How To Open A Mosler Safe
Employee reunion scheduled July 19
Opening of Mosler Safe Co. continued festive mood in 1891 as Hamilton celebrated its centennial year
(The Mosler Safe Co. employed thousands of residents of the Hamilton surface area for 110 years. Mosler closed its local plant in 1996 and its corporate headquarters in 2001 when the company went broke. Saturday, July xix, former employees volition share memories at the Mosler 2014 Reunion at the Courtyard by Marriott in Hamilton. For more information and registration, e-mail Gene Gabbard at Gene@GeneGabbard.com. This commodity is the beginning in a serial on Mosler history.)
Compiled by Jim Blount
Hamilton'southward festive mood continued into October 1891, although its exuberant centennial celebration had officially ended in mid September. Parades, fireworks and numerous festive events highlighted the city's 100-year observance Thursday through Sat, Sept. 17-xix. 2 days later -- Mon, Sept. 21, 1891 -- citizens and civic leaders remained upbeat as the Mosler Safe Co. began moving into its new plant in East Hamilton.
That mean solar day, Mosler started its transition from Cincinnati'southward river front to a mostly rural area southeast of Hamilton's corporate limits. Production began Oct. 12 at the facility at the southeast corner of Grand Boulevard and the Miami-Erie Canal (afterwards Erie Highway). On the east, the Pennsylvania Railroad's Cincinnati-Chicago mainline bordered the site.
Hamiltonians had practiced reason to hail Mosler's arrival. It capped a 15-month community try during which Mosler considered other locations, including Canton, Piqua, Sidney, Toledo and Columbus in Ohio and Aurora, Ind.
Mosler officials, the Hamilton Democrat reported, "have bound themselves in writing to locate in Hamilton" if citizens [volition] provide x acres and $85,000, including $seventy,000 toward plant construction and $15,000 for moving expenses.
In June 1890, as the competition began, the Democrat accurately prophesied that "there is an opportunity to brand Hamilton the center of the universe in the manufacture of safes." The newspaper said "you cannot bring an industry employing 400 or 500 men into the metropolis without benefiting every person in the town in some fashion."
As the Mosler factory neared completion, Moses Mosler, president of the company, chartered a 12-coach railroad train to ship more than 200 employees and their families from Cincinnati to inspect the facility and information technology environs.
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In 1890, it was 2 companies -- the Mosler Safe and Lock Co. and the Mosler Depository financial institution Rubber Co. -- identified by a reporter as "the largest and virtually successful companies of the kind in the United States." The newspaper said "their shops in Cincinnati are utterly inadequate." In the move, managers planned to double manufacturing space from the 150,000 square anxiety of floor space in Cincinnati to about 300,000 square feet in a new plant. Employment was expected to increase from 400 to 600.
Mosler Safe and Lock Co. occupied several buildings at Front and Elm streets in Cincinnati while Mosler Bank Safe Co. was on Front Street between Park and Smith streets. Both sites were described as in alluvion-prone areas of Cincinnati.
A reporter who visited the plants constitute Mosler using Hamilton-made machine tools from Niles Tool Works, Long & Allstatter, Bentel & Margedant and Hooven, Owens & Rentschler.
In 1890, Mosler operations were directed past Moses Mosler and William Mosler, sons of the founder, Gustav Mosler, who had died in 1874. Gustav Mosler -- who had been a newspaper editor in his native Republic of austria -- started the firm in Cincinnati in 1867 equally the Mosler-Bachmann Safe Co., manufacturing safes, vault doors and insulated, burn down-proof storage and security products.
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2 borough-minded citizens -- non city officials -- steered the campaign to bring Mosler to Hamilton. They were industrialist Lazard Kahn and businessman Oakey V. Parrish.
They headed a various local committee that negotiated a contract signed by both parties July v, 1890. Besides bringing Mosler to boondocks, the agreement gave birth to development of East Hamilton. Earlier, a news report said "a number of [Hamilton] gentlemen stand ready to donate 40 acres of land adjacent to the city." X acres were for the mill with 30 remaining acres to be divided into 240 residential lots. Money raised from the sale of the 240 lots would provide the $85,000 incentive for Mosler.
Kahn described the touch of Mosler's relocation as "far reaching." He said "nosotros must not figure on the amount of money they would spend in our town in ane year, but must effigy on the amount that will accumulate to the businessmen hither in the years to follow. . . . I look for the time . . . when the citizens of this city will exist astounded at the growth resultant from this effort" said Kahn, whose Estate Stove Co. had moved to a nearby East Avenue site in 1884.
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Hamilton's first safe manufacturer was Macneale & Urban Co., not Mosler. Macneale & Urban -- which traced its history to Cincinnati in 1855 -- began Hamilton operations June xi, 1890. Two years earlier, the Edgewood Finance Co. had organized to persuade the firm to move to Hamilton.
