Gendron, Inc. (originally Gendron Iron Wheel Company) is an American

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

hospital bed A hospital bed or hospital cot is a bed specially designed for hospitalized patients or others in need of some form of health care. These beds have special features both for the comfort and well-being of the patient and for the convenience of h ...

stretcher A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an medical device, apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or ...

s, and other

medical equipment A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

based in

Bryan, Ohio Bryan is a city in, and the county seat of, Williams County, Ohio, United States. It is located in the state's northwestern corner, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo. The population was 8,729 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Histo ...

.Better wheel invented in Toledo blazed path toward autos
Homer Brickey, ''

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issu ...

'', 20 May 2008 (retrieved 14 September 2010)

History

The Gendron Iron Wheel Company was founded in

1872 Events January * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. *January 20 – The Cavite mutiny was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort S ...

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

by Peter Gendron (born Pierre Gendron, 1844-1910). Gendron originally produced

wire wheel Wire wheels, wire-spoked wheels, tension-spoked wheels, or "suspension" wheels are wheels whose rims connect to their hubs by wire spokes. Although these wires are considerably stiffer than a similar diameter wire rope, they function mechani ...

s for baby carriages. In 1890, it produced

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a Human-powered transport, human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) Three-wheeler, three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for pa ...

s, invalid chairs,

baby carriage Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpacks ...

s, doll carriages, coaster wagons, toy

wheelbarrow A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled load-bearing vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." " Ba ...

s, Gendron
Tricycle Fetish (archived 19 August 2018) and children's diecast toy replica

pedal car A quadracycle (also spelled quadricycle) is a four-wheeled human-powered land vehicle. It is also referred to as a quadcycle, pedal car or four-wheeled bicycle amongst other terms. Quadracycles have been in use since 1853 and have grown into ...

s up until World War II.Peter Gendron: Pedal Car Pioneer
, Linda Portell, PedalCarNews.com, date unknown (retrieved 14 September 2010) In 1927, Gendron became a subsidiary of American-National. American-National was formed as a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

for three companies: Toledo Metal Wheel, National Wheel, and American Wheel. American-National, Toledo, and Gendron products were sold under the trade names of Pioneer, Skippy, Express, Reliance, Hi-Speed, Hi-Way, Speed King, Blue Streak, Sampson, American, and Streamline. In the late 1930s, American-National had financial difficulties. In 1941, the assets and all rights to the product line were purchased by a group of Toledo industrialists headed by Walter H. Diemer, who had previously been the President of American-National. The new company was incorporated as the Gendron Wheel Company and moved to

Perrysburg, Ohio Perrysburg is a city located in Wood County, Ohio, United States, along the south side of the Maumee River. The population was 25,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Part of the Toledo metropolitan area, the city is southwest of To ...

. The company was organized "to manufacture, import, export, buy, sell, and in general deal in wheelchairs,

playground equipment A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

, and other juvenile conveniences of every kind". All of American-National's plants were closed except the Gendron Perrysburg plant. Due to the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

effort, Gendron concentrated its efforts on wheelchairs and hospital stretchers. However, it continued to manufacture wooden wagons and playground equipment. Catalogs from the 1950s and early 1960s show playground equipment and hand car racers with the trade name

Howdy Doody ''Howdy Doody'' is an American Children's television series, children's television program (with circus and Western (genre), Western frontier themes) that was created and produced by Victor F. Campbell

. In 1959, Gendron Wheel moved most of its manufacturing to

Archbold, Ohio Archbold is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Fulton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,516 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located about southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo, Archbold is home to Northwest Stat ...

. The Perrysburg plant was closed in 1963. In 1964, the company became a subsidiary of Howmedica. However the Gendron trademark continued. In 1971, Mr. Robert Diemer and Mr. Richard A. Bigelow purchased the company and it became Gendron-Diemer. In 1975, Richard A. Bigelow purchased Mr. Diemer’s interest and the company became Gendron, Inc. In 1997, Mr. Bigelow sold the company to Steven W. Cotter, Thomas A. Dewire, and Frederic W. Strobel. Gendron, Inc. currently produces mobile patient management systems for transport, trauma treatment,

imaging Imaging is the representation or reproduction of an object's form; especially a visual representation (i.e., the formation of an image). Imaging technology is the application of materials and methods to create, preserve, or duplicate images. ...

, bariatric, and special procedures.

References

External links

*
1898 Gendron Wheel Co (Toledo, Ohio) Invalid Carriage
history of Gendron Wheel Company and magazine advertisements, and images of various Gendron products
A History of the World - Gendron Wheelchair

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

The British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

{{American bicycle manufacturers Companies based in Bryan, Ohio Manufacturing companies established in 1872 Cycle manufacturers of the United States Medical technology companies of the United States Quadricycles History of Toledo, Ohio Toy companies of the United States Wheelchair manufacturers 1872 establishments in Ohio