E. O. Grabo Machine Works - History

Manufacturers Index - E. O. Grabo Machine Works

E. O. Grabo Machine Works
New York, NY, U.S.A.
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery & Metal Working Machinery

History

Last Modified: Apr 9 2023 12:40PM by Jeff_Joslin
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Ernst Otto Grabo was a New York machinist who manufactured metalworking and woodworking machines. Under the name E. O. Grabo he was in business by 1896, incorporating in 1921 and remaining in business until at least 1952. The business was definitely gone by 1960. We have seen spinning lathes, wood lathes, wet grinders, drill presses, and a cutoff saw from this maker.

We have seen a 1912 death notice for Ernest Otto Grabo, but the 1921 incorporation notice lists E. O. Grabo as one of the incorporators. Perhaps there were both father and son named E. O. Grabo.

Information Sources

1896 Trow's Copartnership and Corporation Directory Vol. XLIV, page 547: "Grabo Ernest O. machinist, 180 Centre, h. 195½ Union, J. C. [Jersey City]"
1897 Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, 120th Session (Vol. XVIII, No. 72, page 256), in a listing of factory inspections. "(name of firm) Grabo, Ernest P / (good manufactured) Machinist / (avg. number of employees, male) 9 / (males under 18) 1 / ... / 1 / (hours of labor of minors) 59 / (hours on Saturday or Sunday) 9".
1898 Trow's Business Directory of the Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx, page 686, under "Machinists": "Grabo Ernest O. 180 Centre".
1898-12-22 The Iron Age, page 65, in a listing of Second-Hand Machinery available from Prentiss Tool & Supply Co., New York, under "Lathes": "2-12 x 4 Grabo speed."
1898 Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, 121st Session (Vol. XVII, No. 65, page 256), in a listing of factory inspections. "(name of firm) Grabo, E. O. / (good manufactured) Machinery / (avg. number of employees, male) 9 / (males under 18) 1 / ... / (changes ordered) 1 / (compliances reported) 1 / (hours of labor) 59".
1899 Thirteenth Annual Report of the Factory Inspector of the State of New York, page 266: "(name of firm) Grabo, E. O. / (good manufactured) Machinery / (avg. number of employees, male) 12 / ... / (hours of labor) 59 / (changes ordered) 1 / (compliances reported) 1".
1900 Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, 123rd Session (Vol. XXIII, No. 85, page 308), in a listing of factory inspections. "(name of firm) Grabo, E. O. / (good manufactured) Machinery / (avg. number of employees, male) 10 / ... / (avg. number of employees, female) 1 / ... / (hours of labor) 60 / ..."
April 1907 The Metal Industry:
E. O. Grabo, 180 Centre street, New York City, builder of brass machinery, had a small fire on March 27. The damage was insignificant and was mostly confined to the pattern section of the works.
1915 R. L. Polk & Co.'s Trow New York Copartnership and Corporation Directory for the City of New York lists, on page 409, "Grabo E O. Machine Works (TN) (estate of E O Grabo) 180 Centre".
1918 White-Orr's Reference Register for New York City lists "Grabo, E.O. Machine Works 180-182 Centre".
1921-04-07 The Iron Trade Review reports the following.
New York- The E. O. Grabo Machine works has been incorporated with $50,000 capital stock, by E.O. Grabo, W.E.Lambden and B.M. Johnson, 1245 Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn, to manufacture machinery and parts.
1930: Smithsonian has a 1930 catalog from the company.
1943 Prices of New Machine Tools lists "E. O. Grabo Machine Works, Inc."
1953 Base Prices of Machine Tools, from the United States Office of Price Stabilization, lists "E. O. Grabo Machine Works" and a variety of metal-spinning lathes made by them, weighing between 700 and 6000 lb. Also listed for Grabo are motorized grinders weighing between 430 and 2500 lb, and two models of metal-cutting table saws weighing 650 and 1100 lb. No prices are given.
1950 Product Equipment Directory—Metalworking Machinery, a publication of the United States Armed Forces Supply Support Center, page 574: "E.O. Grabo Machine Works / NOTE: This company has been liquidated and there is no successor."
The Mattatuck Museum has a spinning lathe in their collection.
A search of genealogy sites and also of Google Books has found sparse and conflicting evidence that E. O. Grabo was a machinist named Earnst Otto Grabo or Ernst Otto Grabo or Ernest Otto Grabo. A 1912 Masonic journal reported the death of Ernest Otto Grabo of Jersey City.