It is also widely held lore that the same man first mixed Milk of Magnesia and Vodka into a cocktail he coined the "Phillips Screwdriver"
That was Horace Alowishus Knuter. 1878 to 1928. His process of "Knuterazation" revolutionized valve making.
You might have that backwards. Alexander Champion started Champion spark plugs. Which got bought by G.M. Then G.M. merged AC with DELCO . Dayton Electronics Labra.tory Company.Delco were engineers that left NCR after the invented the small high powered electric motor. For the first ele tric cash registor . One of the guys Charles F Kettering went to G.M. and built the first self starting car. A 22 model CAdillic model 35L .
A good family friend of the head of GM stopped to help a stranded motorist re-start her car, the engine kicked back and the crank handle broke his jaw. This was before antibiotics were discovered, it became infected, and he died a few weeks later. So Kettering was tasked to invent an electric starter, and he did. He also invented the ignition distributor. My dad served on a US Navy Diesel boat right after the war, and the brass was trying to retrofit US subs for a time with captured german U-Boat tech, one of the elements was running submerged via a snorkel. They had all kinds of trouble and brought Kettering out to look at things and provide his expertise. He must have been quite the inventor/engineer.
Quite a story on the Hurst Jaw of life. The main points were that George saw a guy get burned alive at a drag strip, because the guys were trying to get him out with crow bars and stuff. He went about designing a better system, the “Jaws” we know of today. Our Fire Dept had one of the first Hurst Jaw made. I did everything I could in subsequent years to keep our dept all “ Hurst”. A wonderful contribution to humanity that goes unsung most of the time. Many people walking the earth today owe their lives to George Hurst. Bones
TRW originated in 1901 with the Cleveland Cap Screw Company, founded by David Kurtz and four other Cleveland residents.[11] Their initial products were bolts with heads electrically welded to the shafts. In 1904, a welder named Charles E. Thompson adapted their process to making automobile engine valves,[11] and, by 1915, the company was the largest valve producer in the United States.[12]Charles Thompson was named general manager of the company, which became Thompson Products in 1926.[13] Their experimental hollow sodium-cooled valves aided Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic.[12]
The unveiling of the Jaws https://mickeyherr.com/2014/03/23/s...-a-fathers-legacy-a-quite-unexpected-journey/
The diversification of a Racing Giant... Glad that helped connect some dots...and that's one heck of away to get people eyes in the direction of those Jaws...Interesting that the program was so new the signage was hand written on Bristol Board.
"TRW originated in 1901 with the Cleveland Cap Screw Company..." So it looks like the T is for Thompson, any idea about the RW?
Just to set the record straight on George Hurst, I met George in 1977, spent 2 solid weeks with him and remained friends until his untimely death. When we weren't busy, George filled me with endless stories that were for the most part incredible. I asked him how he got into the business and he said it all started while he was a chief in the Navy and stationed at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. He started swapping out v 12 engines in Lincolns for some of the Navy brass stationed in the area. He fabbed his own motor mounts answer found other people that wanted them. He and his partner Bill Campbell (later of Prevost motor homes) set up a shop to do engine swaps a build adapter mounts for an ever-expanding customer list. As the Lincoln business slowed down, they set up for VW accessories. They built bumper guards and cocoa floor mats and cornered the market. Until VW America realized that they could make them and thus, overnight he lost all the business. So, he and Bill returned to the motor mount adapter business and rebuild the dealer network they neglected during the VW hay days. George left Warminster and headed west and stopped at every speed shop, parts house, and garage he could find. At the time he was driving the company test mule. A 1956 Chevy with a Buick nail head in it. The firewall was swiss cheesed from all the various engines that had been fitted for mock up on new mounts they developed. George told me of his pivotal moment in Joliet, Illinois where he stopped dead broke and sat at a crossroads that went east/west at 28 degrees below zero and the firewall offering no protection. He got on a pay phone and talked to Bill Campbell, asking for more money to head west or call it quits and head home. Bill told him to turn around and head home because orders were flooding in because of all the sales stops George had made. They were swamped and needed him back home to help. He went home filled the borders and the came up with the original Hurst "dual pattern" shifter. After that, they never looked back. George told me that he and Bill decided to split up and George offered to buy Bill out. They settled on 6 million dollars for Bill's half but neither could fugue out how many zeros needed to be on the check. So the next morning they headed over to their bank and let them make out the check with just the right number of zeros on it. George was a humble, brilliant, and genuinely funny guy. From motor mounts to bumper guards and cocoa floor mats to shifters and the jaws of life (which he never made a dime on, he felt it would be his legacy and owed it to the public) to many safety innovations, and even the auto seat back releases on GM cars. Hen I first met him, we discussed hot rods and Hurst products. He kept on saying how good they were and I said "boy, you sure like Hurst stuff". That's where he told me he was George Hurst. I replied sure you are. He took out his wallet and removed a sandwich bag all follow and twisted up. He handed me his private business card listing his home in Huntington Beach and said "don't show this to anyone!". It's kind of worn now, but it still holds a place of honor in my wallet, and yes I have pulled it out a few times when people look at me the same way I looked at George when he told who he was. We talked many times after that and he always had a great story to tell me. Some are definitely not for mixed company!
One of the better threads going today, and very informative!=Sub'd! The rest is getting like instagram......=BORING!
Completing the TRW story, from the Wikipedia article: "In 1950, Simon Ramo and Dean Wooldridge while working for Hughes Aircraft, led the development of the Falcon radar-guided missile, among other projects. They grew frustrated with Howard Hughes' management, and formed the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation in September 1953,[13] with the financial support of Thompson Products." and "Thompson Products and Ramo-Wooldridge merged in October 1958 to form Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc., unofficially known as "TRW"."
The Jalopy Journal
