2411 Last updated on April 14, 2013. Manuscripts and Archives Department 1914-1993, bulk 1929-1982
Table of Contents Summary Information...3 Biography/History...3 Scope and Contents... 4 Administrative Information... 4 Related Materials... 5 Collection Inventory... 6 - Page 2 -
Summary Information Repository Hagley Museum and Library: Manuscripts and Archives Department Creator Budd Company Title Budd Company historical file Call number 2411 Date 1914-1993, bulk 1929-1982 Extent 2 linear feet Abstract The Edward G. Budd Company (19121-1946), later the Budd Company, pioneered in the fabrication of goods from light steel sheets by stamping and welding techniques. A continuous maker of automobile and truck bodies and parts, the company was famous for the production of streamlined stainless steel railroad and transit passenger cars between 1934 and 1985. This collection is an artificial file of historical materials assembled for public relations purposes at the company?s current Michigan headquarters. Biography/History Edward Gowen Budd (1870-1946) founded the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company in Philadelphia in 1912. It merged with the subsidiary Budd Wheel Company in 1946 to form The Budd Company. Budd and his company pioneered in the design, fabrication and welding of light steel sheets. Budd's primary products were automobile and truck bodies and parts, but between 1934 and 1983, it was an innovative builder of railroad and transit passenger cars and it also produced some experimental stainless steel airplanes. In 1978, Budd became a subsidiary of Thyssen AG of Germany. The money-losing railroad - Page 3 -
car operations were first spun off to a separate Thyssen subsidiary, Transit America, Inc., in 1985 and then sold to Bombardier Inc. in 1987. Thyssen concentrated operations in Michigan and closed its last Philadelphia plant in 2002. The surviving company is now named ThyssenKrupp Budd Company. Scope and Contents The collection consists of historical manuscript files, among them an extensive typescript entitled "The Life and Work of Edward G. Budd."; a report on The Budd Company facilities prepared for the Rover Company, Ltd., of Great Britain in 1925; a report on the Shotweld process prepared for the Civil Aeronautics Authority in 1939, and a facsimile of a 1914 letter from the Dodge Brothers about an early Budd order. The remainder of the file consists of clippings, tear sheets, press releases, and various letters and pamphlets, all dealing with company products, personnel or employee relations. Among these are letters from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company from 1944 and materials relating to the Pioneer III and Metroliner railroad cars. One of the tear sheets describes how company official Paul Pleiss and his German counterpart at Ambi-Budd smuggled the secret of the German army's innovative five gallon gasoline can out of Germany in 1939. Administrative Information Manuscripts and Archives Department 1914-1993, bulk 1929-1982 Provenance Some of the materials in this collection were removed from the Red Lion and Hunting Park plants in Philadelphia and Michigan. Complete archival records generated at those plants have for the most part been destroyed. While some photographs and pamphlets were removed from Red Lion before the sale, all of the Budd drawings passed to Bombardier, Inc. in 1987. - Page 4 -
Related Materials Related Material Budd-Williams Negative Collection (Accession RR96.32), Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, 300 Gap Road, Strasburg, Pa. Separated Material An oil portrait and bust of Edward G. Budd, Sr. are located in the Museum Division's collections at Hagley Museum and Library. Budd Company photographs (Accession 1999.228), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department, Hagley Museum and Library - Page 5 -
Collection Inventory Airplanes - "Pioneer", 1969-1977, undated. 1 Box Ambi-Budd Presswerk, GmbH (German subsidiary), 1924. 1 Appointments - 32Management, circa 1960-1973. 1 Auto bodies, 1929-1954. 1 Budd, Edward G., Sr. - "Life and Work of Edward G. Budd", undated. 1 Budd, Edward G., Sr. - Miscellaneous, 1934-1957. 1 Budd-Thyssen merger, 1978. 1 Budd Wheel Company, 1945. 1 Company History -- General, 1937-1981. 1 - Page 6 -
Dodge Motor Car Company letter, 1914. 1 Employee representation plan, 1933. 2 Employee's guide, circa 1930. 2 FMC Corporation -- Bradley fighting vehicle, 1981. 2 Gas-turbine rail car, 1966. 2 Jerry cans, 1950-1975. 2 Labor relations, 1945-1946. 2 "Metroliners", 1965-1968. 2 Milford Fabricating Company, 1993. 2 Ordnance, 1944. 2 - Page 7 -
Payrolls, 1912. 2 Pennsylvania Railroad Co. -- Passenger cars, 1944. 2 "Pioneer III" railroad car, 1956. 2 Press releases, 1982, 1984. 2 Press releases and news clips, 1979-1982. 2 Product Development Division, 1972. 2 Ragsdale, Col. E. J. W. -- Death -- Condolences, 1946. 2 Rail Diesel Car, 1962. 2 Railroads -- General, 1944-1961. 2 Railway Division, circa 1980. 2 - Page 8 -
Rover Company, Ltd. -- Report for (illus.), 1925. 2 Shotweld process -- Report to Civil Aeronautic Authority(illus.), 1939. 2 Streamlined trains: Burlington Twin Cities Zephyr, 1945. 2 Streamlined trains: El Capitan, 1954. 2 Streamlined trains: General, 1947. 2 Streamlined trains: Prospector, 1941. 2 Streamlined trains: Sunset Limited, 1950. 2 Subway cars, 1960. 2 Transit America -- Freight cars, circa 1990. 2 - Page 9 -