Edward Gowen Budd (December 28, 1870 – November 30, 1946) was an American inventor and businessman.

Early life

Edward Gowen Budd was born in

Smyrna, Delaware Smyrna is a town in Kent and New Castle counties in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the Census Bureau, as of 2010, the population of the town is 10,023. The international ...

, on December 28, 1870. He studied engineering in Philadelphia in 1888. He took correspondence courses and studied at the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

Career

Early career

He worked as an apprentice in a machine shop. In 1899, he moved to Philadelphia to finish his apprenticeship with the Bement Machine Company. He then took his knowledge of pressed steel to the railroad industry. He worked with the Pullman Company on a contract for Pennsylvania Railroad, building the first all-steel car. From 1900 to 1902, he worked for the American Pulley Company as a shop superintendent. He then worked for Hale & Kilburn, designing railroad car seats and interior trim. He resigned in 1912 after the firm showed lack of enthusiasm in moving into the automobile body business.

Budd Company

In 1912 he founded the Budd Company, which initially specialized in the manufacture of pressed-steel chassis frames for

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

s. His company was soon supplying an all-steel sedan body to auto manufacturers. Following discussions between them which began in 1913 Budd's first big supporters were the

Dodge brothers Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above Ply ...

, who purchased 70,000 all-steel open touring bodies in 1916. They were soon followed by an all-steel Dodge sedan. The brothers had not believed such a thing possible but they were persuaded to allow Budd to go ahead with the design, die-making and press-installation needed for actual production to begin. Other US manufacturers soon followed Dodge's lead. Closed bodies outsold open bodies from 1923 on. To hold all this steel together, Budd also pioneered the use of

arc welding Arc welding is a welding process that is used to join metal to metal by using electricity to create enough heat to melt metal, and the melted metals, when cool, result in a binding of the metals. It is a type of welding that uses a welding powe ...

in automobile manufacturing.

Stainless steel

During the Great Depression in the 1930s, Budd pioneered the fabrication of stainless steel and helped create the ''

Pioneer Zephyr The ''Pioneer Zephyr'' is a diesel-powered trainset built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), commonly known as the Burlington Route. The trainset was the second internal combustion-powered streaml ...

'', a streamlined train for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. Budd stainless steel railway cars were very successful for many years. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Budd was also the original maker of the

Bazooka Bazooka () is the common name for a man-portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was among the ...

projectile and the

rifle grenade A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle-based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade were thrown by hand. The practice of projecting grenades with rifle-mounted launchers was first widely used dur ...

. He and his company were also instrumental in the development of the radial disk brake and the automatic wheel line.

Personal life

Budd married Mary Wright in May 1899. He had two sons, Edward G. Budd Jr. and Archibald W. Budd, and three daughters.

Death

Budd died on November 30, 1946 at his home in Philadelphia. He is buried at

West Laurel Hill Cemetery West Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869, is 200 acres in size and contains the burials of many notable people. It is affiliated with Laurel Hill Cemetery in neighboring P ...

Legacy

Budd's ''

'' was the first of many streamlined passenger trains. The original trainset is on permanent display at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. In 1985, 40 years after his death, Edward G. Budd, the "father of the stainless-steel streamliner", was inducted into Dearborn, Michigan's

Automotive Hall of Fame The Automotive Hall of Fame is an American museum. It was founded in 1939 and has over 800 worldwide honorees. It is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. the Automotive Hall of Fame includes persons who have contributed greatly to a ...

. In 2015, 70 years after his death, Edward G Budd was inducted into

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

's National Railroad Hall of Fame. He also received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers's Medal.

References

* PBS Online / WGBH (2000) ''Edward G. Budd''. * President and Fellows of Harvard College (2004), ''20th Century Great American Business Leaders: Edward G. Budd''. * * ''Steel in our lives''. Retrieved January 19, 2005 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Budd, Edward G. 1870 births 1946 deaths People from Smyrna, Delaware American automotive pioneers American people in rail transportation American mechanical engineers Businesspeople from Delaware Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery ASME Medal recipients