THE WESTERVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARYLOCAL HISTORY RESOURCE CENTER NEWSLETTERSeptember 2010

Page 1

A WALK THROUGH HISTORY

Page 4

Killgore’s Cap Pistols

Kilgore Manufacturing was the world’s largest pro-ducer of toy cap pistols and the caps they used. By the 1950s, the local company was producing millions of play guns in twelve models. Joseph Kilgore set up operations in 1919 in Westerville to produce cap pistols and by the 1930s the com-pany was making 25,000 pistols and 100,000 rolls of caps daily. The growth of the company was amazing. AtfirsttheKilgoretoypistolsweremadeofcastironbut then Kilgore pioneered using Bakelite, an early plastic, for its toys. Later the company made plastic squirt guns in different styles – a cowboy one, a futuristic space one and even a pocket size. Kilgore’s toy guns were shipped overseas with its largest foreign markets being in the South American countries of Brazil and Argentina. Train loads of the popular toys would leave the commu-nity by railway car. Young people around the United States and in other countries were excited when they received a Kilgore toy cap pistol as a gift.

Kilgore Manufacturing

OTHER TOYS PRODUCED BY KILGORE INCLUDED:• Castirontoyfurniture• Castirontoyvehicles• E-Zflykites• Robothands

Kilgore Flares and Munitions Help War Effort

In1929theFlare-SignalDivisionof Kilgorestartedprovidingdistresssignalsforboatsandairplanes.Theybecametheworld’slargestmanufacturerof flaresandsignaldevices.FireworkswerealsoproducedbyKilgore. OneColumbuspaper’sheadlineproclaimedof Kilgore,“Theysavesail-orsanddelightyoungsters.”Onfileatthecompanywerenumerouslettersof appreciationtothecompanyfrompeoplewhowererescuedandsavedfromin-jurybyusingKilgoreflares.TheKilgoremottowas,“Lightyourwaytosafety.”

TheKilgoreplantinWestervillebecamepartof thewareffortwhentheUnitedStatesenteredWorldWarII.Hundredsof newemployeeswereaddedasthecompanybegantomakeincendiarybombs,handgrenadefusesandflaresforthenavy.TheoperationswereconductedinconcreteblockbuildingsscatteredovertheKilgoreproperty.Wastematerialsanddefec-tiveproductsweresenttotheKilgorefarmforstorage.Workingwiththese

explosivematerialswasverydangerousandworkerswerekilledattheplantasaccidentsoccurred.ThecompanyreceivedawardsfromtheArmyandtheNavyforitscontributiontothewartimeeffort.

Starting shortly after Kilgore moved to Ten-nessee and continuing for over 45 years, former employees of Kilgore gath-er for a summer picnic re-union. They had shared so many experiences working for the company especially during World War II that the bonds they forged at Kilgore lasted a lifetime.

Page 3 Page 2

Kilgore History KilgoreManufacturingwasincorporatedin1917forthepurposeof producingtoycappis-tols.JosephD.KilgoremovedhisbusinessfromHomestead,PennsylvaniatoWestervillein1919andopenedoperationslocallywith30employees.Thebusinessgrew,developingintoalargecomplexonEastBroadwayandlateralsooccupyinglandat600N.SpringRd.(presentlythesiteof Otterbein’sEquestrianCenterjustnorthof HeritageMiddleSchoolandNorthHighSchool). In1921,thecapfactoryburnedandwasrebuilt.Inordertoincreaseproductioncapacityby50%,Kilgoreexpandedin1923.Atthattimeithad175employeesandevenhadofficesinNewYork

City.WorkingwiththegunpowdertomakethecapswasaverydangerousbusinessandinDecember1923,thenewlyexpandedplantburned.Becausethebusinesswassoprofitable,anewbuildingwasquicklyerected,openingthreeweeksafterthefire.Itwas25%largerthanthebuildingthathadjustburned.

Throughthe1930sand1940s,Kilgorebranchedout.Theymadecastirontoysincludingpiecesof dollhousefurniturewhichsoldforanickel.Amongtheirpopularproductswerecast

ironpennybanksindifferentshapeswithmoveableparts–putinapennyandtheowlwouldblinkitseyeortheturtlewouldmoveitshead.In1935thecompanybegantomakeplastichousewarescalledShel-glo.Theproductionof theseitemscontinueduntil1955.Manyfami-lieshadpicnicbasketsfilledwithbrightlycoloredShel-gloplatesandcupsmadeinWester-ville.

KilgorehadofficesinNewYorkCityandChicago.Theyhadmanufactur-ingplantsinLickingCounty,TippCity,PiquaandeveninCanada.Astimepassedsome of these other operations were phased out and more production was moved to Westerville. By the 1950s Kilgore was using 30% of the total water and electricity produced in the community, making it Westerville’s single largest user of these re-sources. It was had around 700 employees with 90% of them living in Westerville. Many Otterbein students helped pay their way through college working part-time at Kilgore.

By 1960 the company had been sold and in December of that year operations in Westerville shut down and gradually the plant machinery was moved to Bolivar, Tennessee. The lack of military work which had boosted production during the 1940s and into the 1950s led to the closing of the plant. When it closed the effect on the community was immediate. Four hundred employees either lost their jobs or had to move to Tennessee to keep them and the annual payroll of $1.5 million was lost to Westerville and its business community.

Kilgore Employees, pre 1950

Todaythesiteof Otterbein’snewEquestrianCenter,theKilgoreFarmonSpringRd.pro-videdtheKilgorecompanyalocationtoconductresearchandalsotostorewastematerialfromitsmanufacturingoperations.GiventoOtterbeinCollegeintheearly1960s,afterKilgoremovedtoTennessee,thesitehasbeenthesubjectof somecontroversy.Thesitewasheavilycontami-natedwiththeindustrialwasteandrequiredthat120tonsof explosivesbedestroyedinoneof thelargestoperationsof thatkindintheU.S.duringthe1960s.Formanyyearstheoldfarmhouseonthelandwasthehomeof theJayceesverypopularHalloweenhauntedhousewhichattractedpeoplefromalloverCentralOhio.Nowwiththelandclearedof farmbuildingsandthehouse,theOtterbeinequineprogramismakinggooduseof thelocation.

The Kilgore Farm