Title: Prime Manufacturing Company Records
Inclusive Dates: 1933-1947

Creator:

• Prime Manufacturing Company (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 109

Quantity: 1.4 c.f. (4 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records of the Prime Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a company involved in the manufacture of railroad supplies and the Prime Electric Fence Controller (originally known as the Gengler Electric Fence). The records document the electric fence division of the company, primarily from 1934 to 1942. They mainly consist of advertising and sales promotional literature such as catalogs, circulars, bulletins, newsletters, a ready-reference encyclopedia, and a merchandising program. Advertising layouts are also included. The incoming correspondence, primarily from 1935-1939, deals with consumer reaction to the product. Sales records include sales literature for dealers, price lists, and consumer surveys. Informational files on electric fences, their safety and use for various animals, and an Underwriters' Laboratory study of the Prime Fence Controller complete the collection.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00109

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The Prime Manufacturing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin was founded in 1914 by Orton Lee Prime. It originally manufactured the Prime Moto Chopper (light flasher), the Prime Alemite lubricating system for railroads, and other railway supplies. In the 1930s the company began an association with Edwin J. Gengler of Brown Deer, Wisconsin. Gengler was a farmer who had spent several years experimenting with farm fencing. He finally perfected an electrical fence that he began to market in 1929. The Gengler Manufacturing Company was set up in 1931 to produce his electric fences. At first, Gengler's sales were primarily to other local farmers and advertising was by word of mouth. But by 1934, Gengler had obtained a patent and had found that demand for the fences increased to the point where it was beyond his financial means to continue the fence production. In that year, he made an agreement with the Prime Manufacturing Company transferring his patent rights and giving them the exclusive right to manufacture and sell his fences. Thereafter the Gengler Electric Fence was known as the Prime Electric Fence Controller.

Gengler continued his association with the Prime Manufacturing Company. In 1936, Gengler and Prime Manufacturing sued the Waukesha Electric Company over infringement on patent rights. Gengler continued research on perfecting the fence, and in 1938 made a research trip across the United States on behalf of the Prime Manufacturing Company to talk to farmers about usage of his fences.

The Prime Manufacturing Company mounted an active advertising campaign on behalf of the electric fence, stressing its safety features and it varied use possibilities. In 1940 the Underwriters' Laboratory issued the results of the three year study commissioned by the Prime Manufacturing Company to address the issue of establishing safety standards for the industry. With a few minor changes, the Prime controllers met the standards and the company was able to advertise their fences as having Underwriters' Laboratory approval. In another measure taken to illustrate the safety of the fences to potential buyers, a Lloyd's of London insurance policy was issued with each fence purchased for little or no cost.

The company continues to operate today, but electric fence production was discontinued in the late 1940s.

The records of the Prime Manufacturing Company are primarily the advertising and sales records of the division of the company that dealt with the production of the electric fences. They contain only fragmentary information on the other divisions of the company. The records mainly document the advertising and promotional strategy of the company regarding its electric fence sales. The records have been arranged in five series: Background Files, Correspondence, Advertising Literature, Sales Division Records, and Research Files.

The BACKGROUND FILES deal with the history of the company and its predecessor in the manufacture of electric fences, the Gengler Electric Fence Company. There are two files on the Gengler company and the Gengler patent, and one file of general background information on the Prime Manufacturing Company.

The CORRESPONDENCE FILES primarily contain incoming correspondence for the years 1935 1939. The letters are most often commentaries on the successful usage of the Prime Electric Fences. Only a limited file of outgoing correspondence, from 1937 1938 is included.

The major series of the collection is that of the ADVERTISING MATERIALS. Included are advertising publications of all kinds: catalogs, circulars, brochures, bulletins, newsletters, and a ready reference encyclopedia. The years 1934 1940 are the most completely documented. Substantial files of photographs (still unprocessed and not listed in this finding aid) and layout sketches for advertisements, as well as actual posters and signs, illustrate how the advertising literature was composed. The unprocessed photograph collection, housed in the State Historical Society's Visual Materials Archive, is particularly extensive, including photographs of Gengler, electric fences in operation across the country, and a variety of animals encountering the electric fences. A merchandising program and examples of advertisements from other Prime products give further examples of the company's advertising philosophy. In addition to offering a good overview of the varied avenues of advertising pursued by the company, the records also provide a good deal of information about the product itself. This is especially true for the bulletins and newsletters, which provide detailed product information and specifications for potential buyers.

