Summary Information
Gorton Machine Corporation Records
1916-1970
- Gorton Machine Corporation (Racine, Wis.)
Parkside Mss 42; Parkside Micro 9; Micro 714; Audio 1829A; PH 4970
0.4 cubic feet (1 archives box), 7 reels of microfilm (35 mm), 1 tape recording, and 0.1 cubic feet of photographs (1 folder)
UW-Parkside Library / Parkside Area Research Ctr. (Map)Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Records of Gorton Machine Corporation, a large Racine machine tool and die maker; consisting of printed and typewritten histories of the firm, brochures, radio advertising scripts, microfilmed scrapbooks of advertisements, and other publicity materials. Also includes recording of groundbreaking ceremonies for a new Gorton plant in 1967; and photographs of plant and office employees, as well as exterior views of the building (1940s-1970s).
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-pks0042 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The George Gorton Machine Company was founded in 1893 by George Gorton II (1865-1955) in his family's Racine, Wisconsin, greenhouse. This first small machine shop served for many years as the location for Gorton's inventing and enterprises. After producing a line of disc grinders, Gorton sold his business in 1903, and due to illness, moved to California. However, he returned to Racine the following year and continued his work. Among his inventions during the period 1906-1916 were the pantograph engraving machine, the rotary breaching machine (to form steel axe heads from rough forging), an internal tooth cut-off saw and a grinder for the saw (for cutting and sawing bar steel), the first tire mold engraver (to cut tread design into tires, replacing the old vulcanizing procedure), and a fuse ring router (for routing the powder train grooves in fuse heads of shrapnel and shells used during World War I). The company also built aircraft engines and racing cars.
In 1916 a new building was constructed, and within the next few years the firm began to specialize in the development of pantomills and other die, mold and light vertical milling machines for the plastics and die-casting industries. In 1932, Gorton built a manual duplicator, the first of the tracer-controlled two-dimensional production profilers, and a three-dimensional machine for die-sinking. This equipment allowed metal pieces to be milled or machined from identical size masters or patterns. The complete line of Gorton pantomills and vertical mills was introduced at the 1935 Machine Tool Builders' Show in Cleveland, Ohio.
Expansion of the company rapidly continued, and in 1940 another new plant was built. During World War II Gorton was licensed by the Swiss government to make Swiss type automatic screw machines (for making air-craft instrument and fire control parts), and was the only American company to receive such a license. (At the time, none of these vital machines could be imported into the United States, and the drawings were brought from Europe in diplomatic mail pouches to avoid capture.) The Gorton Machine Company was the first Racine plant to receive an “E” award for its production efforts.
The post-war period saw a concentration on contour (profiling and duplicating) milling devices and the development of hydraulic tracer machines for a new market. By 1966 Gorton built the broadest line of contour milling equipment in the country. In April 1967, the family-owned George Gorton Machine Company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Kearney and Trecker Corporation of Milwaukee. As the Gorton Machine Corporation, the company remains under the supervision of George Gorton III (also a member of the Kearney and Trecker board of directors), and continues to produce the types of milling machines that it pioneered.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of two series, Histories and Publicity. Included with HISTORIES are a printed 75-year history and the reminiscences of the company founder, George Gorton II. A folder of miscellaneous items includes typewritten partial histories and a newspaper article. The PUBLICITY series is composed of brochures depicting various Gorton engraving machines, scripts for radio advertising, and press releases. Also included are publicity and other papers dealing with a ground breaking ceremony in 1967, and a dinner given by the Racine Chamber of Commerce in 1969 in honor of the company. The major portion of this series consists of microfilmed scrapbooks of Gorton advertisements clipped and compiled from national and international trade journals. In addition, the scrapbooks contain newspaper and journal articles, photographs, and other material pertaining either to Gorton or to the types of machinery produced by the company. The collection was compiled by Arthur C. Pierce, who for many years was Advertising and Sales Promotion Manager for Gorton.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Arthur C. Pierce, Racine, Wisconsin, 1974. Accession Number: M74-492
Processed by Menzi Behrnd, January 2, 1979.
Contents List
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Parkside Mss 42
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Series: Histories
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Box
1
Folder
1
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“75 Years of Building Good Machine Tools, 1893-1968”
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Box
1
Folder
2
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“As I Remember It,” by George Gorton II
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Box
Folder
3
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Miscellaneous histories
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Series: Publicity
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Patent engraving machines brochure, 1924
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Engraving machines brochures, 1929, 1930
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Box
1
Folder
6
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“Gorton Touches Your Daily Life” radio spots, 1955-1956
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Box
1
Folder
7
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“Rhythm of Industry” radio program, 1960
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Press releases, 1961, 1963
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Ground breaking ceremony, 1967 July 24
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1829A/1
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Audio recording
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Parkside Mss 42
Box
1
Folder
10
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Civic Tribute to Gorton Chamber of Commerce Dinner, 1969 April 17
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Miscellaneous publicity papers
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Parkside Micro 9/Micro 714
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Scrapbooks of advertising
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Reel
1
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1916-1938
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Reel
2
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1939-1944
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Reel
3
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1945-1948
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Reel
4
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1949-1953
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Reel
5
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1954-1957
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Reel
6
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1958-1962
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Reel
7
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1963-1970
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PH 4970
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Photographs
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