A History ofPrecision KiddSteel Company

Honoring OverOne Hundred Yearsof Qualityand Service

Micrometer, Late NineteenthCentury. Precision measurementwas always a hallmark of thedrawn steel industry. In the earlydays of the industry workerstypically owned their own tools.

One hundred years ago in 1885, fourbrothers from England named Kiddstarted a steel wire manufacturingbusiness in Harmarville, Pennsylvania.At that time they could not haveanticipated the trying times ahead: afamily feud, an outside partner whoabsconded with trade secrets and keyemployees, a fire which totallydestroyed the factory, and then thebusiness went bankrupt. Kidd DrawnSteel Company revived, survived, andgrew for a while. Then the GreatDepression brought lean years to thefirm.WorldWar II stimulated business,but labor troubles almost destroyed it.A new generation of KiddManagementsaved the business. Then a corporategiant acquired Kidd ending more thanseventy years of family control. Thegiant sold the business to TomMilhollan who merged it with hisWashington, Pennsylvania-basedPrecision Indus-tries. Once again, Kiddwas part of a family owned firm. Amilestone in American enterprise andperseverance took place in 1985.PrecisionKidd SteelCompany, a companywhich has hardly known a routine day,marked its one hundredth anniversaryin a celebration of American enterpriseand persistence.This history follows the fortunes

and misfortunes of the Kidds’ and theMilhollans’ wire business fromhumble origins to the beginning of asecond century in business.

1

A History ofPrecision KiddSteel Company

Precision Kidd Steel Company tracesits roots to Yorkshire County inEngland, the birthplace of four brotherswho emigrated to this country in thesecond half of the nineteenth century.Edwin, William, Jr., Walter Scott, andHarry Kidd were four of ten childrenborn to William Kidd and his wife,Elizabeth Hall Kidd, of the town ofCawthorne in Yorkshire County nearthe city of Sheffield, the heart ofEngland’s steel industry.

Industrialization revolutionizedthe British economy a full half centurybefore the phenomenon occurred inAmerica. The introduction of thesteam engine in English cotton millsin 1780 spurred a rapid increase inmanufacturing which, in turn, createdan ever growing demand for factories,engines, and new kinds of machinery.The English steel industry expandedto meet this demand. Near coal minesand iron deposits, industrialists builtsteel mills. New cities sprung up and,by 1850, smokestacks had transformedthe urban skyline.

Into this environment in the year1810, William Kidd was born. Hisfather was a farmer, and he became afarmer himself. On his farm heoperated a grist mill, and this millproved to be William Kidd’s entryticket to the world of industry.

Wire Making in England, circa 1840.

2

BEGINNINGS:WILLIAM KIDD’SFIRST WIRE MILL

Living in the shadow of the Sheffieldsteel mills, William Kidd becameaware of growing industry and of theneed for special shapes of steel.Screws, card wire, piano wire, andcrinoline wire for the fashionablehoop skirt were in great demand inthe 1850s. In true entrepreneurialspirit, William Kidd equipped part ofhis flour mill with wire pullingmachinery and began to producedrawn steel in specialty sizes andshapes. This part of his businessbecame so successful that he graduallyabandoned flour milling andconverted the entire mill into a wiremanufacturing plant. His sons,William Jr., Edwin, Walter Scott, andHarry emigrated from England to theUnited States over a period of twelveyears from 1869 to 1880. The Kiddswere attracted by tales of opportunityin America. The American steelindustry had taken off with a rapidspurt, stimulated by Civil War andthe spread of railroads across thecontinent. Word of riches to be madetravelled across the Atlantic.

The Kidds transferred their wiremaking skills to the American steelindustry. Arriving in 1869, Walter andEdwin Kidd made their way toWorcester, Massachusetts, then knownas “The Wire Capital of the UnitedStates.” They found jobs drawingwire for the Washburn and MoenCompany, the first and the largestwire manufacturing firm in thecountry.

That business was founded in 1831by Ichabod Washburn and BenjaminGoddard. In 1850, Ichabod took as apartner his son-in-law, Philip Moen.The firmmergedwith theQuinsigamundIron and Wire Works which wasoperated by a former Washburnemployee. In 1868, the new firm wasincorporated as Washburn and MoenCompany. In 1899, Washburn andMoen was sold to the newly formedAmerican Steel and Wire Companyof Illinois and, in 1901, AmericanSteel and Wire became part of UnitedStates Steel Company.

Washburn and Moen managementquickly recognized Walter ScottKidd’s expertise. In less than two yearshe was made a foreman, and his careerof achievement in the steelwire businessseemed assured. Walter, however, hadother ideas.Heplays the role of reluctanthero in this steel industry saga, andindeed, his parents had given him thename of a romantic hero in history.

He wanted to study literature, and heleft the business world and enrolledat Butler Univer-sity in Indianapolis,Indiana for three years of study. Aftergraduation, he did not return toWorcester, but instead, accepted a jobwith the R. H. Wolff Company inPeekskill, New York, producers ofwire for musical instruments. In thisjob, too, his extra-ordinary abilitieswere soon recognized. Within twoyears, he was made superintendent ofthe company. But Walter Kidd reallydid not want to spend his life makingwire. He felt a calling to serve God.He became a preacher and, with hiswife of three years, the former AlvinaBarnes of Antioch, Ohio, he movedwest. For ten years, he ministered topeople of small towns in Illinois andWiscon-sin. During these years,Alvina Kidd gave birth to four childrenincluding a son, Walter Kidd, Jr., whowould play an important role in thehistory of the Kidd wire business.

Walter’s brother, Edwin, stayedwith Washburn and Moen until 1881when he founded his own wirebusiness which he named “EdwinKidd and Company.” He sold thisbusiness to Crescent Wire Companyand stayed on as an employee. Afellow employee, Rutherford Burgher,later became his partner in a newenterprise.

3

SECOND GENERATION:THE KIDD BROTHERS

IN AMERICA

In 1892 the partners built anenlargedmodern factory in Sharpsburg.Out went the ancient boiler andreconditioned motor. The new plantwas equippedwith themost up-to-datemachinery. The growing businessrequired more skilled people. EdwinpersuadedWalter to leave theministryand enter the business. At the sametime, the youngest Kidd brother,Harry, came fromWorcester to jointhe firm.

help of two employees the partnersproceeded to manufacture the firstAmerican made drill rod.

