John C. Sammis was head of the advertising/publicity department of the Gisholt Machine Company, a Madison, Wisconsin, firm which produced turret lathes, automatic lathes, superfinishers, special machines, and balancing machines for the production of a wide variety of machine parts including airplane engine crankcases and (during World War II) parts for munitions, tanks, and guns. The Gisholt Machine Co. was originally founded in 1889 as an offshoot of the Fuller and Johnson Co., a farm implement dealership.
The papers provide little information on Sammis' career, but it seems likely that he began his employment in the department about January, 1941. His duties included implementing administrative decisions for the department, preparing product literature and service manuals for domestic and foreign mailings, preparing bleed pages for trade publications, and coordinating publicity for the company.
In addition, he was a member of the Milwaukee Industrial Advertising Association and the National Industrial Advertising Association. He also represented Gisholt during World War II on the War Advertising Council.
