BOOK PREVIEW:

 THE HOBART INDUSTRIALISTS

Reviewed by Marty Baker

This captivating new publication is a must-read for anyone who has an interest in welding, manufacturing, or the world of industry and its history.  Peter C. Hobart tells the family story and company history, through the pen of Michael W. Williams, with a foreword by Jeffrey D. Weber, Publisher of the Welding Journal.   A few paragraphs in the introduction tell of the Hobart family arrival in America and settling along the eastern seaboard in the 1600’s and set the stage for a fascinating tour through time. 

Clarence Charles (C.C.) Hobart was born in Vermont and through a series of adventures, moved to Middletown, Ohio, where he established a business and became personally acquainted with Thomas Edison and his work with electricity.  Unfortunate fires struck the company and C.C. chose to move to Troy, Ohio, where he formed the Hobart Electric Manufacturing Company. 

Numerous companies, divisions, and efforts to establish new industries sprang forth and intertwined with a growing family and new generations, giving the reader invaluable insight into American history and politics of the 19th and 20th centuries.   Eventually, Edward, Charles, and William assumed responsibility for the company and gradually built a technical profile to include battery charges and generators, building an opening of opportunity for welding in the 1920s, closely followed by welding training in the 1930s and later establishment of a dedicated welding technical center.  Developments in welding also led to the manufacturing of electrodes and mining of critical rutile ingredients along the Florida coastline.  

The U.S. entry into World War II quickly expanded the market for welding equipment and Hobart became a key player in a global economy, long before the current term “global economy” was part of our daily vocabulary.  Passage into a post war era led to a new generation and expansion into aircraft ground power equipment, followed later by aerospace activities, robotic welding, and high tech automation.

The text is enhanced with numerous, interesting photographs, timelines, steel homes, and many international construction projects, such as the original World Trade Center, the Sears Tower, the St. Louis Arch, nuclear reactors, submarines, and NASA aerospace welding, made possible by equipment manufactured by Hobart Brothers Company.  Pride in their community led the Hobart family to establish the C.C. Hobart Foundation and to make many philanthropic donations to renew the City of Troy.   

Reorganizations, company acquisitions and later mergers changed the face of the family-owned company after over 75 years and four generations of Hobarts.  The family tradition is carried on in the Hobart Cabinet Company with Martin Hobart at the helm.

Watch the Hobart Institute website at http://www.welding.org for the soon-to-be-release of The Hobart Industrialists by Peter C. Hobart with Michael W. Williams.