By 1892 the company was sellingdrill rod to several prestigious firmsincluding the American WalthamWatch Company whose Presidentextolled the quality of Kidd drill rod inaspeechtotheWatchmakersAssociation.Drill rod was used in themanufacturerof dental machinery, typewriters,sewing machines — in just about allsmall machines. Among its customersin 1892, Kidd listed WinchesterRepeating Fire Arms Company,Edison Phonograph Works, TheElgin National Watch Company,Thomson Houston Com-pany, andExcelsior Needle Company. Businesswas good, and the firm soon outgrewthe Harmarville plant.

In 1885 Edwin left Worcester andheaded for western Pennsylvania.Here Andrew Carnegie had justintro-duced the Bessemer method toAmeri-can steel making at hisBraddockWorks. OnOctober 15, 1885,Edwin, his brother William, newlyarrived from England, and RutherfordBurgher incorporated the Kidd SteelWire Company. The three men setabout transforming an abandonedflour mill in Harmarville, Pennsylvaniainto a workable factory to producedrill rod. The founders of the newcompany were all experienced steelmen, and they were the first tomanufacture drill rod in the UnitedStates. Until the Kidds went into thebusiness all drill rod (called “silversteel” in England) had been importedfrom abroad. Edwin devised a superiormethod of drawing wire; Williamdesigned a new annealing furnace;and Burgher, a former chemistrystudent at Western University ofPennsylvania, experimented withnew materials and techniques.

With an investment of less than$1,500.00, the partners equipped theplant entirely with rebuilt machinery.They set up one wire-straighteningbench and one wire-drawing bench.Machinery was powered by a boilersalvaged from a sunken steamboatand attached to a rehabilitated enginewith a wooden flywheel. With the

4

KIDDS BRING

WIRE MAKING TO

WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

Almost immediately the brothersbegan to squabble among themselves.The topic of their argumentswas brotherHarry.Harrywas inexperienced,unskilled,and suffered fromconsumption. Edwindid not want him in the business.Walter insisted that he stay, believingthat the brothers were responsiblefor taking care of Harry. A familyfeud ensued. The result was a breakupof the business and the creation oftwo rival firms.

Edwin and a partner formed onecompany. Walter, William and Harry,with Rutherford Burgher, formed aseparate company. A legal battle overnames and trademarks followed.Walter’s group won the right to theKidd name and incorporated as KiddBrothers and Burgher. They continuedto use the upbeat slogan, “The Best IsNone Too Good,” and added a newmotto “Silver Steel made by theGolden Rule.” Edwin was awardedrights to the original trademark. Henamed his new firm “Globe WireCompany” and mailed a brochure tohis old customers with the followingmessage:

Owing to the adoption by others ofthe name Kidd and the sale of drill rodsnot manufactured by the Kidd SteelWire Company, we have decided inorder to avoid confusion to change ourbrand. Hereafter production will beknown under the name of GlobePolished Drill Rods and NeedleWire.Globe will use in production a highergrade of material and the same care andexperience will be applied to the manu-facture of material as in the past.

GlobeWireCompanywas eventuallypurchased by Firth Sterling Company.The connection between Globe andthe Kidds persisted, for in later yearswhen Globe went out of business,several employees joined the workforce of Precision Kidd Company inAliquippa.

5

FAMILY FUED

Product and Price Brochure of Kidd

Drawn Steel Co. Aliquippa, 1915.

6

Employees of The Kidd Bros. and

Burgher Steel Wire Company,

Island Avenue, McKees Rocks,

1898. Walter Kidd stands at far

right. Worker in back row displays

a 3-foot drill rod produced by the

company. Another worker holds a

micrometer and a third holds a pair

of calipers.

Led by Walter Kidd, Kidd Brothersand Burgher made an auspicious start,erecting a new factory in McKeesRocks, Pennsylvania in 1895. In contrastto the family’s meager financialresources ten years earlier when KiddSteel Wire was founded with$1,500.00, Kidd Brothers and Burgherincorporated with $50,000.00 incapital. The firm set out to attractcustomers for their high grade steelproducts with the followingadvertisement:

The expert knowledge and ability ofthe Messrs. Kidd, known throughoutEngland and America, combined withseveral newand important improvementsin machinery and a large capacity,guarantee our purpose to turn out thehighest quality of drill rods and needlewire on the market at prices whichwill leave no excuse for either importingforeign goods or buying inferiordomestic manufactures.

The new company prospered in theexpanding American economy of the1890s. Kidd’s promotional materialstressed quality and precision, almostpredicting the future compatibilityof Kidd and Precision Steel. KiddBrothers sold both directly to OriginalEquipment Manufacturers (O.E.M.)customers and through steelwarehouses.They advertised in 1895:

Our drill rods and wire are all drawn tomicrometer caliper and are guaranteedbest quality, most accurate size, andfinest finish. All listed sizes of polisheddrill rods carried in stock at the factoryin one foot and three foot lengths. Anylength up to 90 feet will be furnishedto order.

The companymanufactured polishedround drill rods, square drill rods,crucible coiled steel in forty differentgauges and special shapes such asflats, ovals, hexagons, parallelograms,and escapements. Their reputationgrew, and in The Story of Pittsburgh,a 1908 book about Pittsburgh industry,the precision work of Kidd Brothersand Burgher was described with thesewords:

The nicety and exactitude of thecompany’s work is intimated when itis stated that a polished drill rod demandsa nickel finish; it must be sized accuratelywithin one-half of the thousandth partof an inch; it requires a high temperingquality, and also must be free-cuttingscrew machine . . . High temper densestructure and fine grain distinguishthe products of the company.

7

KIDD BROTHERS

AND BURGHER

Walter Scott Kidd

dominate the town would not beerected until 1907.

On their property Walter Kidd andRutherford Burgher built a fire resistantbrick factory equippedwith amodernsprinkler system. The Aliquippa plantbegan to produce polished drill rod in1903. The company prospered; KiddBrothers and Burgher’s reputationfor quality spread throughout theindustry. However, more troubleswere in store.

Walter Kidd was an expert steelman and a natural manager. He hadworked steadily in the business sincehe left the ministry in 1892. At heart,however, he remained a reluctant steelman. He had many other interestsand in 1904 decided that he wanted achange. He sold his interest in thebusiness to his partner, Burgher. WalterKidd built a greenhouse and turnedhis attention to growing plants. Forthe next ten years he operated aflourishing greenhouse and flowerbusiness.

