Guide to the Records of Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company, 1902-1962
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Records of Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company
- Creator
- Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company (Butler, Pa.)
- Collection Number
- MSS#178
- Extent
- .75 cubic feet (1 box and 2 shelf volumes)
- Date
- 1902-1962
- Abstract
- The Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company of Butler, Pennsylvania was incorporated on January 2, 1902 as the Standard Steel Car Company with a capital stock basis of $3,000. These records include radio serial histories, a bi-monthly newsletter, newspaper clippings, photographs, scrapbooks and other items.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
Historical Sketch of Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company
The Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company of Butler, Pennsylvania was incorporated on January 2, 1902 as the Standard Steel Car Company with a capital stock basis of $3,000. John M. Hansen, the first President, realized the need for the manufacturing of steel railroad cars rather than wooden cars while working as chief engineer at Pressed Steel Car Company of Pittsburgh. Hansen formed the company with H. J. Bearhart and Peter F. McCool. The name "standard" was derived to signify the idea for the standardization of the design and production of railroad cars, and Hansen felt it was important to have all materials needed in production to be made on site. Hence, the need for a large plant was developed.
The original site was to be Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Its survey was completed, the layout of the building was established and machinery and building materials were loaded onto railroad cars. However, an agreement as to the placement of the rail line was never established with the city government of Beaver Falls, so the company sought out a different site. A 224-acre tract of land in Butler Borough was settled. Once the land was purchased from the old Butler Fair Association, the Pickle Factory, the J. George Stamm Brickyard and other landowners, construction began at once. By mid summer of 1902, the Standard Steel Company began to construct one hundred homes for its work force and their families. These were built in three rows with communal showers and toilets in between, and painted boxcar red. "Red Row" as they were commonly referred to, filled up quickly and the need for new homes was required. Most of their residents were Eastern Europeans who traveled to Butler to establish a better way of life for their families. The town of Lyndora was established and named for James Hansen's daughter Lynda. All company-owned residences were rent-free at the time of low work periods and most homes housed six families.
The Standard Steel Car Company continued to thrive year after year, especially during the years 1903 and 1907. In 1903, James Buchanan Brady ("Diamond Jim" Brady) was made Vice-President of sales for Standard. Brady was a prominent products salesman to the railroads and knew how to attract big sales. He was the mastermind behind the sale of 38,000 Butler-built freight cars to the French government for $100 million. In 1907, Standard Steel made another great accomplishment by manufacturing and shipping 2,836 cars for the month of January, and also set a shop record by completing 125 cars in one day.
In 1930, Standard Steel Car Company merged with the Pullman Car and Manufacturing Corporation and became the Pullman-Standard Company. The company continued its holding in Butler as a major industry and continued to grow. In 1952, Pullman-Standard celebrated its 50th Anniversary in Butler, PA. Anniversary activities included an Open House tour of the plant, including a "Family Day"; a history serial on radio station WISR; reminiscences of men who worked for the company running every four weeks in the newspaper, and a replica display put on by the Butler National Bank to show Pullman-Standard's history.
In 1962, the community of Butler, PA kicked off Industry Appreciation Week. Pullman-Standard set up a display on Main Street of a piggyback carrier with two trailers attached. Another smaller display in the windows of Montgomery Ward Department Store to illustrate the effects of the plant on the community. This was also Pullman-Standard's 60th Anniversary in Butler and these displays helped to illustrate their proud history. In 1982, after 80 years of service to the Butler Community, Pullman-Standard closed its Butler plant.
Scope and Content Notes
These records include radio serial histories, a bi-monthly newsletter, newspaper clippings, photographs, scrapbooks and other items. These records primarily document the 50th and 60th Anniversary celebrations of the Pullman-Standard Company.
Copies of the Butler plant's bi-monthly newsletter, Pullman-Standard Postscript date from January 1950-July 1954. These newsletters contain not only Pullman-Standard factory-work news but also news on competitions with other plants, social events, photographs of workers' children, of workers themselves, and many other miscellaneous topics. Each department of the Company had its own column to report newsworthy news of its employees and included the Machine Shop, Paint and Equipment, Punch, Electric Shop, Engineering, Commercial Forge, Accounting, and the Carpenter and Pattern Shop.
A fifteen week radio serial, 'A Half Century of Butler County-Pullman-Standard History,' ran every Sunday from April 13-July 20, 1952 from 12:30-1:00 p.m. on WISR radio. This series told the story of Pullman-Standard through the eyes of an "Old Timer" and a "Young Fellow" in order to guide the listener through five decades of the company's history. The narrator would ask the two speakers a series of questions, which they would answer according to their position. The "Old Timer" would answer the questions by stating the company's history and how it changed, while the "Young Fellow" answered the questions by stating the history of the community. The serials discuss the plants history from its beginnings in 1902 and end just after the 50th Anniversary celebration for Pullman-Standard.
The scrapbook volume referred to as "Press Clippings" for the Standard Steel Car Company for February 4-June 5, 1902 deals not only with Standard Steel Car Company's early dealings in Butler County, but also a variety of industry related topics. These include the up and down prices of coal and pig iron for the year, new industrial accomplishments in Pittsburgh, and the problems of transporting materials and the finished product during this period.
A Scrapbook, compiled by Grace E. White from the Butler Plant, marks Pullman-Standard's fiftieth year in Butler. This scrapbook illustrates the history of the company through newspaper clippings from the local newspapers, especially the Butler Eagle, and photographs of some of the events taking place in and around the plant in its celebration. Many newspaper clippings, advertisements and photographs illustrate the number of people who attended free tours of the plant, especially on "Family Day." These tours lasted about two hours and gave the visitors a complete look at the plant from the inside out. One-page advertisements ran in local papers about every four weeks told the story of many of Pullman-Standard's employees and helped to illustrate to the reader that these people were proud of the work they did everyday. Finally, advertisements of a replica of the company in the Butler National Bank was designed to show Butler residents the everyday workings of the plant.
Another scrapbook contains photographs and newspaper clippings depicting Industry Appreciation Week, April 30-May 5, 1962 in downtown Butler. Pullman-Standard was asked to put on a display of some of its products and the materials in the scrapbook illustrate how a piggyback carrier with two trailers attached were moved from the plant to their display location and properly set up. Another exhibit was set up in the windows of Montgomery Ward Department Store.
Arrangement
The Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company Records are housed in one archival box and two shelf volumes. Material is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in one accession in 1989.
Acc# 1989.145 Gift of James B. Richardson III, (Records).
Preferred Citation
Records of Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company, 1902-1962, MSS# 178, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Historical Society Staff in 1989. Papers rearranged and inventory rewritten by Stephanie Riccardi on February 23, 1995.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Doug MacGregor on July 5, 2001.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
Subjects
- Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company (Butler, Pa.)
- Butler Eagle (Newspaper: Butler County, Pa.)
- Pullman Car and Manufacturing Corporation (Chicago, Ill.)
- Standard Steel Car Company (Butler, Pa.)
- Hansen, James
- Brady, James Buchanan
- Butler County (Pa.) -- Manufactures
- Butler County (Pa.) -- Social Life and Customs
- Lyndora (Butler County, Pa.) -- Manufactures
- Lyndora (Butler County, Pa.) -- Social Life and Customs
- Company towns -- Pennsylvania -- Lyndora
- Exhibitions -- Pennsylvania -- Butler County
- Manufactures -- Pennsylvania -- Butler County
- Newsletters -- Pennsylvania -- Butler County
- Railroads -- Cars -- Design and construction