Blackstone Delivery, 1960s

[blackstone]

Blackstone washers and dryers being delivered to our store, sometime in the 1960s. The truck came directly from the factory in Jamestown, NY. Note the lack of a loading dock. We had to drop the machines from the truck, temporarily line them up on the sidewalk, then find room for them in the store. I found this picture in the attic today; thought you might like to see how deliveries used to be done.

 

[jetcone]

Cool

I wonder what I was doing then. You were only 2 hours away from Albany. I could have used all 5 of those!! LOL!

 

[paulg]

Blackstone question

I was just doing some research on BLACKSTONE the other day. It appears they sold their appliance division in 1977. Who bought it? (Hoover?)

 

[jetcone]

Not as far as I know

I got the very last part out of the factory in 1980. I spoke with the parts manager then Tony, he told me washers were too competitive and so they retooled and were now makeing Truck radiators.
--Well I qualify that statement: that was as of 1980, who knows what they do now if anything.

 

[blackstone]

There is a Blackstone company that specializes in sheet metal fabrication, according to their website (www.bbei.com). It's still located in Jamestown, NY, at the same zip code, so it must be the same company. The address is now 100 Blackstone Ave., so the street must have been renamed in their honor.

 

[goatfarmer]

One of our local Whirlpool dealers still get appliances delivered that way. Slide 'em down the back of the truck, and cart 'em inside. No dock, either.

kennyGF

 

[launderess]

Really Is A Shame

But sadly the truth for most major appliances, things simply are too competitive and that is why a handful of major players own much of the brands.

Even more sad, is the fact major appliances now on average last about five to ten years, if that.

Think of all the junk and landfill waste being produced.

L.

 

[dnastrau]

Blackstone radiators

Blackstone radiators were (are?) made in Jamestown, NY and used to be OEM for some Volvos and Chryslers. As far as I know they are now owned by a Swedish company (hence the Volvo connection) but still have a factory in Jamestown. It still makes radiators based on some information that I saw on the 'net.

Did Blackstone make washers until 1977 or 1980? I have never seen one except for the '50's models on this web site...

Andrew S.

 

[dnastrau]

More on Blackstone

I found this at the link below...

"In 1984, Jamestown native Reginald Lenna sold his car and truck radiator company, Blackstone Corp., for $103 million. The Jamestown plant is still making truck radiators and employing a little more than 300 people.

The company, now under new owners, is called TitanX Engine Cooling and has its headquarters in Sweden, where there are two factories, with Volvo as a major customer.

Blackstone was founded by Lenna's father near the turn of the last century and once made washing machines. Under Lenna's leadership, it supplied radiators to Chrysler as well as Volvo. The company had factories in Jamestown, Georgia, Sweden, Mexico, Canada and Indiana.

Lenna was knighted by the king of Sweden in 1976 for his business success as someone of Swedish descent. He died in 2000.

"He was probably a pioneer in the sense that he recognized the necessity to seek and take the business throughout the world," said foundation Executive Director Joseph Johnson. "I think he really was a pioneer in, sort of, the globalization of American manufacturing."

Andrew S.

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/buffaloerie/story/518989.html

 

[gansky1]

Great picture, Fred. I've seen a few Maytag promo shots with machines lined up in front of dealers on delivery day - it's too bad they all sold and are gone now. ;-)

 

[qsd-dan]

Cool picture! Got any showroom floor pics with new machines lined up in row from that time period, or any time period for that matter.

 

[jetcone]

Andrew

That is an absolute fascinating link you found, thank you!

Now I know what happened after 1980!

Looking over that list it is amazing how many foundations came out of Buffalo in the middle of the last century! It was one of the hot beds of the early Industrial Revolution along with alot of Upstate New York.

 

[blackstone]

I'll have to look for more old pictures of appliances inside the store. In the meantime, on my website, I have pictures of the store as it appeared in the 1940s.

Andrew,

Very interesting info about what happened to the Blackstone company. I never knew any of that, and we were dealers.

http://www.acme-electronic.com

 

[stricklybojack]

Found this..

.
TitanX’s History In Jamestown

1914: Founded as Gabrielson Manufacturing Producing Automotive Radiators, Oscar Lenna, President.

1915: Name changed to Jamestown Car Parts Manufacturing Company.

1916: Acquisition of property at Tiffany and Allen streets.

1920: Added Metal Furniture line to production.

1924: Named changed to Jamestown Metal Equipment Company.

1934: Purchased stock and interest of Blackstone Manufacturing Company; began production of washing machines.

1936: Discontinued manufacture of metal furniture.

1947: Named changed to Blackstone Corporation.

1948: Acquired Jamestown Malleable Iron Corporation, foundry.

1951: Death of Oscar Lenna: Reginald Lenna becomes President.

1954: Blackstone Industrial Products, Ltd. was started in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.

1956: Majac, Inc., foundry, of Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania was acquired.

1957: Flux Division was formed in Jamestown.

1962: O’Connor Machine Company of Sheffield, Pennsylvania was purchased; became Ultrasonic Division and moved to Jamestown - Oil Cooler Division was started and moved to Sheffield.

1966: Construction of Blackstone Georgia Foundry, Statesboro, Georgia.

1970: Truck radiator production began.

1972: Majac Inc. sold.

1973: Start-up of Mexpar Blackstone S.A., Mexico City, Mexico - close of the Georgia Foundry.

1974: Purchase of Blackstone Sweden AB.

1977:Appliance Division sold.

1984: Construction of San Luis Potosi Plant/dissolution of Mexico City.

1985: Blackstone bought by Armstrong Tire and Rubber, became part of Armtek Blackstone becomes public company. Charge Air Cooler Production began.

1986: Closed Jamestown Malleable Iron Corporation.

1987: Wind Tunnel Opened in Jamestown.

1988: Hostile takeover of Armtek by Mark IV Industries.

1989: Construction of Greensburg Plant. Sale of Blackstone to Valeo/Named changed to Valeo Engine Cooling.

1990: Sale of Flux Division to Kester Solder. Sale of Oil Cooler Division to Long Manufacturing.

1991: Split of Valeo Jamestown into Automotive and Truck Divisions - Machine shop sold/Press room shut down and sold to Stolle - Ultrasonics Division sold to Blackstone Ultrasonics of Sweden, San Luis Potosi, Greensburg no longer report to Jamestown.

1992: Move of operations into one building at present location.

1993: Commence engine cooling production.

1996: Heavy truck condenser production started.

1997: Stratford Division closed.

1999: Jamestown named Worldwide CAC Center of Competence.

2001: VEC Truck Group formed combining operations of Jamestown, Mjallby, and Linkoping.

2004: NAFTA Industrialization Plan initiated, Jamestown Division to focus primarily on heavy duty products and customers.

2008: Valeo sells U.S. Truck Division in Jamestown and Mjallby and Linkoping, Sweden plants to EQT.

http://www.post-journal.com/page/co...6/TitanX-s-History-In-Jamestown.html?nav=5018