In 1898, three years after the Kiddbrothers and Rutherford Burgherorganized Kidd Brothers and BurgherSteel Wire Company, Harry died oftuberculosis. A year later William leftthe firm to seek his fortune in thewest. Walter Kidd and RutherfordBurgher continued to operate theirgrowing business and had everyreason to be optimistic about furtherprospects in the expanding economicclimate.

Then, on June 2, 1902, disasterstruck. In the dark of night a burglarentered the factory and dynamited thecompany safe. The explosion burst agas pipe in the office, and the ensuingfire destroyed the entire factory.

No records exist to document thereaction of the owners. Apparentlythey were undaunted, for they set outto find a new site for their business.They purchased property in the historictown of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania,named for a legendary Indian queenwho helped George Washington wincontrol of Western Pennsylvania forthe British. The Aliquippa site, adjacentto the Pennsylvania and Lake ErieRailroad, proved most advantageousfor the growing industry. At the turnof the twentieth century, however,Aliquippa was hardly more than asparsely populated rural town. Thegreat Jones and Laughlin mill whichwould introduce major industry and

8

DISASTER THREATENS

YOUNG COMPANY

The business ran smoothly underRutherford Burgher’s managementfor a time. The first decade of thetwentieth century was marked bypros-perity and expansion inAmerican industry in general. Themerger forming United States SteelCorporation and the founding ofsuch major companies as Gulf Oil,Mellon Bank, and the AluminumCompany of America were signs ofthe vitality of industry in westernPennsylvania. Declines as well asbooms, however, were natural to thebusiness cycle of the times. In 1909the economy slumped; sales andprofits fell to unexpected lows;businesses failed. And Kidd Brothersand Burgher Steel Wire Company —survivor of family feud, fire, death,and resignations of two principals —declaredbankruptcy. In1910, thecompanywent into receivership. H. W. Sutton,the treasurer of the First NationalBank of McKeesport, was appointedreceiver and operator of the business.

In 1912, a trusted manager leftAliquippa, taking with him companydies, machinery, and three keyemployees. With these stolen assetshe founded a new company inthe East Liberty section of Pittsburgh.The receivers had no choice: theywere forced to close theAliquippa plant.The bank was about to write offKidd Brothers and Burgher as a totalloss. Then events far from Aliquippachanged the prospects of the troubledwire company. The military buildupin Europe created unprecedenteddemand for steel products. Historicallywar has stimulated industry, andWorld War I was no exception.Suddenly steel producers faced asellers’ market. The bank saw anopportunity to recoup its losses. But theloss of managers, dies and employeeshad left the receivers with no expertiseto run the business. Thus, on April 1,1914, H. W. Sutton, the bank receiver,approached Walter Kidd at hisgreenhouse and asked him to reopenthe plant.

9

BANKRUPT!

Plant of The Kidd Brothers and

Burgher Steel Wire Company,

circa 1898.

Kidd Drawn Steel Company beganoperations in May of 1914. For thenext year the company lost money.ByMay 1915, however, the companywas making a profit. Black inkappeared on the company ledger.With Walter Kidd as President thecompany achieved a position ofnational leadership in the productionof polished drill rod and steel wire.

Always a man with a strong sense ofduty, Walter Kidd, an expert in steel,felt an obligation to the bank and tothe company. He agreed. The formeruniversity student, preacher, andgreenhouse keeper came back to thesteel business. He brought his son,Walt Kidd, Jr. into the business. TheKidds — father and son—with H. W.Sutton, the former bank receiver,rein-corporated as Kidd Drawn SteelCom-pany and gradually rebuilt thebusiness into a going concern.

The new company launched animmediate direct mail advertisingcampaign. The chief selling point wasthe technical and managerial genius ofcompany president, Walter Kidd. Asales letter, mailed to an extensive listof prospective customers, describedWalter Kidd’s education, experience,and expertise in the wire mill trade.He was characterized as “an enthusi-ast for efficiency” who had returnedto the industry to build “the mostcomplete wire mill in the UnitedStates” and to “improve the qualityof steel and the efficiency production.”

10

RETURN OF WALTER KIDD

AND KIDD DRAWN STEELCOMPANY

Walter Scott Kidd (center left) and

Walter Kidd, Jr. (right) participated

in a patriotic flag raising ceremony

when the United States entered the

First WorldWar in 1917.

In 1914, whenWalter Kidd reorganizedthe business, his son, Walter, Jr.,became his father’s chief assistant.Walter Kidd, Jr. was born on June 25,1888 in Monroe County, Wisconsin,while his father was a minister. Afterattending public schools in Wisconsinand in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, heenrolled at Beaver College, in Beaver,Pennsylvania. He used to joke aboutthe fact that he was the only malegraduate of that well-known schoolfor women. Walter, Jr., learned thebusiness at his father’s side. WhenWalter Kidd Senior died in 1918, hisson succeeded him as president ofKidd Drawn Steel Company.

WalterKidd, Jr.was very active in thecommunity life ofwestern Pennsylvania.During World War I he was a leaderin the campaign to sell Liberty Bonds.After the war he joined severalfraternal organizations: the BeaverLodge No. 457 of Free and AcceptedMasons; the Pittsburgh Consistory;the Ancient Accepted Scottish Right;Syria Temple; Ancient Arabic OrderNobles of the Mystic Shrine. Hebelonged to the Pittsburgh Chamberof Commerce and the Beaver ValleyCounty Club. Like his father, he wasa deeply religious man. He was amember of the Christian Church ofBeaver and served on its Board ofTrustees and as a deacon in the church.WalterKidd, Jr.’s, interest in community,

in religion, and in people, like that ofhis father, brought to the business avery personal management style thatmade a lasting impact. This did muchto create a high degree of loyaltyand feeling of community amongemployees and owners at Kidd DrawnSteel Co. Walter Kidd’s concern foremployees is demonstrated in thebenefit program enjoyed by theworkers in the 1920’s. The companyemployed more than 75 persons andcarried group insurance for all of theemployees. The policy guaranteedone thousand dollars ($1,000.00) to abeneficiary in case of accidental deathof the insured employee, and $12.50per week to the employee in case ofpermanent disability. At the time,this represented a large amount ofmoney and was considered a verygenerous and adequate insurancepolicy.

