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
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
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!
I stumbled across this article that was published two years ago. I know my fair share about AC, but I learned a few more facts from this article! Our business history articles often focus on the consumer products and services industries with which we all interact – from auto companies to department stores. Yet… Continue reading Forgotten Industrial Giant: The Allis-Chalmers Story – The American Business History Center
Every now and then I learn something new about Allis-Chalmers. One of those new tidbits I have recently discovered is the betatron lab the company had at the West Allis Works. Last year I had the opportunity to step inside this old testing lab and see some of the equipment left behind. The machine was essentially… Continue reading Allis-Chalmers Betatron Lab
About 6 years ago I had the opportunity to acquire an awesome piece of AC history that I couldn't pass up. We restored a Farmall M for an implement dealership, and the gentleman who set up the restoration said he had a piece of Allis-Chalmers history I might be interested in. He showed me these… Continue reading AC Drafting Table
I've assembled a list of the buildings at the WAW that I was able to find. A big thanks to the West Allis Historical Society! If you have not been to the West Allis Historical Society, I highly recommend you pay them a visit to see more of their AC collection.
The Weekend Historian 