The Weekend Historian
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.
I recently acquired a book published by Allis-Chalmers in 1942. This book covers the history of the firm and products since 1847. Instead of scanning this book, which could damage it, I will transcribe each chapter in a series of blog posts. Forward: The following pages tell a story about this company's growth that covers… Continue reading Pioneer Power- Chapter 1
I am in contact with a gentleman from Milwaukee who is going to help me gather the stories of former Allis-Chalmers employees. He takes his father, a former AC employee, to a monthly gathering of these AC retirees. He said that a lot of these guys are getting up there in age, and I would… Continue reading AC Biographies
I have a little collection of Allis-Chalmers farm equipment brochures sitting on my bookshelf. So I thought that I would take an hour out of my day (literally) and scan just two of the dozen or so that I have. One is on the hay making equipment the company manufactured, and the other is about… Continue reading AC Farm Brochures
Austin M. Frederick 