The series of SALES RECORDS is closely related to the advertising literature, but aimed more directly at the dealers who would be selling the fences, rather than at the buyer. The sales bulletins and newsletters dating primarily from 1936 to 1939 illustrate the image that the company hoped to project in promoting its product. Information on the insurance policy that was issued through Lloyd's of London to cover the fences is also included. The records contain limited sales figures, export information, and price lists. There are some routine materials relating to office procedures concerning shipping, returns, and service. The files relating to consumer surveys give a good idea of the company's perspective on the importance of consumer input.

The RESEARCH FILES of the company contain a significant body of information concerning the general topic of electric fences. There are handbooks with general standards for electric fences, as well as information on some of the state specifications for electric fences. There is technical data compiled by the company on electric fences, as well as the outside literature that they collected in their research on electric fences. The report commissioned by Prime from the Underwriters' Laboratory is included here. There is also a group of files relating to the usage of electric fences for specific purposes like pasture control, and for specific animals.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Prime Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, via Charles P. Fox, 1972. Accession Number: M72-360

Processing Information

Processed by Lynn Lubkeman, 1987.

	Series: Background Materials
Box   1 Folder   1	Gengler Electric Fence Company
Box   1 Folder   2	Gengler Patent
Box   1 Folder   3	General Background
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
Box   1 Folder   4-5	Incoming, 1935-1939
Box   1 Folder   6	Outgoing, 1937-1938
	Series: Advertising Materials	⇧
Box   1 Folder   7	Brochures
Box   1 Folder   8-9	Bulletins on Prime Electric Fencing, 1937-1939
Box   1 Folder   10	Catalogs, 1934-1940
Box   1 Folder   11	Circulars
Box   2 Folder   1	Prime Electric Fence Encyclopedia
Box   2 Folder   2	Prime Electric Fence News, 1936-1938
Box   2 Folder   3	Layout Sketches
Box   2 Folder   4	Merchandising Program, 1941
Box   2 Folder   5	Other Prime Products
	Series: Sales Materials	⇧
Box   2 Folder   6	Bulletins, 1938-1939
Box   2 Folder   7	Literature for Dealers
Box   2 Folder   8-11	Literature, 1936-1939
Box   2 Folder   12	Literature, Insurance
Box   2 Folder   13	Price Lists, 1937-1944
Box   2 Folder   14	Reports, 1938
Box   2 Folder   15	Territories, 1937-1939
Box   3 Folder   1	Export, 1937-1938
Box   3 Folder   2	Statistics
Box   3 Folder   3	Memos
Box   3 Folder   4	Procedures
Box   3 Folder   5	Form Letters
Box   3 Folder   6	Customer Lists
Box   3 Folder   7	Consumer Surveys
Box   3 Folder   8	Service Department
	Series: Research Files	⇧
	Electric Fences
Box   3 Folder   9	General, 1933-1938
Box   3 Folder   10	Handbooks, 1938-1942
Box   3 Folder   11	Clippings, 1936-1947
Box   3 Folder   12	State Specifications
Box   3 Folder   13	Technical Data
Box   3 Folder   14	Technical Literature
Box   4 Folder   1	Underwriters' Laboratory Study
	Usage
Box   4 Folder   2	Pasture Control
Box   4 Folder   3	Bears
Box   4 Folder   4	Bulls
Box   4 Folder   5	Cattle
Box   4 Folder   6	Deer, Dogs, and Poultry
Box   4 Folder   7	Hogs
Box   4 Folder   8	Horses
Box   4 Folder   9	Sheep and Goats
	Fences
Box   4 Folder   10	United States Government Information
Box   4 Folder   11	Miscellaneous articles