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American National was formed in 1925 as a holding company for Toledo
Metal Wheel, National Wheel and American Wheel. In 1927, American
National acquired Gendron Wheel Company and produced tricycles under the
names of American-National, Toledo, Gendron, Pioneer, Skippy, Express,
Reliance, Hi-Speed, Hi-Way, Speed King, Blue Streak, Sampson,
American, and Streamline. Each company had their own products and
catalogs.
In the late
1930’s, 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. Previously, Mr.
Diemer was the President of American-National. The new company was
incorporated as the Gendron Wheel Company, Perrysburg, Ohio. The
company was organized “to manufacture, import, export, buy, sell, and in
general deal in wheelchairs, playground equipment, and other juvenile
conveniences of every kind”.
All of American-National plants were closed except the Gendron
Perrysburg plant. Due to the war effort, Gendron concentrated its
efforts on wheelchairs and hospital stretchers. However, they continued
to manufacture wooden wagons and playground equipment. Catalogs from the
1950”s and early 1960’s show playground equipment and hand car racers
with the trade name Howdy Doody.
In 1959, Gendron Wheel moved most of its manufacturing to Archbold,
Ohio. 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. 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.
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