Remolded, remanufactured, reconditioned, reconstructed, regrooved and reclaimed were some of the descriptive terms used for a cost-saving product widely used during the mid- to late 20th century. Many may recall the items referred to as retreads or recap tires. This is the story of the Tire Engineering Corporation, a prominent tire “remanufacturer” in Holyoke during the middle of the 20th century.
This is certainly the first, and conceivably the last, time telling a story of a business relocating from Oakland, California, to Holyoke. However, that was the case for the Tire Engineering Corp., which moved in 1934 to 1588 Northampton Street, in space leased to it by the Magna Buick car dealership.
The owners of the company were Edward J. Busing and E. W. Smith. Mr. Busing handled sales and promotion, and Mr. Smith managed production of retread tires. The business was growing quickly, starting out with 3 employees and soon having 12 workers across 3 shifts on a 24-hour schedule.
There was $25,000 worth of equipment needed for the tire retreading process, which involved rebuilding and recasing the old tire. The highest-standard pure rubber arrived from the Oliver Tire & Rubber Company in Oakland, providing the greatest number of miles over its life. Tires were manufactured for cars and trucks.
The process was a boon to consumers, as a high-quality retread tire cost half as much as a new tire and could provide 2 to 3 times the tread life of a cheaply made new tire.
Long-time Holyoke service stations, including Barsalou’s at Beech and Franklin Streets, and Tony’s Service Station at 1642 Northampton Street, sold and installed the tires.
In 1940, the company introduced the Fisk Safety-Flight Tire and offered a 12-hour turnaround for retreading.
In 1942, E. W. Smith sold the business to brothers-in-law Max Krumpholz and William J.Krueter, along with John H. Wilson. Mr. Smith had purchased a 1,200-acre ranch in the Cuyama Valley, where he was born and raised. His spouse, Muriel (Bowlen) Smith, formerly of Madison Avenue in Holyoke, would later join him.
The company received its corporate charter with the three new owners as officers in July 1942. There was a slight name change to Tire Engineering Company Incorporated.
The company had been performing recapping work at Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee for some time and, as a result of its excellent work, was awarded a 6-month Army contract to retread vehicle tires brought to the base.
The company advertised that the availability of synthetic and synthetic rubber tires was quickly being depleted due to wartime use. The company received a major contract from the military to supply tires for transport trucks in France, which supplied bases and troops fighting during World War II. The trucks would carry supplies from the ports to the front lines. The company needed to purchase additional equipment to complete this work.
All postal trucks in Massachusetts were recapped by Tire Engineering Co. under a government contract. The company also had contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In 1950, the company, under the same ownership, relocated to 1595 Riverdale Street in West Springfield. The business continued under the same name until 1972, then rebranded under Nondo’s Tire Engineering Co. Inc., continuing into the early 1990s.
The story of manufacturing retreads continues in the following installment, A. A. Patch Company. This concern involved John H. Wilson, one of the co-owners of Tire Engineering Company Inc., identified in this story.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Price & Lee Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories
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