Then…

In 1833, Brothers Charles and Elias Cooper opened the C&E Cooper Company, in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, an iron foundry initially specializing in plows, hog troughs, kettles, and stoves.

The company, now officially called Cooper Industries, Inc., has remained in business for a remarkable 175 years...

...through the terms of 37 U.S. presidents, two World Wars, the Great Depression and technological advancements ranging from light bulbs and telephones to cars and spacecraft.

The company credits its long success to innovation and its ability to reinvent itself, knowing when to incorporate new business practices and alter its product mix.

For example, Charles Cooper shifted the company’s operations away from the traditional foundry business and into the manufacturing of steam engines when he predicted the rise of steam power in the U.S. In the mid 1870s, the steam technology led to the unveiling of the Cooper Traction Engine...

...a steam engine with wheels that, in its first iterations, was horse-drawn and -guided. It became the first farm tractor in the country, changing the face of agriculture by reducing labor costs and helping fuel the industrial revolution. Later iterations such as the example shown below...

...were self-propelled and steerable, moving closer to what we define today as the farm tractor.

(An excellent, 12-page PDF entitled Cooper Agricultural Steam Engines is available here from ASME International.)

Later, as steam power declined, Cooper focused on gas engine technology and became the national leader in pipeline compression-engines, products that enabled the development of the growing oil and gas industry.

Taking advantage of a key opportunity, Cooper merged with the Bessemer Gas Engine Company in 1929, forming the Cooper-Bessemer Corporation.

Several years before IEN  launched in 1933, Cooper-Bessemer engines powered the first trucks on the ice roads of the northern reaches of Canada, opening new supply lines to previously inaccessible mining operations.

Emerging from the economic turmoil brought on by the Great Depression of the 1930s, Cooper went on to play an integral role in the U.S. World War II effort, supplying engines that powered almost all of the ships in the U.S. Navy’s minesweeper fleet, as well as the famous Liberty Ships...

...which carried 75 percent of the cargo used by armed forces.

Now…

Starting in the 1950s, Cooper began an effort to diversify the product portfolio and deliver significant growth, expanding into electrical products, electrical power equipment, automotive products, tools and hardware.

As part of that initiative, Cooper purchased the Lufkin Rule Co. in 1967, placing it into its Cooper Hand Tools Division. Lufkin, with its own rich history, dates back to 1869 when E. T. Lufkin established the E.T. Lufkin Board & Log Rule Co. in Cleveland.

Following the acquisition, Cooper concentrated on mass market sales of select Lufkin products, such as folding wooden rules, later selling off Lufkin’s original industrial product line of flatwood rules, lip rules and related products. Today, many of these long-discontinued products live on today through the Skowhegan Wooden Rule Company. See Sidebar.

Another major acquisition occurred in 1981 with the purchase of Crouse-Hinds. Today, Cooper Crouse-Hinds, with more than 100,000 products, is among the leading manufacturers of electrical products serving light and heavy industrial applications with fittings, enclosures, apparatus and industrial motor controls, signals and alarms, industrial lighting and plugs and receptacles for abusive, hazardous corrosive environments.

Four years later, Cooper further strengthened its portfolio with the acquisition of McGraw-Edison Power Systems, a company with roots going back to Thomas Edison and the first electric power distribution system he developed in the late 19th Century. McGraw-Edison became part of Cooper Power Systems, a unit of the company based in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

The company underwent a period of rationalization in the 1990s, reducing exposure to more cyclical industries such as automotive and petroleum. Ultimately, Cooper focused on business segments that still thrive today—electrical products, tools and hardware.

As the millennium turned, Cooper launched a core set of strategic initiatives, improving management practices, strengthening the balance sheet, and focusing the product portfolio on key platforms to position the company for future growth.

Today, Cooper manufactures thousands of products through its seven electrical products divisions which generate more than 80 percent of annual revenues, and one tool division which represents both power and hand tool lines.

Cooper, headquartered in Houston, has annual revenues of approximately $4.2 billion, employs more than 30,000 people and operates more than 100 manufacturing facilities around the world.

Cooper Industries Timeline

1833
Mt. Vernon, Ohio, foundry of brothers Charles and Elias Mt. Vernon, OH was one horse-drawn by “Bessie” until 1896 when a steam engine replaced her.

1869
Cooper licenses and produces Corliss steam engine, in the same year that Edward Taylor Lufkin founded the E. T. Lufkin Board and Log Rule Manufacturing Company

1875
Cooper traction engine produced, creating the first horse-drawn and -guided farm tractors

1883
Cooper traction engine evolves to be first self-propelled, self-steered farm tractor

1895
C & G Cooper Company is incorporated

1929
Cooper and Bessemer Gas Engine merge to become Cooper-Bessemer Corp.

1940s
Cooper feeds U.S. World War II effort, supplying engines that powered Liberty Ships as well as most minesweepers

1945
Company develops “turbo-flow” high-compression gas-diesel engine

1951
Sales of $52 million surpass wartime high by nearly $10 million

1960s
Company produces first industrial jet-powered gas turbine engine in 1960, and acquires Lufkin Rule in 1962

1979
Cooper acquires Gardner Denver Company, one of the ten largest acquisitions in U.S. history according to Forbes at that time

1981
Cooper “rescue” acquires Crouse-Hinds Company, winning battle with Inter-North Corp.

1985
Cooper merges with McGraw-Edison Co., nearly doubling Cooper’s size

1996
Company’s declares profit of $64.2 million on $1.4 billion in earnings

2002
Cooper streamlines ops through restructuring into 3 business segments

2003-Present
Cooper continues improving management practices and focusing products for company growth