The Elite Laundry of Racine, owned by Eager and Dunn, grew from a failed startup into a major modern laundry business with more than 50 employees, six wagons, two automobiles, and advanced machinery. Expanding repeatedly to meet demand, the firm emphasizes sanitary methods, high wages, and continual improvement in service.
F. J. Greene Engineering Works has helped make Racine known for industry since 1892. Located at Douglas and Prospect streets, the company employs more than 60 workers and manufactures special machinery, structural iron, and steel buildings, while also handling job work, repairs, electric plating, stamping, and screw machine work throughout the region.
Founded in 1867, S. Freeman Sons Manufacturing Company grew from a small boiler repair shop into one of Racine’s leading industrial firms. The company expanded into farm implements and machinery, incorporated in 1886, and later moved to a six-acre modern plant. Today it employs 300 workers and sells boilers, steel pipe, and agricultural equipment worldwide.
The Gold Medal Camp Furniture Manufacturing Company, founded in 1890 and incorporated in 1892, grew from a small line of six or seven items into a major maker of camp furniture and outing outfits. Now occupying two blocks in Racine, it employs 125 workers, ships worldwide, and supplies the U.S. army, navy, National Guard, and camping parties.
Joseph S. Hartmann, a German-born immigrant who came to the United States in 1862, founded the Hartmann Trunk Company, which grew from a small Racine operation into a major trunk and luggage manufacturer with plants covering three acres and sales offices in Chicago and New York. The company holds more than 100 patents and employs 300 workers.
Henricksen Jacobson, a Racine wholesale grocery firm founded in 1910 by Henry M. Henricksen and Jacob Jacobson, has grown rapidly into a substantial business. Originally located on Mound Avenue and later moved to State Street, the company carries a large line of groceries, including butterine, butter, eggs and cheese, serving Racine and Kenosha counties.
Founded in 1903 by Willis L. Cahoon and E. E. Cahoon, the American Mangle Roller Company of Racine manufactures laundry mangles and handles all kinds of laundry machinery. Based at Racine Junction, the company sells nationwide by mail and through jobbers, supplying hotels, public buildings, and institutions with complete laundry equipment.
The American Seating Company of Racine, founded in 1899 as the American School Furniture Company, grew from the former Thomas Kane Company plant into a major furniture manufacturer. By the early 1900s, it employed 300 workers, shipped school furniture and opera chairs worldwide, and was known for fair wages, employee welfare programs, and progressive labor practices.
The American Skein Foundry Company helped establish Racine’s reputation as an industrial and manufacturing center. Founded in 1900 and reorganized in 1904, the company operates a modern five-acre plant producing wagon skeins, drop-forgings, jackscrews, anvils, and piano plates. Employing 170 workers, it sells nationwide and is known for quality products and sound business practices.
Founded in 1904 in Racine, the Arnold Electric Company grew from a one-room operation into a major manufacturer of motor-driven household devices and small power motors. It pioneered products such as vacuum cleaners, massage vibrators, hair dryers, drink mixers, washing machines, electric signs, and phonograph motors, and now employs about 250 people with worldwide sales.