A Story of Allis-Chalmers in the 20th Century (part 1)

A local industrial giant, Allis-Chalmers struggled during the depression but it never collapsed. In 1931, the company had reported profits of merely 1.25 million dollars but in only one year the company was reporting a net loss in income. In accordance with Herbert Hoovers non-official policy of wage stagnation, they held out for longer than most companies before their dropping their wages and layoffs. Although the company wasn’t completely financially inept, they held off of massive layoffs and continued to manufacture products. One of their large and signature products they manufactured was large transformers for power management and at least in this respect they were successful. They constructed building No 7 next to the electrical shop in may of 1930 which allowed greater area for construction and room for an 100 ton crane. Work orders fell significantly for the company between 1930 and 1932. They recorded 2.7 million dollars worth of orders in 1930 compared to a 970k dollars in 1932. Despite these hardships Allis-Chalmers managed to pull through the Great Depression more or less intact. The only department of the company that succeeded during this time period was the tractor division with 50 million dollars of sales being made in 1937.