From article in 1908-05-13 The Fourth Estate

During the period 1920 to 1923, Carl Pletz & Sons manufactured a 9-inch shaper that was also available in kit form, plus a couple of small presses—a straightening press and a screw press. German immigrant Carl Pletz worked most of his life as an editor and writer for German-language Cincinnati newspapers. His two sons Arthur C. and Alexander were both engineers and machine tool designers.

Carl Pletz died in 1925 of lung cancer and perhaps the 1923 demise of this business was due to his illness. As far as we can tell, Carl and Alexander were working full-time on the business. Arthur was secretary and general manager of Morris Machine Tool Co. and he likely helped in product design for Carl Pletz & Sons but was not much involved in the day-to-day operations.

Carl Pletz

A search through Google Books will show a lot of matches for Carl Pletz of Cincinnati, the great majority of them relating to his active role in the German community of Cincinnati. He operated a German-language newspaper, he wrote articles on the history of the German community in Ohio, and he advocated for better treatment of German-Americans during World War I.

Arthur C. Pletz

Arthur Carl Pletz was an ambitious and restless man who changed jobs frequently. Between 1907 and 1936 he had at least eight different employers and was self-employed twice in that span. The latter period of self-employment, between 1915 and '16, was an unsuccessful attempt to start a new machine tool manufacturing business. His changing employment shows a trend upwards in responsibility and suggest a desire to broaden his experience: shop floor, sales, draftsman, general manager, secretary, sales manager.

Information Sources

• September 1920 Machinery article on the Pletz screw press
• January 1921 Hitchcock's Wood Working Digest ad for Carl Pletz & Sons' utility screw press and straightening press.
• Biographical background on Arthur C. Pletz:
  • Findagrave.com entry for Arthur Carl Pletz (1884-1967).
  • 1907-02-02 Western Electrician, page 102, in a listing of attendees of the Chicago Electrical Show: "Arthur C. Pletz, National Machine Tool Co., Cincinnati".
  • 1907-09-26 The Iron Age, page 878. "Arthur C. Pletz,Mercantile Library Building, has added to the list of companies for which he is acting as sales agent the Pittsburgh Automatic Vise Company, the Simplex Mfg. Company,maker of hack saw machines. He reports a good inquiry on small parts and attachments."
  • 1912-12-05 American Machinist, page 920. "Arthur C. Pletz, until recently chief draftsman of the mechanical department of the Detroit United Railway, has accepted the position of superintendent of the Ideal Steel Wheel Co., Cincinnati, Ohio."
  • 1913-10-09 The Iron Age, page 816. "Arthur C. Pletz has severed his connection with the Ideal Steel Wheel Company, Cincinnati, to become general manager of the Aurora Tool Works Company, Aurora, Ind."
  • April 1915 Iron Tradesman, page 110.

    Arthur C. Pletz has severed his connection as secretary and general manager of the Aurora Tool Works, Aurora, Indiana, and is going into the manufacturing of a line of machine tool specialties and designing, developing and building of special machinery and tools. Mr. Pletz is located at 910 Commercial Tribune Building, Cincinnati, Ohio.

  • 1917-08-17 The Iron Age, page 292. "Arthur C. Pletz, general manager Morris Machine Tool Co., Cincinnati, has returned from a three weeks' vacation spent in Canada and at Eastern summer resorts."
  • 1918 Official Program of Fifth Convention on Foreign Trade, page xvii, mentions "Arthur C. Pletz, Manager, Morris Machine Tool Co."
  • 1923 issue of The Journal of the Society of Automotive Engineers, page 431. "Arthur C. Pletz, of the Morris Machine Tool Co., Cincinnati, described a method of buffing crankpins with a machine very much like a grinding machine. This machine uses a hard-felt wheel instead of the grinding wheel."
  • 1927-01-13 Iron Trade Review, Volume 80 page 192.

    Arthur C. Pletz has been appointed sales manager of the miscellaneous machinery department of the Niles Tool Works Co., division of Niles-Bement-Pond Co., New York. Since graduating from the Ohio Mechanics Institute, Cincinnati, Mr. Pletz has been engaged in the machine tool business and draftsman, sales engineer, tool designer, chief draftsman and superintendent for various companies. In 1914 he became manager of the Aurora Tool Works Co. and for the past 12 years has been secretary and general manager of the Morris Machine Tool Co., Cincinnati. He will be located in the future at the Niles offices in Hamilton, Ohio.

  • 1930 issue of Foundry, page 109. "Arthur C. Pletz has resigned as assistant sales manager of the Pratt & Whitney Co., Hartford, Conn., to become associated with the production department of Aluminum Industries Inc., Cincinnati."
  • 1931 issue of Western Machinery and Steel World, page 80. "Arthur C. Pletz, who has been connected with the Pratt & Whitney Company, Hartford, Connecticut, as assistant general sales manager, has resigned to become works manager of The Aluminum Industries, Inc, of Cincinnati, Ohio. This change takes effect February 1."
  • 1936 National Bureau of Standards document, Willing-to-Certify Sources of Supply of Metals and Metal Products, page 63, lists "Blackburn Foundry Co., The, Arthur C. Pletz, Sec., Murray Road & Big 4, St. Bernard, Cincinnati, Ohio."
  • 1942 American Machinist, Volume 87, page 112, mentions "Arthur C. Pletz, chairman, Cutting Tool Panel, Cincinnati Ordnance District".
• Biographical background on Carl Pletz:
  • Copyright registration, "Pletz (C.) "Das goldene jubilaeum des Nordamerikanischen saengerbundes." Ein kulturhistorisches creigniss. Copyright by Carl Pletz, Cincinnati, 1898, no. 69897, Dec. 1; 1 copy rec'd Dec. 1, 1898; 1 copy rec'd Jan. 21, 1899."
  • 1903 book, Ohio Centennial Celebration, page 570, in an article on "The Press of Ohio" by S. S. Knabenshue, on the history of "Der Ohio Adler", which became "The Ohio Eagle", beginning as a German-language publication, then with separate German and English editions, and then in English only. "...is unable to state when the German edition was discontinued. Mr. Carl Pletz, of the Cincinnati Volksblatt, however, is confident that some time in the thirties its name was changed to the Lancaster Volksfreund, that it was purchased and removed to Columbus in 1841; then reverting to the old name of Adler..."
  • Findagrave.com entry for Carl Pletz (1862-1925). It notes the cause of death as "Sarcoma of lung". His children were Arthur Carl (1884-1967), Olga (1893-1990), and Johann (1901-1909). It would seem likely that there are other children not listed here.
  • 1908-05-30 The Fourth Estate, page 13, article on the Cincinnati Pen and Pencil Club, a new press club. The officers of the club are shown, including Carl Pletz, treasurer. This portrait can be seen under the Images tab.