American Standard display added to industrial exhibit
Winnie and Bob Stratton of Salem visit the new American Standard Americast bathtub display inside the Industrial Exhibit at the Dale Shaffer Research Library operated by the Salem Historical Society & Museum. Both Strattons worked at American Standard, Bob as a tool & die maker and Winnie as the telephone board operator. The museum is open for tours from 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays through October and from 6 to 9 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month. The library and gift shop are also open from 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. (Salem News photo by Mary Ann Greier)
A series of advertisements for American Standard products from 1908 through present day have been mounted on the wall inside the Industrial Exhibit at the Dale Shaffer Research Library. The company with a long history in Salem recently donated the posters, along with an Americast bathtub display. (Salem News photo by Mary Ann Greier)
Winnie and Bob Stratton of Salem visit the new American Standard Americast bathtub display inside the Industrial Exhibit at the Dale Shaffer Research Library operated by the Salem Historical Society & Museum. Both Strattons worked at American Standard, Bob as a tool & die maker and Winnie as the telephone board operator. The museum is open for tours from 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays through October and from 6 to 9 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month. The library and gift shop are also open from 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. (Salem News photo by Mary Ann Greier)
A series of advertisements for American Standard products from 1908 through present day have been mounted on the wall inside the Industrial Exhibit at the Dale Shaffer Research Library. The company with a long history in Salem recently donated the posters, along with an Americast bathtub display. (Salem News photo by Mary Ann Greier)
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SALEM -- A random call about a sink problem last year ended with an American Standard Americast bathtub now permanently displayed as part of the Industrial Exhibit at the Dale Shaffer Research Library.
Talk about a fluke.
"We had no history to show from the American Standard company. It was a key part of our industrial history in the past and it will remain a key part in the future," Mickey Cope Weaver said.
Weaver helped organize the Industrial Exhibit when the Salem Historical Society first opened the Shaffer library, giving museum visitors a glimpse into the city's rich industrial past. The exhibit includes photographs, signs, products and even a boat and plane representative of the many companies from Salem's past and present.
American Standard was absent, sort of a missing link. Then came the sink situation. Weaver called the company to ask about her sink and happened to mention how the museum had nothing from American Standard, a longtime Salem fixture.
Before long, a bathtub display was on the way, along with a timeline and a series of advertising posters.
"This is a key exhibit for us," Weaver said, adding, "Mullins and American Standard are locked together in history."
Before Mullins merged with what is now known as American Standard, the Salem metal stamping company founded by W.H. Mullins had already forged an imprint on Salem history, making the Youngstown kitchen line of products, wash tubs, statuary, Red Cap car travel trailers and even boats. The company also contributed to the World War II effort with shells. The Industrial Exhibit includes many items from Mullins.
"This is a very impressive exhibit. It really speaks to the history of Salem. American Standard really values the history that Salem has played for us as a company," American Standard Brands Director of Communications Debbie Drury said.
American Standard Brands is part of LIXIL. Drury took the opportunity to visit the museum on a recent trip to the Salem plant, which is the only location in the world where the Americast bathtub is made. Now one of those tubs is part of the historical display.
Weaver said the Salem Historical Society owes a debt of gratitude to American Standard for making the new display possible.
Salem residents Winnie and Bob Stratton, who helped with the tour, both worked at American Standard prior to retirement. Winnie actually started at Mullins, then ended up as the telephone board operator at American Standard. Bob worked for many years as a tool & die maker at United Tool & Die in Salem, then American Standard.
Winnie thought the new display was "beautiful."
"Salem was called 'Little Detroit' in the tool and die trade, a lot of die shops," Bob said.
In talking about the history on display, Winnie said it's important not only for personal roots but life roots. She wished young people would get more interested in the history, saying it helps them to connect to the past.
Salem resident Susan Schiller talked about Mullins for the tour, explaining how her grandfather felt it was important to keep every man working during the depression and hard times. Her grandfather was Charles C. Gibson, who started out as an office boy with an eighth grade education and worked his way up to president of the Mullins company.
Weaver commented that at one time "if you went into any home any place throughout the United States and many parts of the world, you would have found something made in Salem."
To learn more about Salem history, visit the museum for a tour from 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays through October and from 6 to 9 p.m. the third Thursday of each month. On Sundays, the last tour begins at 3:30 p.m. The library and gift shop are open from 9 a.m. to noon Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The website is www.salemhistoricalsociety.org.