|
- In 1901 William Galloway, a farm implement dealer and salesman,
started the Wilson-Galloway Company in Waterloo. It was located
on Sycamore Street.
- The company manufactured farm machinery and vehicles.
-
In 1905 he started the William Galloway Company
which at first manufactured harrow carts and wagon box manure
spreaders. Later it produced gasoline engines, cream separators,
manure spreaders, tractors, harrows and other implement specialties.
- In 1907 he moved the company to new buildings in the Westfield
Addition of Waterloo.
- The buildings covered over 14 acres of floor space.
- The company employed between 800 and 900 people.
- The business averaged $2,000,000 a year, and the appraised value
of the real estate, buildings and equipment were set at $1,462,000.
- Officers of the company were: William Galloway, president; J.G.
Brinkerhoff, vice president; J.W. Henderson, secretary and treasurer;
and J.T. Swift, F.W. Powers, C.E. Pickett and E.W. Miller, directors.
- Most of the sales were made by mail through the catalog system,
and over 300,000 names of actual customers were on the books of
the firm.
- Shipments were made to all the states of the Union, to Canada
and to many foreign countries, including China, Australia, the Philippines,
Cuba, the British West Indies, Siam, India, Russia, England, France,
Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the various countries of South
America.
- Most of the foreign shipments were cream separators and gasoline
engines.
- Shipping points in the United States were maintained in Chicago,
Omaha, Kansas City and St. Paul.
- During World War I, the company received a tractor order amounting
to $1,600,000 from the British Government.
- The William Galloway Company spent $2,000,000 for advertising
in farm journals.
- William Galloway started the Galloway Club that provided food
and lodging for his customers in a large building near the factory.
- Because farmers came to Waterloo from nearly every state in the
Union, any farmer who came to Waterloo to check out the Galloway
products got free meals and lodging at the Galloway Agricultural
Club.
- Galloway was so successful because he was able to recognize the
needs of his customers and knew how to sell his products. One such
ad showed an image of him standing behind a manure spreader with
the text, "We stand behind our products."
Source: The Waterloo Daily Courier, August 5, 1922.
|
|