It’s 1873, and I am writing from my desk at Payson Manufacturing Company on 2916 W. Jackson Blvd. in Chicago. We are making good casters for the American industry. I think this will be a desirable business.
In the future, I can see that in 1959, we will merge with another Chicago caster company, Harris & Reed, and will add wheels to our manufacturing capabilities. We will call ourselves Payson-Harris & Reed, Inc. In 1963, we will modernize our name to Payson Casters, Inc.
We are in Chicago, but will need to be able to expand and we will need to be able to design and produce new products in a modern one-story building. Gurnee, Illinois will become our home in 1969. It will be a good move. We will expand into the material handling industry by purchasing Roll-A-Way Conveyors in 1983, Nagel Chase Pulleys and Casters in 1984, and Randolph Conveyors in 1986. We will acquire American Overhead Conveyors in 1998, and merge them with our conveyor division. We will expand with regionally located warehouses throughout the USA to serve our customers with faster deliveries. By this time, we will have been working for many years and hopefully for many more.
