This Day in History: 1943-08-07

William B. Graves, the President of the American Brake Shoe Company, announced that the company had purchased the Electric Alloys Company, one of the leading producers of alloys which resist heat and corrosion. The new acquisition has its headquarters in Elyria, Ohio. The Manager of Brake Shoe’s American Manganese Steel Division Walter G. Hoffman was named President of the Electric Alloys Company. Its previous President W. C. Whyte took the title of Vice President but was to continue in much the same executive capacity as before in the company’s operations. The new acquisition brought the Brake Shoe’s plants to 59, located in Canada and 21 of the states of the U. S. The Brake Shoe had gone into the research and production of heat and corrosion resistant steel alloys in 1925. The new acquisition would double the company’s production capacity. Walter G. Hoffman stated that Brake Shoe had been the pioneer in the creation of steels which would resist temperatures between 1600 and 2100 degrees F. Such steels, he said were vital in the production of such vital wartime material as plane parts, wheels, and oil cracking stills. “It is research,” he stated, “that has carried these alloys in a few years to the important position they now enjoy in industry.” (Bristow)