Walter Kidd, Jr., proved to be aneffective leader of men. He directedthe business that townspeople referredto familiarly as “The Old Wire Mill.”Under Walter Kidd and his son,Walter, Jr., “Kidd Efficiency Steel”became known throughout theUnited States as well as Canada andEurope. Walter Kidd, Jr., expanded thefirm by enlarging the plant and byacquiring the Fidelity Gas Company,which gave the company control overa steady supply of natural gas. This

was a great advantage for it enabledKidd Drawn Steel to be independentof outside fuel and power supplies.

Kidd Drawn Steel Company wasvery much a family business. WhenWalter Kidd reestablished the firm in1914, in addition tohis son,Walter, Jr., hetemporarily brought in his son-in-law,Wilbur Agnew Bliss, whowasmarriedto his daughter, Winifred. Blissinterrupted a lifelong engineeringcareer with the Dravo Corporation toaid the reorganization of the companyand to work for Kidd Drawn Steelduring the war years. He served asTreasurer of the company andmaintained that office and a share ofownership after resuming his positionat Dravo in 1920.

11

THE THIRD GENERATION:WALTER KIDD, JR.

Walter Kidd, Jr.

reached record highs in the years1935 to 1937. Although no companyfigures for those years are available,sales and profit records from 1939 to1941 illustrate the finan-cial state ofthe company as the coun-try beganto emerge from the Great Depression.Once again, production for themilitarychanged the picture. Companyaccounts show thedramatic impact of defense spendingon the fortunes of Kidd Drawn SteelCompany.

Sales increased from less than$200,000.00with profits of $11,000.00in 1939 to sales of almost $400,000.00with profits of more than $ 65,000.00in 1941.

Year Sales Profit

1939 $187,450 $11,281

1940 265,598 30,479

1941 394,695 62,258

In 1941, with the economy lookingup and labor in short supply, theworkersat Kidd Drawn Steel Companyorganized a union. On November 15,1941 an agreementwas signed betweenthe company and the “Steel WorkersOrganizing Committee” ofSteelworkers Local 2543, CIO UnitedSteelworkers. The agreement wasmade on behalf of the employees of

As president, Walter Kidd, Jr.brought into the business two sonsof Winifred and Wilbur Agnes Bliss.W. A. Bliss, Jr. and Walter Scott Bliss,in turn, succeeded Walter Kidd, Jr. aspresident. Thus, four generationscarried on the Kidd wire makingtradition which William Kidd hadstarted in England.

Family tradition was strong amongworkers as well as owners. ManyAliquippa families counted twoand three generations of men andwomen employed by Kidd DrawnSteel Com-pany. The Swogger family,with four men employed in 1925,boasted the highest number of familymembers working at one time atKidd Drawn Steel Company.

The company prospered until theGreat Depression brought productionalmost to a halt in 1931. The next twoyears were dreadful. At the beginningof 1934, however, businessmenappeared optimistic; the Depressionseemed to have come to an end. Steelcompanies began to produce again,and orders of polished drill rod andsteelwire increased.Manylaidoffworkerswere called back, and for a short timeoptimism prevailed. Unfor-tunately,the respite proved temporary; severeDepression resumed. Production fellto new depths and unemployment

12

Agreement signed between Kidd

Drawn Steel Company and Steel-

workers Local 2543, CIOUnited

Steelworkers.

the corporation at the AliquippaWorks. The company agreed to recognizethe union as bargaining agent forproduction andmaintenance employees.The minimum rate of pay was set at721/2 cents an hour. The agreementestablished a standard eight-hour dayand 40-hour week, with overtimeat one-and-half times the regularhourly rate. It provided for vacations,seniority benefits, grievance procedures,safety and health measures, specifiedindividual wage rates, and paid holidayson July 4, Labor Day, Armistice Day,Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Threeof thesevenunionrepresentativeswho signed the agreement weresecond-generation employees of thecompany which still operated in afamily atmosphere in which personalrelationships and informality prevailed.The transition from non-union tounion shop was accomplishedamicably.

An adversary relationship soondeveloped. A strike at the neighboringJones and Laughlin plant at the sametime as the expiration of the Kiddlabor contract led to the first strike inthe company’s history. Labor strifedisrupted the traditional cordialrelationship of management andlabor at Kidd Drawn SteelCompany. New job classificationsled to controversy over retroactive

back pay, and The National LaborRelations Board ordered the companyto pay some$10,000.00 to approximately120 employees.

The strike and the bitterness thatensued impacted heavily on WalterKidd, Jr. The third-generation ownerof the Kidd Drawn Steel Companywas a dynamic personal leader. Likehis father, who had personallydirected the reorganization andrebuilding of the business duringWorld War I, Walter was a naturalleader of men. He was an expert steelman. He genuinely loved the businesswhich he had learned from his fatherwho had learned from his fatherbefore him. He knew every operationand every machine in the plant andwas an effective salesman as well asexecutive. He gave the business thesame care and attention he gave hishome; he felt responsibility towardthe plant workers as he did toward hisfamily. He had shared with hisemployees the ups and downs ofprosperous and lean years.

Given the very personal relationshipwhich Walter Kidd, Jr. had enjoyedwith plant workers over more thanthree decades, it is perhaps notsurpris-ing that he could not view thestrike objectively. He seemed toregard it as a personal rejection andwas unable to accept it. He never felt

the same about the business again.He lost interest in daily operationswhich he had formerly supervisedwith energy and enthusiasm. Thevitality and dyna-mism which hadmade him such an effective businessleader vanished. The immediateimpact upon the business wasreflected in sales and profit figures.During the years of World War II,when sales and profits of almostevery American corporation zoomedto new highs, Kidd Drawn Steelrecorded falling sales and profits eachsucceeding year.

Sales of Profits, 1941 to 1946

Year Sales Profit

1941 $394,695 $65,258

1942 395,826 54,678

1943 395,299 44,562

1944 377,408 25,596

1945 356,707 16,462

1946 344,106 1,776

In 1946, Walter Kidd, Jr. decidedthat he would leave the business. Heinformed his family that he wantedto sell his financial interest in the firm.In response to their uncle’s wishes,his nephews, Wilbur Agnew Bliss, Jr.and Walter Scott Bliss, bought hisshares of the company and tookover its

13

peacetime production, and retroactivepayments to employees, profits ofthe company fell to a disastrous$1,776.00. The newmanagementrealized that themost pressing problemfacing the company was that ofhuman relations. W. A. and ScottBliss posted this Christmas holidayannouncement:

In order that you may enjoy the daymore thoroughly we shall shut downat 12 noon Tuesday, December 24,1946. Your pay will be for 8 full hours.Those not able to leave their jobs atnoon and those on other shifts will bepaid for a similar period on a straightshift basis. Full operations will resumeThursday morning, December 26, 1946,at the usual time.

