The company began as in Janesville, WI, as Gilman Engineering Works, manufacturing small lathes, followed by a four-in-one tool room machine introduced in 1939. The firm changed names in 1946 to Gilman Engineering and Manufacturing Co. In 1948 it sold to Parker Pen Co., also of Janesville, and changed its product line to automatic assembly machinery. In 1963 Gilman was purchased by Gisholt Machine Co. of Madison, WI, and in 1966 Gisholt was bought by and became a division of Giddings & Lewis of Fond du Lac, WI. As of 2019, the company operates as Gilman Engineered Solutions.
At the beginning of World War II, Gilman's tool room machine was selected by the U. S. Government for ships essential to the war effort. Since Gilman couldn't manufacture them fast enough, production was outsourced to Hannifin Manufacturing Co. and George Gorton Machine Co. Some of Gorton's machines went to Russian tow boats, as documented by an instruction manual scanned by Richard Gorton.
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