By 1890, Thomas Edison established the Edison General Electric Company by bringing his various businesses together.
During that period, a competitor emerged. The Thomson-Houston Company became a dominant electrical innovation company through a series of mergers led by Charles A. Coffin, a former shoe manufacturer from Lynn, Massachusetts.
As both businesses expanded, it had become increasingly difficult for either company to produce complete electrical installations relying solely on their own patents and technologies. In 1892, the two companies combined. They called the new organization the General Electric Company.
General Electric Co. made Electric Motors starting in the 1890s. In later years they made a combination woodworking machine called the General Electric Workshop. The division that produced it was discontinued in 1967.
Sprague Electric was bought by General Electric in 1902, and Stanley Electric Manufacturing Co. was acquired in 1903.
Information Sources
- Modern Mechanism 1895 page 550
- Electrical World & Engineer 31 May 1902 page 971.
The reported pending purchase by the General Electric Company of the stock, or a majority of it, of the Sprague Electric Company is one of great interest to the electrical industry. It is understood that the sale is the culmination of various negotiations which, in one form or another, have been pending for over a year.
- General Electric Co. web site.