By the following year sales and profitswere on the rise.

Year Sales Profit

1947 $528,300.62 $28,383.72

1948 486,203.63 29,789.83

1949 289,845.12 21,198.26

Wilbur AgnewBliss, Jr., who succeededhis Uncle Walter as president of thecompany in 1946, came to KiddDrawnSteel from a budding career at theDravo Corporation. Walter ScottBliss, known as “Scott,” the new vicepresident, entered Kidd Drawn SteelCompanydirectly from five years in thearmed services. When the fourthgenerationofwire-makingKiddsassumedcontrol of the business, their workwas cut out for them. The fortunesof the company had dropped to adangerous level. Clearly they had torepair employer-employee relationships,increase productivity, developmarkets,and do all necessary to make thecompany profitable again.

The new regime could not havebegunundermoredifficult circumstances.For American business in general,1946 was a difficult year. Profitsplummeted as industry was forced toreadjust from wartime to peacetimeconditions. For Kidd Drawn Steel,difficulty followed difficulty. A strikeby the employees of Duquesne LightCompany curtailed operations at theKiddDrawnSteel plant for twenty-sevendays from September 27 to October21, 1946. The power strike delayedorders and deliveries and resulted inmany cancelled orders which meantfurther financial loss. As a result ofstrikes, transition from wartime to

14

THE FOURTH GENERATION:WALTER SCOTT BLISS

W. Scott Bliss, President Kidd

Drawn Steel Company,

1950-1958.

Then, in 1950, Wilbur A. Bliss left thecompany to pursue other interests.His brother, Scott, took over thepresidency and effectively managedthe firm. The new president was bornin Beaver County, Pennsylvania in1918. He had graduated fromGenevaCollege in 1941 and earned a graduatedegree at theHarvard University Schoolof Business. Later he studiedmetallurgyat Carnegie Institute of Technology(Carnegie-MellonUniversity). He servedfor five years in the TransportationCorps of the United States Army andwas discharged with the rank ofmajor. He carried on the name of hispaternal grandfather, Walter ScottKidd, and his Uncle Walter Kidd, Jr.Like them, Scott Bliss was a man ofmany interests. He con-tinued thefamily religious tradition as SundaySchool teacher and deacon in theChristian Church of Beaver. ScottBliss combined a warm low-keypersonal style with expertise in thetechniques of modern businessmanagement. He was well equippedto handle the challenges presented atKidd Drawn Steel Company.

He launched a vigorous andcomprehensive effort to stimulateand maintain company morale andgrowth. He initiated an aggressive salespromotion programdesigned to developnew markets for the company’sproducts and simultaneously began aprogram of product development. Hispriority, however, was to rebuildlabor-management relations. Thenew company president fully recognizedand appreciated the essential role thatworkers would have to play in anysuccess achieved by the company.

Perhaps the single, most importantmeasure taken to eliminate the threatof strikes in the plantwas an agreementsigned with the union in 1948 whichprovided that Kidd contracts expireon a date different from that ofthe neighboring Jones & Laughlinsteel plant. This agreement eliminatedstrikes precipitated by problems at thelarger factory.

15

350 guests attended and greatlyenjoyed the event.

While traditional cordial andproductive labor-managementrelationships were reestablished, thecompany began a long-term programof improvements and modernizationdesigned to increase efficiency andproductivity. In 1950 constructionbegan on a new shipping department;plant layoutwas improved;newoperatingprocesses streamlined production.Management posted a notice with aclear message to workers: “We mustget our house in order to survive.”Workers were asked for support, ideas,and practical suggestions:

The best ideas of improving our processesand equipment will come from youwho have worked with the problemdaily. Present your suggestions to Tomor Al Redding . . . who in turn willrecord and investigate giving you thecredit deserved.

The programs of change andexpansioninitiatedbythenewmanagementenable Kidd Drawn Steel Company totake full advantage of the evergrowingdemands for steel and steel productspresented by the 1950s. In those years,consumer use of steel products inappliances, cars and construction rosedramatically. War had stimulatedbusiness in earlier years, and the KoreanWar once again gave impetus to thegrowth of the firm.

Then, in an open letter to the employeesonMarch 1, 1949, Scott Bliss announcedsome personnel changes, explainedthe new sales and product developmentprogram, and urged workers to givefull support “to your supervisors andendeavor to work at your highestefficiency so that we will continue ina good, competitive position whenbidding on newwork.” He explainedto the work-ers the importance ofdeveloping new products in order toattractnewcustomers.Workers respondedpositively to the new president, andplant morale rose appreciably.

As company fortunes improved,management credited much of thesuccess to the spirit of teamwork andcompany pride displayed by employees.In 1953, to demonstrate the company'sappreciation of loyalty and servicefrom theworkers, Scott Bliss organizedthe first of a series of annual dinnermeetings honoring employees withfive years or more service. Fifty-fiveemployees were honored at the firstmeeting, 13 of them for service ofmore than 30 years. At the 1954meet-ing, two generations of theEberle family and two generationsof the Swogger family were honored.In addition, a company “VisitationDay” in 1954 acquainted wives andfamilies of the workers with theplant and its procedures. Guidedtours, prizes and refreshments madeit a festive occasion. More than

16

W. Scott Bliss presented Kidd’s Service

Recognition Award to employee Leo

Swogger in December, 1953. Swogger

worked at the Aliquippa plant for

forty years.

Output and sales of Kidd DrawnSteel Company set new records eachyear in the early 1950s. In 1954 thecompany undertook the largestmodernization and improvementprogram in its history. Convincedthat modernization was needed“to insure healthy growth . . . in thesedynamic times,” Kidd Drawn Steeladded facilities and launched broadmarketing and product developmentprograms. Demand for Kidd productscontinued to increase and the companyopened sales offices in Boston, NewYork, Cleveland, and San Francisco.Sales agents represented the companyin Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, andStamford, Connecticut.

The company manufactured over200 standard sizes of drill rods, customcold drawn special shapes, and othercold finished specialty products. Theseincluded versatile drill rods usedas shaftings in small motors andfine instrument parts and specialshapes for typewriter parts, gunsights, and other small arms. Otherspecial shapes were used for stencils,stamps and markers, for businessmachines, musical instruments,electrical components, and a widevariety of threading tools.

