By the editor

This story is taken from Peter Hobart's book, The Industrial Hobarts:

Late in the fall of 1940, E.A. Hobart received a mysterious telegram from the U.S. War Department telling him to take the first available train to Chicago and report at 9:00 a.m. the next day to the Biltmore Hotel. 

He followed the instructions and found himself in a conference room with several other manufacturers, listening to a proposal to build 5,000 generators for the army.  Military engineers presented specifications with instructions that the bids were due by 9:00 a.m. the very next day. 

E.A. Hobart returned to his hotel room and started to work, spending most of his time on the telephone with his Troy office. In the predawn hours the following day, a secretary from the hotel was typing his bid.  At exactly 9:02 a.m., he arrived in the conference room.  The army brass broke into smiles!  E.A. was the only contractor who showed up with a bid! 

Hobart generators and welders were shipped to Europe and other parts of the world to support the war effort and soon the name Hobart was recognized worldwide.

You may order a copy of The Industrial Hobarts by Peter C. Hobart from:

Training Materials Department
Hobart Institute of Welding Technology
400 Trade Square East
Troy, OH  45373
1-800-332-9448, ext. 5433
www.welding.org