Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
Creator: | Ajax Manufacturing Company |
Title: | Ajax Manufacturing Company Records |
Dates: | 1897-1990 |
Extent: | 0.40 linear feet (1 container) |
Abstract: | The Ajax Manufacturing Company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1875 by John Rollin Blakeslee (1843-1906). Ajax manufactured forging equipment and cold drawing equipment for the cold-heading industry. Ajax forging machines were used in the railroad, agricultural, and automotive industries. In 1925, Ajax moved to Euclid, Ohio. The company was family-owned and operated until 1987 when it was sold to the Crawford Group. In 1996, Ajax was again sold, this time to Park-Ohio Industries. The collection consists of advertisements, agreements, biographies, bulletins, catalogs, correspondence, histories, lists, manuals, photographs, purchase orders, reprints, and a term paper. |
MS Number | MS 5187 |
Location: | closed stacks |
Language: | The records are in English and Spanish |
Historical sketch courtesy of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
The Ajax Manufacturing Company was incorporated in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1875 by John Rollin Blakeslee (1843-1906). Blakeslee had earlier operated the Blakeslee Manufacturing Company, also in Cleveland, which manufactured nuts, bolts, rivets, and pins. Ajax Manufacturing Company, operating at 3830 Lakeside Avenue, discontinued headed products to concentrate on forging equipment and cold drawing equipment for the cold-heading industry. By 1910 the company had constructed a 7" forging machine, the largest of its kind, and incorporated steel forging into its crankshaft, a feature Ajax had developed earlier.
The forging machine industry in the early twentieth century was buoyed by expanding requirements of the railroad, agricultural, and automotive industries. Ajax developed innovations in machinery and, in 1932, introduced the first direct air-operated friction clutch, allowing forging machines to produce harder alloys using hotter stock, resulting in significantly increased production. Higher speed forging presses were continually improved and Ajax presses, forging rolls, and forging machines were sold and used worldwide. The company declined in output and sales after World War II. Family-run for many years, the company was purchased in 1987 by the Crawford Group, a privately held company. In 1996, Ajax was purchased again, this time by Park-Ohio Industries. Two years later-still under the Park-Ohio banner-Ajax joined with Forging Developments International, Inc., to form Ajax Technologies.
Since 1925, the company has been located at 1441 Chardon Road in Euclid, Ohio. Its present line of forging equipment includes some of the most advanced types of forging presses, forging machines, forging rolls, auxiliary forging equipment and cold drawing equipment for the cold heading industry.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Ajax Manufacturing Company
The Ajax Manufacturing Company Records, 1897-1990 and undated, consist of advertisements, agreements, biographies, bulletins, catalogs, correspondence, histories, lists, manuals, photographs, purchase orders, reprints, and a term paper.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of business, industry, and manufacturing in Cleveland and Euclid, Ohio, in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century. Those interested in the forge machine industry and the manufacturing of heavy machinery, particularly the machines manufactured by the Ajax Manufacturing Company, will find this collection useful. Those studying the impact of John Rollin Blakeslee upon the forge machine industry will find his biography useful.
None.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5187 Ajax Manufacturing Company Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of the Ajax Manufacturing Company in 1995.
Processed by Margaret Burzynski-Bays in 2014.
Ajax Manufacturing Company Records 1897-1990 undated |
|||||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
1 | 1 | Advertisements undated | |||||||||
1 | 2 | Appraisal agreement 1897 | |||||||||
1 | 3 | Biography, John Rollin Blakeslee undated | |||||||||
1 | 4 | Bulletins ca. 1920s-ca. 1940s | |||||||||
1 | 5 | Bulletins ca. 1920s-1990s | |||||||||
1 | 6 | Catalogs 1936 undated | |||||||||
1 | 7 | Correspondence 1934-1986 undated | |||||||||
1 | 8 | Employee list undated | |||||||||
1 | 9 | Histories 1955 undated | |||||||||
1 | 10 | Manuals undated | |||||||||
1 | 11 | Photographs and drawings ca. 1890s ca. 1960s | |||||||||
1 | 12 | Purchase orders 1900-1901 | |||||||||
1 | 13 | Reprints 1932-1990 undated | |||||||||
1 | 14 | Term paper, "The Machine Tool Industry," by Jack R. Blakeslee 1962 |