A short-lived chapter in the history ofKidd Drawn Steel Company openedin 1958 when stock holding membersof the Kidd family agreed to sell thefirm to the H. K. Porter Company.The new owners merged Kidd DrawnSteel Company with Vulcan CrucibleSteel Company, which Porter hadpurchased earlier, creating theVulcan-Kidd Steel Division of the H. K.Porter Company. The new divisionunited two companies which foryears had operated as neighbors onadjacent properties in Aliquippa.Walter Kidd, president of KiddDrawn Steel in 1914, had held afinancial interest in the Vulcan firm,and the companies had been closelyassociated over the years. Scott Bliss,president of Kidd Drawn Steel at thetime of the sale, was named productmanager for Kidd products; a yearlater he was named Vice President ofMarketing for the Vulcan-KiddDivision. In July, 1959, however,Scott Bliss resigned from the firm toestablish a non-competitive businessof his own. H. K. Porter operated theKidd Division for only a few moreyears.

17

THE H. K. PORTER COMPANY,1958 - 1966

18

Back Row, Left to Right: W.M.

“Penoke” Harter, Jim Shaw, Dick

Byers, T. R. Milhollan, Danny

DeWitt, Ed Engle, Pete Carroll,

Henry Sawchuck, Fred Trasoline,

John “Bee” Bednarski. Front Row:

LabeWardle, Patsy Rosella, George

Balog, Elmer “Tug” Kunselman, Lois

Engle (Shaw), Chester Jankowski,

ShermanMounts.

Employees of Precision Industries

distributed Christmas food

packages to needy families in the

Washington, Pennsylvania area,

1952.

In 1966, Precision Industries ofWashington, Pennsylvania purchasedthe Kidd Division of H. K. PorterCorporation. Thomas R. Milhollan,President and founder of PrecisionIndustries, had learned the steelbusiness working for Jessop SteelCompany from 1940 to 1948. Duringhis eight years with Jessop, he gainedexperience in many facets of thebusi-ness and rose to the position ofmanager of the specialty steel productsdivision of the company. He resignedhis job with Jessop in May of 1948 tostart a specialty steel business ofhis own.

On July 1, 1948, TomMilhollanfounded Precision Industries in thegarage in back of his house at 173MayAvenue inWashington, Pennsylvania.Atfirst thebusinessdidnomanufacturing.The only piece of equipment theone-man company owned was agrinding machine and TomMilhollandid a small amount of business grindingtool steel. The greater part of hisearly business, however, was buyingand selling tool steel which was usedfor making dies. In 1950 he removedthe business from his garage to WestChestnut Street along ChartiersCreek where, according to Milhollan,he operated in “a little shack of abuilding.”

These were lean years. Survival ofthe new specialty steel business wasquestionable. TomMilhollan’s struggleto meet the payroll and pay the billswere reminiscent of the early trials ofthe Kidd brothers more than a halfcentury earlier. Although hard workand good business management keptthe firm going, the new company didnot operate in the black until 1951.Then Korean War demands helped tostabilize Precision finances and permitthe business to expand.

In 1956, TomMilhollan secured abank loan with which he purchasednewequipment, developednewproducts,and launched a marketing campaign.Gradually he built PrecisionIndustries into a viable, productive,and profitable business.

In 1964, through the limited saleof stock to employees and a few outsideinvestors, he raised the capital tofinance a second company, Ruetom,Inc. The name combined the firstnames of Milhollan and his wife, theformer LaRue Turner of Washington,Pennsylvania. Ruetomwas establishedas a machining operation servicinga variety of integrated tool steel producerswho had, to that point, been reluctantto invest in value adding equipmentfor their traditional hot rolledflat bars and plates. Milhollan,

19

TOM MILHOLLAN

CONTINUES THE

FAMILY TRADITION

Elmer Kunselman and great grand-

son, TomMilhollan, Jr., 1948.

Kunselman, grandfather of LaRue

Turner Milhollan, was the first

employee of Precision Industries.

with the instincts of a seasonedentrepreneur, saw the future of“prefinished” tool steel flats, seizedthe opportunity and made theinvestment for them.

Most important of these steel millswas Bethlehem Steel Corporation,with whomMilhollan had developeda cordial relationship over the years.Milhollan encouraged Bethlehem totake the market lead in the promotionof prefinished (Deluxe) flats. In effect,challenged Bethlehem to a race to sellthe new product to a nationwidemarket of tool and die makers whileRuetomwas, as rapidly as possible,adding capacity to produce it.

And what a race it was! BethlehemSteel claimed the dominant marketpositionwith Ruetom as its convertingally. By the early 1970s the two firmshad established a virtually unrivalledleadership position in the industry.Ruetom’s production capability forpre-machined flats was the mostextensive in theworld. The term “DeluxeTool Steel” became synonymous withexcellence in this product and hascontinued as such until this day.

In December, 1965, TomMilhollanheard that H. K. Porter was lookingfor a buyer for the Kidd Departmentof its Vulcan-Kidd Division. OnDecember 1, because of a bitter strike,

20

First employee with first piece of

equipment owned by Precision

Industries. Elmer Kunselmen with

Kalamazoo Band Saw.

Porter had closed and decided to sellthe division. Universal CyclopsCom-pany acquired the Vulcan plant.Milhollan was immediately interestedin the Kidd Department. He knewKidd Drawn Steel; he had donebusiness with the firm when it washeaded by Scott Bliss. He liked thecompany,and itsproductscomplementedthe products of his own companieswhich also produced high alloy toolsteels. In addition, Kidd produced colddrawn special shapes, rounds, squaresand hexagons used exten-sively bythe business machine and automotiveindustries. A Kidd product of particularimportance was the cold drawn alloyhexagonmanufactured for thehexagonkeywrench business. Also contributingto TomMilhollan’s interest in thecompanywas his personal fascinationwith history.

