As Peelle begins to celebrate their 100-year anniversary (1905-2005) in the elevator industry, it's reminded that no other supplier company in the elevator industry has remained under the same ownership. Peelle recognizes its 100-year
anniversary as the date it incorporated in the State of New York, however, it's manufacturing roots are much older and spread to the Midwest. Charles Peelle helped organize the Richmond Safety Gate Company in 1891 located in Richmond, Indiana to manufacture hoistway covers, safety gates, fire doors and fire shutters; the earliest forms of elevator hoistway opening protection.
It was the Richmond Safety Gate that inspired Charles' brother Caleb to develop a more secure barrier in the form of a counterbalanced freight elevator hoistway door, designed to protect a building in case of a hoistway fire. This door was fire proof with a wood core and steel cladding on both sides. With this product, the Peelle Door, Caleb incorporated The Peelle Co. in 1905 in New York City. He was the company's first president. The door also entitled Peelle to lay claim to pioneering freight elevator doors, since no other company manufactured a rugged, bi-parting hoistway door for freight application during the early 1900s. As the industrial revolution gained steam, Peelle was there to provide protection for these elevators. Product development and many early patent designs were driven by elevator industry needs. Many of these patents still apply today.
By 1907, Henry Peelle, Caleb's nephew, joined the company, and The Peelle Co. received UL approval. With Otis Elevator Co. manufacturing in Yonkers, New York, just upriver from Peelle's Brooklyn factory, the two companies began to work on several projects together, a relationship that continues to this day. Just two years later, in 1909, The Peelle Co. received the first of its 214 patents, and the Richmond Safety Gate Co. changed its name to the Richmond Fireproof Door Co.
Henry took over the presidential reins when Caleb died in 1911 and remained president until 1949. During his tenure, The Peelle Co. expanded nationally by mass producing freight doors, increasing the number of patents and broadening the product line by introducing individually power-operated doors, safety interlocks, electric controls, doors that "self sealed," a hoistway opening, a penthouse operator that could open doors one at a time from a single machine located in the overhead space, and even escalators.
Henry also instigated the purchase of the Richmond Fireproof Door Co. by The Peelle Co. in 1921. That company continued to manufacture horizontal sliding fire doors and swing elevator doors. He also made sure Peelle was part of the war effort during World War II by manufacturing aircraft arresting hooks, gun chest assemblies, machinegun silencers, trailer hitches, flame seals, ship bulkhead doors, watertight and explosion-proof doors, and even aircraft hangar doors.
Henry's sons, Bob and Ed, took over management of the company after their father retired in 1950. That same year, The Peelle Co. was awarded the largest domestic contract at that time for 31 escalators for the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal. Henry died in 1977 at the age of 85 in Florida. He and his wife Inez had proudly raised four children, 23 grandchildren and 64 great-grandchildren.
Bob and Ed took The Peelle Co. even further by entering the Canadian market, first with a sales office and later with a manufacturing facility. The Peelle Co.'s products at the time were sold with the help of manufacturer representatives located in most major metropolitan cities outside the New York City area. The Peelle Co. also ventured into many areas not affiliated with the elevator business, but which offered new opportunities to improve manufacturing techniques, stream-line internal processes and develop a sales force that was diversified and well-versed on all aspects of building construction. Some of these areas included: Pass Through Windows (stainless-steel shutters found between industrial kitchens and dining rooms, designed to close in the event of a fire), Horizontal Sliding Fire Doors, Swing Elevator Doors, Industrial Doors and Blast Doors for highly dangerous venues like paint manufacturing, aircraft hangers and nuclear power plants.
Also, during this period, there were five operating facilities located in Bay Shore, New York; Mississauga, Ontario, Canada (Freight Elevator doors/gates/cabs, Blast Doors, Pass Windows); Liberty, Indiana (Pass Windows, Swing Doors, Horizontal Sliding Doors); Monroe, North Carolina (Material Lifts, Blast Doors, Pass Windows); and Poughkeepsie, New York (Sedgwick Brand Residence Elevators and Dumbwaiters). Additionally, The Peelle Co. had Philadelphia and Chicago sales offices. At one time, The Peelle Co. had over 300 employees.
The next generation took the reins in 1990. R.B., Bob's son, and Hank, Ed's son, became chairman of the board and president, respectively. Unlike their fathers (who are happily enjoying retirement), they decided to focus on The Peelle Co.'s core competency, freight elevator products, so in 1996, they divested the company of all non-elevator related businesses to focus on vertically sliding freight elevator doors for the global elevator market. Today, The Peelle Co. operates a new manufacturing facility in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and remains headquartered in Hauppauge, New York with a sales office in Singapore. The Peelle Co. is proud of its employees, who average 20 years of experience. Seven retirees served for more than 50 years. The company and its employees look forward to the next 100 years of service to the elevator industry.