Exploring History & Discovering Your Spark
I’m excited to share that I’ve just launched a new page under the “ALLIS-CHALMERS” menu. It’s a work-in-progress digital home for “AC Scope.” This was an employee magazine published by Allis-Chalmers for its workforce. Over the years, “AC Scope” served as a snapshot of the company's inner life. It was part history and part community… Continue reading Introducing the “AC Scope” Archive
Allis-Chalmers, like other companies, had its own employee newsletter. These shared everything from company products and expansions to employee benefits and leisure. Thumbing through these is a blast from the past. It offers a glimpse into what it was like to work at this once-great company. Click the photo below to take a look. Comment… Continue reading a-c scope: Magazine of Allis-Chalmers People
https://theweekendhistorian.com/allis-chalmers-patent-gallery/ The patent archive has been updated and contains many more entries. This list of patents assigned to Allis-Chalmers will continue to grow as I work to search and compile these records.
Community in Crisis As Allis-Chalmers got work at its pilot plant in the old street car barns underway, the production workers held an election to choose a bargaining agent. A vote was held on January 18, 1952, in favor of the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers (UAW)--part of the larger Congress of Industrial… Continue reading There and Gone: The Short History of the Allis-Chalmers Terre Haute Works -Part II
While doing research on some other Allis-Chalmers topics, I stumbled across an interesting article in the A-C Scope, an employee publication from Allis-Chalmers. It highlighted the visit of the delegation of manufacturing representatives and government officials from the Soviet Union. Here is a transcription of the article from the November/December 1959 issue of the publication.… Continue reading The Soviets at the West Allis Works
Terre Haute Works circa 1960 (Courtesy of the Milwaukee County Historical Society) The Allis-Chalmers Corporation was once a leader in the American industrial scene. The company is probably most known for its iconic Persian Orange colored farm equipment, but that was just one speck of the more extensive line of precision machinery it made in… Continue reading There and Gone: The Short History of the Allis-Chalmers Terre Haute Works -Part I
Ahhh, the sweet smell of tilled earth in the spring! https://www.instagram.com/reel/CdjT5G7g1SV/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
I ran across this interesting article about the Deutz-Allis 9170. It was one of the first tractors made by the newly formed Deutz-Allis Corp. after the buyout of the Allis-Chalmers agricultural line. As Allis-Chalmers struggled in the 1980s the company looked to sell divisions off to stay in the black. Unfortunately, the manufacture of the… Continue reading Collateral Damage: The Deutz-Allis 9170
I am a volunteer at our county historical society, and we were donated a couple photos that have/may have ties to Allis-Chalmers. One photo is marked that it is an AC tractor axle. The other I am not sure of. It appears that these were both military contracted projects. I hope someone reading this will… Continue reading Allis-Chalmers Mystery Photos
I put together a small exhibit in the display case at work. It feels great to get this stuff out again, and maybe I will get someone else interested in AC!
The Weekend Historian 