TomMilhollan was enthralled withthe story of the four Kidd brotherswho had learned the steel businessform their father in England, immigratedto the United States, and used theirsteelmaking know-how tomanufacturerdrill rod in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.He was impressed by the fact thatthe company had been managed by afour-generation steel making family.Even though he was not related byblood to the Kidds, TomMilhollan

was heir to their sense of history. Healso shared the sense of responsibilitythat was the heritage of Walter Kidd.And TomMilhollan appreciated thetradition of quality and integrityenjoyed by the historic Kidd name.TomMilhollan decided to purchasethe original Kidd Drawn SteelCompany. Over a two-month period,he negotiated to acquire the plant.There were many bidders for thefacility, including several importers ofsteel who viewed this situation as anopportunity to bring in foreign steelwhile they represented themselves asdomestic manufacturers of drill rod.Due to Milhollan’s long relationshipwith Bethlehem Steel Com-pany, hewas able to convince Jim Batemen,Tool Steel Sales Manager, and StewartCort, President of Bethle-hem Steel,to assist him in financing theacquisition. The Bethlehem peopleagreed that it was very important toassure the continuation of KiddDrawn Steel as a domestic producer.

Milhollan had difficulty in securingthe $100,000.00 deposit which wasrequired by February 2, 1966 as anecessary condition for finalizingnegotiations with H. K. Porter. At aneleventh hour meeting at the offices ofPorter Company it appeared thatMilhollan would lose his opportunity.Then, one hour after the banks hadclosed, a phone call was made to EdMorris, Treasurer of Bethlehem SteelCompany, alerting him to the situation.Morris responded immediately with acall to Don Rose, Vice Presi-dent ofPittsburgh National Bank, instructinghim, to transfer $100,000.00 from theaccount of Bethlehem Steel Companyto Thomas R. Milhollan. The bankdelivered a check to Milhollan whoendorsed it and turned it over to theH. K. Porter Company. Within aweek the financial transaction wascompleted. Even this required a rushtrip from Pittsburgh to Washington,Pennsylvania by the Bethlehem Steelattorney in order to secure thesignature of LaRue Milhollan. TheKidd facility was renamed “PrecisionKidd Steel Company” with Milhollanas President and principal shareholder.

21

In 1968, Milhollan, Sr. made Tom Jr.Vice President and General Manager ofPrecision Kidd Company. The sonhad fallen in love with the products,plant and equipment, as had his fatherand the generations of Blisses andKidds before them. Milhollan, Jr.involved himself enthusiastically inevery aspect of the business. He wasdrawn most strongly, however, to thechallenge of a difficult engineeringproblem.

Precision Kidd designed andmanufactured dies to fit the specificneeds of individual customers. Oftena very complicated design was needed,and sometimes as long as three yearswas required to produce a particularlycomplicated part. TomMilhollan, Jr.related an anecdote which illustratesjust how challenging the productionof a single die can be. “The companyhad been working for a long time ona particularly difficult shape. Aftermany months a die was ready for thefirst pass. However, it was a Fridayafternoon and too late to try the pass,”said TomMilhollan, Jr. He talkedabout his excitement with the results;he did not want to wait until Mondayto try the pass. The next morning,Saturday, was the day of the companypicnic. Milhollan, Jr. opened the

and executed. TomMilhollan calledupon his son, Thomas H. Milhollan,to help him undertake this task.Mil-hollan, Jr. had earned a Bachelorof Science degree from LehighUniversity and had studied businessmanage-ment at Butler and BostonUniversi-ties. He had worked as anindustrial engineer and then asDistrict Sales Supervisor (the youngestperson to hold that position) at TheNorton Company in Worcester,Massachusetts. It is interesting tonote certain parallels between thecareers of TomMilhollan, Jr., andWalter Scott Kidd. Both attendedButler University in Indianapolis andboth started their steel makingcareers in Worcester.

Although TomMilhollan, Jr. wasjust twenty-four years old in 1966,the steel industry had been in hisblood for many years. As a youngboy he had watched his father nursePrecision Industries to health, thenRuetom, and now Precision Kidd.The talk at the supper table hadalways been of steel and steelmen.

Milhollan had taken on the greatestchallenge of his business career, for thereputation and the business of KiddSteel had declined in the early 1960s.Evenbefore the strike, labor-managementrelations had grown increasinglyadversarial, and consequent deteriorationof deliveries, quality, and productivityhad caused the loss of many importantcustomers. The 1965 strike broughtabout the loss of still more customers.

TomMilhollan set to rebuild Kidd’sfinancial health as well as its qualityreputation in the steel industry.Progress was slow in the first years.Old ways were hard to change;customers had to be won backthrough performance.

At the Aliquippa plant, TomMilhollan set the state for improvedlabor relations when he personallyinterviewed and hired every employeeof the newly organized Precision KiddSteel Company. He told each applicantthat he expected “an honest day’swork for anhonest day’s pay.” Employeesrespondedpositively to his open, straightforward approach. Negotiations fora labor contract proceeded smoothly,and in a short time an agreementwassigned.The agreement set a new tonein labor success for company andemployees.

Goals has to be clarified and aneffective program of action planned

22

emptyplant and tried the pass himself.It was beautiful and he was thrilledwith the results. There was only onelittle flaw. He worked on the die for awhile and pulled the piece again. Thistime it was a little worse than thefirst time. Milhollan went back tothe die room where he made someminor changes and tried a third pass,which was a little worse than theprevious ones. Still, the solution wasalmost at hand. It was time to go thecompany picnic, andMilhollan, Jr. took the samples withhim. The employees who had beeninvolved with the preparation wereexcited and pleased — the die wasalmost perfect. Still, Milhollan, Jr.could not wait until Monday. OnSun-day morning he went back tothe plant to try one more pass. First,he worked on the die just a littlemore. Then he pulled the bar hopingfor a perfect result. Instead, the diebroke. OnMonday morning theprocess was started once again. Onceperfected, this particular shapeproved to be an important advanceand was sold in volume for use inlanding gears of commercial aircraft.

Shortly after acquiring the Kidd

plant, the Milhollans embarked upona comprehensive business plan. By1973, the combination of progressivemanagement and a boom in the businessmachine and automotive industrieshelped Kidd regain much of its earlierreputation and many customers. Thecompany was earning a solid profit.Over a million dollars had beeninvested to rewire the plant, build amodern pickle house, build and equipa modern die shop, and rearrangeequipment to improve material flow.Several leaders had emerged amongthe work force who recognized thatthe future of the workers was tied tothe success of the company. They, inturn, set an example of commitmentand leadership. Productivity doubledand wages and earnings tripled inthis period.

23

Worker prepares oil finish drill rod

for shipping. Silver steel drill rod

was the original product produced

by the Kidd brothers in 1885 and is

still a mainstay of Precision Kidd

Steel Company.

