How could a small trap manufacturing company in rural Pennsylvania have an impact on World War II and provide essential war products to the war effort? To understand this, a person has to look at the family leading the company and the members ultimately being forged in the fire of World War I along with survival of the Great Depression.
The Animal Trap Company of America (ATC) had its manufacturing peak during World War II shown by the number of employees working to provide the essential war products. The main product was armor piercing bullet cores for the US and British military. The manufacturing capabilities were adjusted to make these crucial items in the space usually meant for trap production.
ATC’s history can easily be divided into three components - pre-World War II domination of steel trap production, World War II, and post-World War II diversification into outdoor products. Without the period of domination in the world of steel traps, the Animal Trap Company of America would not have learned how to quickly develop manufacturing techniques or take techniques from other companies and quickly assimilate them for production. This was their biggest strength for the production of war materials.
One example of this was using the same emery belt that finished lathe-turned wood decoys to polish the noses of incendiary bombs. ATC was the first company in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to manufacture products for the Armed Forces, army cots in 1940, and through the following war years thirty-eight different items of which bullet cores provided the largest quantity, three hundred million of them.
Many employees also served in World War II, 154 total. Six employees were killed while serving in the United States Armed Services. ATC provided a great source of morale to troops serving overseas with the ATCO News, a company newspaper sent to all employees. Sources of morale for those who supported from home included War Bond drives, Health programs, and Victory Gardens, to name a few.
Since the story of ATC cannot be told without including the Woolworth family, I will refer to them by their first names throughout the book to reduce confusion about which Woolworth is doing what – Felix, Chester, and Richard. Richard is a recurring name in the Woolworth family, but the Richard that will be focused on in this book is the son of Chester. He will be referred to as Dick.
I did not include every trap made by ATC but focused on major trap break throughs that kept ATC viable including Conibear, stop loss, mouse traps and information on development. I tried to include information the reader may not be as familiar with including many products outside of traps, companies purchased and partnered with, and any other unique information. Learn where John U. Lehn got the idea for the Stop Loss trap.
At one point, Chester said ATC had over 100 patents starting with ATC and not including ones from Oneida Community Ltd. Let’s see how many I find. I did not include all of them, but if someone is interested in patents ATC had that were not included, I can help you find them. It was common practice for ATC to claim patents on items manufactured by others before ATC purchased the company which did not have patents.
This book gives information from the competitor’s view to Diamond, Triumph, and Gibbs. Learn about the “hideout accounts” Triumph had, the true date HSB & Co quit carrying Triumph REV-O-NOC Traps from someone inside HSB&Co, about Gibbs’ sinking fund and even though ATC bought him out, how long Gibbs caused them financial troubles and court cases. It was longer than they thought it would be. Learn what Triumph trap parts ATC was looking to copy in their own traps. Ever wonder how many Triumph No. 2XAs were made. This book includes how many Gibbs had when he sold his business.
In my book “Perfect Triumph” I asked a question about the Corbin stretcher, I found the answer plus more. I also found more information on other employees of Triumph and Gibbs with an additional photograph of one.
During Chapter 1, I use the full names of Animal Trap Company and Animal Trap Company of America as they were two different things. After Chapter 1, I use ATC which should be assumed to be Animal Trap Company of America.
This book covers the years of 1924 to 1966 mainly focusing on ATC. Although info about Oneida Community Ltd and Woodstream were included, it was kept to a minimum except to start and end the book.
The employees of the Animal Trap Company of America referred to the organization as the “Trappie” or “Trappy” spelled out differently in different letters and articles. For consistency, it is spelled out as “Trappy” in this book.
As part of the research for this book, all ATC Directors Meeting minutes from 1924 to 1966 were reviewed. Many short snippets of information provided by those were included along with dates of comment.
This book contains information from the 1920s to the 1960s. Some information included could be considered offensive to some since it is from a different time period. The information was included to provide a historically accurate book. Nothing more than historical accuracy should be inferred.
Slot car racing cases, roller skates, clothes pins, ski equipment and General Motors fender covers – what do these five things have in common, they were all made by the Animal Trap Company of America. While researching this book, I found many things that I did not know about the Company. When you are done reading this book, I hope you are like me and can say “Wow, I did not know that.”
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