, some powered by steam, others by gasoline, and also electrical powered. Two years later the company was bought by Samuel Smith who moved the new company to Detroit. Eli was made vice president and general manager of the company.

reo-speedwagon-1915 — 1915 REO Speedwagon Advertisement

This was a short lived arrangement and in 1904 Eli left the company and formed the REO Motor Car Company. Eli would in time go on to create his special line of trucks that he called the REO Speedwagon.

Dr. Benjamin’s Company Makes for a Smoother Ride

By John Merrill

May 11: He helped turn Akron from the cereal capital of the world into the Rubber Capital of the World, but Benjamin Franklin didn’t start out with that goal. In fact he attended Cleveland’s Medical College specializing in surgery. After the War of Rebellion, Benjamin had seen enough butchery and decided to leave his medical professional.

For a time he became involved in the oil fields of western Pennsylvania. Then he moved on to New York City and opened a real estate office. A few years later he had the opportunity of buying a rubber manufacturing company located along the Hudson River valley. Like the previous company owner, Benjamin found the rubber manufacturing competition in the valley too stiff and decided to take the equipment and move it back to Ohio, and in particular to Akron which had long ago become a major shipping point to the world for its processed grains and corn. In Benjamin’s mind, there was no difference between the two. Akron residents encouraged to see a new business come to town, invested 1000s of dollars into the venture.

In 1871 Benjamin opened his Akron Rubber Works, and immediately Benjamin hired 20 employees to assist him in the manufacturing of fire hoses. He soon began manufacturing solid rubber tires that were only slightly better than the steel-rimmed wagon wheels they were intended to replace. In 1888 John Dunlop invented the inflatable tire for a new invention that was sweeping the country: the bicycle.
Dunlop’s pneumatic tire process was quickly adopted as the industry standard and Benjamin began making his own inflatable tires. In a few years the market for Benjamin’s tires would sky rocket with Henry Ford’s Model T.

On this day May 11, 1947 the company formed by Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich, the BFGoodrich Company, announced the development of the tubeless automobile tire, now the world standard in tires.

BFGoodrich engineer Frank Herzegh, the person responsible for the invention of the BFGoodrich tubeless tire.

Frank Herzegh was born in Cleveland, obtained his bachelor’s degree in Physics from Case Institute of Applied Science and then joined the B.F. Goodrich Company as a research and development engineer. In addition to the tubeless tire, he also obtained over 100 other patents. After a 42-year career with Goodrich, Frank retired in 1972, and six years later he was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal

November 25: Ohio Inventor Charles Kettering is DEAD!

By John Merrill

Anyone that has a driver’s license has probably used a key to start their car. For those that don’t know what happens when they turn that key, in its most basic concept, allows a jolt of electricity to run from the battery to a motor that actually turns or cranks the engine. Sparks are then ignited in the piston chambers that cause a mixture of air and vaporized gasoline to explode. Once all of the cylinders start revolving, the starter motor quickly disengages from the engine and it continues on its own.

Sure, everyone knows that you say. But if you ever see any of those old movies where the guy has to stand in front of the car and turn a crank to get the engine started can appreciate what it was link before the self-starter was invented.

When Kettering was 39 year old, a man born in Loudonville, Ohio, a man that had notoriously bad eyesight and had to have a fellow student read out loud his reading assignments, got his patent for the electric automobile starter. Kettering’s electric starter had been first installed on the 1912 Cadillac. By the early 1920s Kettering’s self-starting motor would be installed on just about every car made. That refinement in automobile ownership made the automobile more attractive, especially women. It was the beginning of the automobile culture that continues to this day.

Kettering and his company, DELCO (Dayton ELectronics COrporation), went on to create a number of improvements to the automobile including shock absorbers, the automatic transmission, quick-drying automotive paint, and safety glass.

Although he was most famous for his contributions to the auto industry, Charles Kettering also known for developing several medical innovations such as an incubator for premature infants, venereal disease treatments and a number of magnetic diagnostic devices. During his time at DELCO and later at General Motors (GM), Mr. Kettering accumulated a great fortune. In 1945 he and Alfred Sloan, another GM vice president, established the Sloan-Kettering Institute for cancer research.

