(for what it’s worth, “Small” means less than 500 employees, & that is most companies)
A TRIBUTE TO DAD
Dad (T. A. Pelsue) was Exhibit A.
It was 1949. Dad hung up his wings from WWII, finished Business School at Golden Gate College, and was now travelling around the western part of the United States selling truck bodies to municipalities utilities and telephone companies. Mom told me that at age 4 we were riding on a bus in San Francisco, and I blurted out “there goes one of daddy’s bodies”.
In post WWII America there was a new move to put the unsightly telephone lines underground. At the time most of the telephone lines were open wire (single strands of copper wire strung over mountains and valleys suspended by the dozens on crossarms above the countryside. These bright strands lined every highway, criss-crossing America.
In the cities large cables consisting of bundles of copper wires wrapped in paper insulation were being installed into manholes in all the major cities, and small towns alike.
BEFORE THE PELSUE COMPANY 1950-1962
The Problem: It gets cold in manholes in the wintertime. These wires required lots dexterity to splice cables together, and hands were freezing.... not to mention other things.
The Idea: Create a small heater/ ventilator that could be driven by a small engine that would run on propane, which would also heat the manhole. Of course safety was of the utmost importance. A small heat exchanger assure that no exhaust fumes were blown into the manhole.
The Money: No bank would lend money on an idea, and savings were inadequate to fund prototypes, patent filings and the myriad of start up expenses. Thank God for my mother’s Auntie Gladys. She had helped Mom through school, and was willing to make a 5-year loan. Somebody always has to believe in the wide-eyed entrepreneur who’s pursuit of happiness exceeds his resources.
Operating capital then came from L.R. Morrison. and the Morrison-Pelsue Company MoPeCo was created.
Early Success: The Bell System
195 Broadway, New York, New York
The original AT&T was America’s telephone system. And they talked to each other. Initial presentations in Denver were quickly followed by requests to see the PEG (portable engine generator) heater.
It is a long way from Denver to New York City. With introductions and acceptance all along the way Dad took the new PEG heater to Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, etc., and finally arrived at the AT&T headquarters at 195 Broadway, New York, New York.
Acceptance was pretty fast. There was a need for heat and ventilation in manholes across the country, and the PEG unit was just what the industry needed.
Back at our house.
There was a black dial phone in the corner of our 3 bedroom, 1 bath, post war starter house with its single garage. To my sister Gail and I this was the mysterious contact to the world.
It was daddy’s phone, and we weren’t allowed to answer it. Mom applied her Denver University acquired secretarial skills to be the garage based company’s World Class Administrative Assistant.
I only met Mr. Morrison on a few occasions. He was considerably older than Dad. When he reached retirement age he wanted his money, and he did not want to reinvest profits in any of dad’s ideas. So they split up. MoPeCo would eventually be sold, and pass through many corporations including General Cable Corp, Penn Central Railroad, Mobile Tool, and Altec.
As for Dad & Mom, they started all over again at the T. A. Pelsue Company.
I was hoping for an Italian Restaurant.
What a country!