The safety company had sought $50,000 from local leaders to purchase land for a new establish. Members of the successful Edgewood grouping were Dr. Southward. Fifty. Beeler, W. F. Sauer, B. F. Thomas. Ed B. Roger. John G. Long. James R. Webster, Lazard Kahn, F. Westward. Whitaker. George A. Miller. C. E. Heiser and William Dingfelder. Webster represented the group in signing an understanding Jan. four, 1889, that brought Macneale & Urban to 10 acres on Hamilton'south west side.
The company erected a brick manufacturing plant on the northwest corner at Millville and Edgewood avenues, where the former Belt Line Railroad joins CSX's Hamilton-Indianapolis mainline. Most of the complex, which has had several owners and occupants, remains.
Macneale & Urban spurred development in the surrounding area, one time known equally Edgewood. The city extended several streets south and westward of Chief Street and Millville Artery, encouraging residential building.
At its peak the company employed 600 men and produced from l to 60 safes daily. Merely discord amidst stockholders led to a Jan. 20, 1903, decision to seek bankruptcy. A receiver was appointed while a heir-apparent was sought. Mosler acquired the Macneale & Urban holding in February 1907.
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Mosler fueled an industrial and residential nail in Hamilton in the early on 1890s. During the decade, Hamilton population jumped 36% from 17,565 in 1890 to 23,914 in the 1900 census. (Hamilton's 2010 population was 62,130.)
"The fame of the city of Hamilton as a manufacturing center, every bit a dwelling for the decorated staff of life-winner has gone abroad in the land," boasted the Democrat. "Old residents of this valley stand amazed at the rapid steps made by our prosperous and thriving city... Our success is largely due to the personal enterprise of a few men, who in their endeavors to persuade mammoth manufacturing establishments to locate here, have extensively advertised the boondocks of Hamilton. Nosotros are growing and we must have more room," the newspaper said.
"The daily tape of real estate transfers in the county recorder's office tells the story of the success of the Mosler syndicate" that has "already disposed of a big number of lots" in E Hamilton." The study said "since the building of an electric railroad, the full length of East Artery has become an established fact, the demand for property in that vicinity has greatly increased, and the best located and cheapest lots are controlled by the Eastward Artery Lot Association," which had an office at 6 Due north Third Street in downtown Hamilton.
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A second safe manufacturer -- Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Co. -- moved to East Hamilton in the mid 1890s. A 100-gun salute highlighted groundbreaking ceremonies Sept. 1, 1896, for HHM's new 100,000 foursquare foot manufactory. The HHM building was at 1550 Grand Boulevard, beyond the street from Mosler. Credited with convincing Herring-Hall to relocate in Hamilton were Lazard Kahn, Oakey V. Parrish and Moses Mosler, who headed the Hamilton Improvement Syndicate.
Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Co. was a consolidation of Hall'southward Safety & Lock Co., Cincinnati; Marvin Rubber Co., New York Metropolis; and Farrel & Co. and Meyers & Smith, Philadelphia, according to Stephen D. Cone in A Curtailed History of Hamilton (1901).
HHM was purchased by Diebold Inc., based in Canton, Ohio, in September 1959. Because of a legal challenge, the sale was delayed until March 1961. Diebold announced in Oct 1990 it would begin a phased shutdown of the 200,000 square foot Hamilton establish in Jan 1991. Diebold came dorsum to Hamilton in October 2001 when it purchased the closed Mosler facility at 8309 Berk Blvd.
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Another industrial addition to Hamilton during the decade was the Champion Coated Paper Co., incorporated in 1893 and in production in the jump of 1894. Past 1900, co-ordinate to an article in the American Printer, there were 21 paper-blanket mills in the U. S. and Champion was "the youngest and also the largest" and "twice every bit big as the 2d mill, and larger in capacity than all the others combined."
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In 1891, Hamilton welcomed Mosler into its family of industries, a point emphasized in a 100th anniversary publication, The Centennial Anniversary of the City of Hamilton, edited by D. Westward. McClung.
"Information technology is of interest to note the diversity of products of Hamilton's factories, and the tendency of these products toward the formation of a consummate economic organisation," said an extract.
"An example may be establish as you peruse the morning time newspaper. The paper on which this paper is printed is made in Hamilton. The paper-making machines which fabricated the paper were fabricated in Hamilton. The machinery which fabricated the ink with which the printing is done was made in Hamilton. The engines which furnished the steam ability for making the newspaper and for running the presses were made in Hamilton.
"The boilers which furnish the steam for the engines were made in Hamilton. The banality-making machinery-employed in making the boilers was made in Hamilton. The steam pumps which supply the boilers with water were made in Hamilton.
"The sawmill that produce the limbers of the paper mill and printing role were fabricated in Hamilton; and the fe working mechanism employed in. making the printing presses, and the paper-making machines, and the ink-making mechanism and the engines were made in Hamilton.