On this day in 1958 at the age of 82, Charles Kettering died of a stroke at his home in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, named for the inventor.

August 29: Boss Kettering is Born

By John Merrill

As you probably know, this is the 10 year anniversary of when Hurricane Katrina first made landfall near New Orleans. It was a Cat 4 storm and caused more than 1300 deaths and almost $200 billion in damage. One hundred and forty years before that story, another event occurred in a little town in northeast Ohio. It was the birth of a little boy that would make a huge impact on the American people and the world. That would be in the years to come. On this day, Martha Kettering was happy he was a healthy boy. His father, Jacob was glad his wife had survived the ordeal of childbirth.

Thirty -nine years after this day in 1856, Charles F. Kettering, got his patent for the electric car starter. Kettering’s electric starter had been first installed on the 1912 Cadillac. By the early 1920s Kettering’s self-starting motor would be installed on just about every car made. That refinement in automobile ownership made the automobile more attractive, especially to women. It was the beginning of the automobile culture that continues to this day.

Although he was most famous for his contributions to the auto industry, Charles Kettering is also known for developing several medical innovations such as an incubator for premature infants, venereal disease treatments and a number of magnetic diagnostic devices. During his time at DELCO and later at General Motors (GM), Mr. Kettering accumulated a great fortune. In 1945 he and Alfred Sloan, another GM vice president, used their wealth to establish the Sloan-Kettering Institute for cancer research.

In 1856 on this day Charles Kettering was born in Loudonville, Ohio and over the next 82 years of his life he would be awarded 140 patents for things that we take for granted today. Charles is 159 years old– be sure to wish him a happy birthday and say thanks!

August 21: The Olds Motor Works is Formed

By John Merrill

On this day Ransom Eli Olds formed the Olds Motor Works. The year was 1897. Eli had just turned 33 a few months ago. Although he was then living in Lansing, Michigan, when he was born his family was living in Geneva, Ohio. There his father was experimenting with steam engines.

Five years later the Olds family moved and eventually found their way to Michigan. There young Ransom learned his father’s business and joined him in fabricating more efficient, smaller and more powerful steam engines. Ransom came up with the idea of incorporating a steam engine with a carriage, thus building one of the very first horseless carriages.

A few years later Samuel Smith bought Ransom’s company and changed the name to Oldsmobile.

In 1904, unhappy with the direction the company was taking, Ransom left the company and formed the REO Motor Car Company. Four years after that his original company was purchased by General Motors and became part of that conglomerate. But the REO Motor Car Company continued on as an independent motor company. That company continued to produce quality autos and trucks up through World War II.

August 20: Professional football takes the field

By John Merrill

On this day Ralph E. Hay asked 6 of his friends and associates to meet with him in his Canton Ohio auto dealership where he sold Hupmobiles. The one thing that all of these men had in common was their love of football. Four of the men at the Hay’s dealership that day were already professional football team owners. They were members of the Ohio League which included the Akron Pros, Cleveland Indians, the Dayton Triangles and Hay’s Canton Bulldogs. and they were used to seeing each other during the fall. But this was a little unusual, the teams were still practicing and getting ready for the fall season.

Hay had bought his team called the Canton Bulldogs a couple of years earlier. He thought it would be a good idea to promote his automobile dealership, plus he just loved the game. But today’s meeting would mean a giant leap forward for the game. These men were here to form a new football league that could take their new league to a higher level.

At the meeting they decided to call the new league the American Professional Football Association and the creation of the American Professional Football Conference. They also nominated Ralph Hay’s coach and star player, Jim Thorpe to be the league’s first president.

Jim Thorpe dressed in his Canton Bulldogs uniform

Jim Thorpe who had been getting his Bulldogs ready for the first game, was honored that they would nominate him. But for the owners, it was purely a good business decision. Jim Thorpe was a star athlete and recognized around the world for Olympic accomplishments a few years back. The business men assembled at Hay’s dealership thought having Thorpe as the president of the new football league could only improve their legitimacy and attendance.

One month later, the men met once again and electing Jim Thorpe to be president of the new league, and they changed the league’s name to the American Professional Football Association. Two years later the league’s name would once again be changed to the National Football League – the NFL we all enjoy watching every Sunday.

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