Also in 1973, Milhollan, Sr. decidedthat it was time to simplify thefinancial organization of his businesses.Precision Industries, Inc.was reorganized.Ruetom and Precision Kidd weremerged into Precision Industries.Precision Kidd Steel Companycontinued as a division of PrecisionIndustries. The Ruetom name wasdropped. The products of the threecompanies had been marketedtogether for seven years, and the1973 reorganization established thecompany as a single financial entity.

Throughout the 1970s, Kiddcontinued its growth; businessincreased; the company prospered.The number of hourly employeesincreased from 29 in 1966 to 65 in1979. Annual production increasedduring the same period from twomillion to more than fifteen millionpounds. By 1979 operations hadoutgrown the original plant. A new45,000 square foot plant was erectedat a cost of $1,500,000.00 at Clinton,Pennsylvania to house part of theoperations. Business prospects hadnever looked better. However, thehistoric pattern of ups and downswhich had long characterized thehistory of Precision Kidd wasdestined to repeat itself.

24

Pickling: The pickling process

involves immersion of steel shapes

in an acid solution. Pickling

removes scale formed on steel

during hot rolling process.

As the company entered the 1980’schanges in the market, over which thecompany had no control, drasticallyaltered the business picture . . . almostovernight it seemed.Threemajor factorsconverged to create a situation ofcrisis proportions, and suddenly theoutlook for Kidd became desperate.The first was the rapid emergence ofelectronic data processing equipment.For years, 30 to 40% of Precision Kidds’production had been rounds, squares,flats and other special shapes formechanical cash registers, typewritersand calculators, all of which suddenlybecame obsolete with the transition toelectronic equipment. The second blowwas the loss of significant items forautomotive parts, caused by redesignand replacement of mechanicalcomponents with electronic ones.The final, and almost fatal impact inits cumulative effect on Kidd, wasthe general decline in the steel marketwhich began in the early 1980’s, causedby the domestic industry’s inability tocompete effectively against foreignproducers.

The situation was one of do or diefor Kidd, and the management of thecom-pany made the decision to fightfor the business. The first step was toredefine the market opportunities andcapitalize on the unique productadvantages they had to offer.Foremost among these advantages

was the dedication to product quality. Asearly as 1978. Precision Kidd, withthe cooperation of both labor andmanagement, had launched acomprehensiveprogramofquality controland improved production technologydesigned to make the company theproducer of the highest quality cold-finished bar products in the UnitedStates. At the same time, steps weretaken to reach additional markets andexpand sales opportunities by increasingthe size range capability. This effortpaid off when a former competitor,Superior Drawn Steel, closed downoperations in 1988. Kidd was able toacquire Superior’s customer list, andreplaced them at several significantaccounts as a supplier of componentsfor hand tools, such as driver bits, chiselsand impact tools of various kinds. Thiswas to become a major factor in thecompany’s survival.

The turnaround continued in 1989when Precision Kidd was approachedbyOkaya, a Japanese trading company,who saw a need for a domestic supplierofballbearingwire for Japanese transplantsproducing ball bearings in this country.The key ingredient would be theability to provide the same level ofquality and service that these producerswere accustomed to from their Japanesesuppliers. After a period of negotiations,PrecisionKidd entered into a partnershipwith Okaya and Daido Steel Co., Ltd.,

in which Okaya provided marketing andDaido supplied technical assistance. Thismove, combined with the addition of theformer Superior Drawn Steel hand toolcustomers, provided the added volumenecessary to again reach a level ofconsistently profitable operations.

Of equal importance to these two eventswas the development of an exceptionallabor-management relationship. Throughoutitsmore than 110-year history there had beenperiods of positive labor-managementcooperation, with everyone workingtoward common goals. But there had alsobeen periods of adversary relations duringwhich the companyand its employees experienced decline.TomMilhollan, Jr. had a vision that didn’tdistinguish between labor andmanagement,but instead saw all employees as a teamworking toward common goals, witheveryone sharing both the responsibilityand the rewards for the success of theenterprise. This vision was in directconflict with the prevalent anti-businessculture of Beaver County. In 1966 everyonehad a stake in making the restartedcompany successful, and a period ofextraordinary cooperation ensued fromthat time until the crises of the 1980’s.However, in the eyes of the customersthe effects of the 1965 strike which closedthe plant, coupled with the overallperceptions of the labor market inWestern Pennsylvania, created a stigmawhich hung

25

26

Milhollans Continue theFamily Tradition.Left to Right: Jackson, Thomas R.and Thomas H. Milhollan.

All of this changed in January of1992 when the company and thePrecision Kidd Employees Union, ledby Tony Mignanelli, Ted Kramer, BobMiller, Dave Karamarkovich and JoePindilli signed a contract with notermination date, inwhich compensationand other benefits are tied directly toproductivity. This labor agreementhas proved to be very important toboth employees and customers. Itprovides job insurance and stabilityto employees because it assurescustomers that Precision Kidd is asupplier with a unified commitmentto supply quality products reliablyand efficiently.

With the redefining and reemergenceof the original Kidd business, and thedivergence of business interestsbetween Precision Kidd and PrecisionMarshall, the decision was made thatthe future interests for both companiescould be best served by a separationinto two independent companies.The spinoff and restructuring wascompleted in December, 1992, withOkaya becoming aminority stockholder,and TomMilhollan, Jr. and hisimmediate family holding thecontrolling interest.

As Precision Kidd continues to moveforward into its secondary century ofserving the changing needs of itscustomers and employees, there isconfidence based upon the foundationslaid earlier for quality products,reliable service, and unifiedemployee effort.

There is determination to ACCEPTTHE CHALLENGE of maintaining thefocus on customer satisfaction andquality, and continually redefiningthat focus to meet the changingdemands of the next century. Bymeeting this challenge — adoptingnew methods, learning new skills,training for new demands — theperpetuation of this company and themeans of improving the quality of lifeand welfare of the people ofPrecision Kidd Steel Company, Inc.will be ensured for the next century.

Precision Kidd is meeting thatchallenge.

27

ACCEPTING THE

CHALLENGE OF THE

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Precision Kidd Steel Company

produces an ever increasing

number of special shapes.

Acknowledgments: The Milhollan

family gratefully acknowledges

the generous cooperation of

members of the Kidd family who

helped to make possible this

history of the Precision Kidd

Steel Company. Special thanks

are due to:

Walter Scott Bliss

Charlotte Kidd Sadler

Lurene Kidd

Margaret Malinich

28

Precision Kidd Steel CompanyAliquippa, PennsylvaniaClinton, Pennsylvania