"Massive-pumping engines for the waterworks of cities are fabricated in Hamilton. Treasure throughout the world is stored in safes and vaults made in Hamilton. The evening drive is taken in buggies from the buggy factories of Hamilton. The cute and artistic tiling which forms the mantel facing and the hearth of the home is fabricated in Hamilton.
"The finest of woolen blankets are fabricated in Hamilton. The running felts upon the newspaper-making machines are made in Hamilton. The furniture is fabricated in Hamilton. The woodworking machinery employed in making the furniture and employed in making the buggies is fabricated in Hamilton.
"The spring mattresses of the beds are made in Hamilton. The overalls of the workmen are fabricated in Hamilton. The stoves in the kitchens and living rooms are made in Hamilton. The canned fruits and vegetables are made in Hamilton. The cans that contain these articles are made in Hamilton. The laundry machinery is made in Hamilton."
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In retrospect, the timing of Mosler'south relocation and Champion'southward startup was challenging. One came on the eve of the Panic of 1893 and the other during the worldwide economic crisis that crippled industry and agronomics for several years. For example, in the first x months of 1893, concern failures totaled 4,935, more than than twice the number that had airtight in all of 1892, and well in a higher place the one-year high during the previous decade (two,853 in 1884). Some historians regard the last years of the '90s equally second merely to the Great Depression of the 1930s in severity.
Mosler had experienced a healthy start in Hamilton. As the panic continued, a company history said "business concern declined rapidly for well-nigh manufacture, but Mosler workers were kept on the task at least 2 to three days a week."
Mosler had started an expansion in 1893, adding an part building. "The two-story construction and clock tower became a landmark in Hamilton and employees and citizens alike depended on the weight-operated clock, which had to be wound weekly," noted a Mosler publication.
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A Mosler history, compiled in 1973 past Bob Rosberg, said the company's early on years in Hamilton were "prosperous," because" need for the popular spiral-door safe, bank vaults and insulated products were particularly good."
But it was not all business for Mosler executives. "The founding family was acutely aware of personal need," Rosberg noted, "so a common help society was formed to assist employees during periods of illness and personal distress.
"Also, a volunteer burn department was formed and continued in operation fifty-fifty after a metropolis fire station was congenital," Rosberg explained. "In society to provide ability for the plant, private homes and street lights, Mosler built a ability station chosen the East Hamilton Power and Light Co. Information technology then sold power to the Metropolis of Hamilton." Mosler besides subsidized the edifice of churches in East Hamilton, setting the company's pattern of community service that continued for more than than 100 years.
The expanding neighborhood needed a name. J. W. Paff won a naming competition with his suggestion -- Due east Hamilton. The neighborhood was annexed to Hamilton in 1908.
The Pennsylvania Railroad built a depot to serve Mosler employees and East Hamilton residents. Mosler Station had a 200-foot passenger platform. Railroad timetables listed Mosler Station every bit 29 miles n of the PRR'due south Cincinnati station and 2 miles south of the Hamilton depot at South Seventh Street between High Street and Maple Avenue. Information technology was 269 miles from Chicago.
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In August 1891, equally Hamilton prepared to commemorate 100 years since the building of Fort Hamilton in the wilderness of the Northwest Territory, centennial leaders received a letter of the alphabet from Mosler. It said: "As prospective citizens with yous, we feel privileged to claim a community of interest in all that relates to the prosperity and welfare of Hamilton and it is in this fellowship of feeling that we wish to bring together with you in substantial recognition of 'Forefathers Solar day.' Information technology is our desire in this connection to present to you lot . . . a suitably fitted, finished and inscribed safe to be selected past you for the purpose of securely preserving such records and curios connected with your local history," said the letter, which bore no personal signature.
The committee accustomed the offer of what became known as the Centennial Condom. It was displayed on a equus caballus-drawn float in the centennial parade Saturday afternoon, Sept. 19.
A few days afterwards it was placed in the Butler County Courthouse because the city didn't have a place for it. For decades, the "forgotten safe" remained in county command. In 1988, it was inadvertently sold by a county employee who was unaware of its historical significance.
Its absenteeism was reported early in 1991. In June that year information technology was located and returned to the Hamilton Bicentennial Commission, which arranged for restoration by Mosler for the city's 200th birthday festivities in September 1991. Since the bicentennial, it has been displayed at the Butler County Historical Social club, 327 North Second Street, Hamilton.
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In conjunction with the July xix Mosler 2014 Reunion, the historical society is featuring a display of Mosler products, photos and memorabilia in its museum in the Emma Ritchie Auditorium. Hours are 9 a.m. to iv p.thousand. Tuesday through Friday and nine a.yard. until ii p.yard. Saturday. For more information, phone 513-896-9930.
Source: https://sites.google.com/a/lanepl.org/jbcols/home/2014-articles/opening-of-mosler-safe-co-continued-festive-mood-in-1891-as-hamilton-celebrated-its-centennial-year
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