Established in 1919 and named for long-time machine design and company president Peter A. Solem, this firm specialized in sanding machines, especially big drum sanders.

See also the entry for Merritt-Solem Corp. There was some sort of connection, perhaps an OEM relationship, between Solem and J. D. Wallace & Co.

Information Sources

• November 1919 Steel and Metal Digest.

  The Solem Machine Company, 109 West State Street. Rockford, Ill., capitalized at $50,000, has been chartered by Levin Faust, E. S. Epstrom and Peter A. Solem.

  The 1919-11-06 Iron Trade Review carries the identical news item.
• A 1919 ad for Chicago Machinery Exchange—a machinery dealer—lists "Solem Engineering Co." as one of the makers they represented.
• The 1955-56 Hitchcock's Wood Workers' Digest Directory had both a Merritt-Solem ad and ad for Solem Machine Co.
• The 1958 Crow's Forest Products Digest.

  The Solem Machine Company of Rockford makes an outstanding line of drum sanders, planers, and other woodworking machinery, while its subsidiary, The Merritt-Solem Division, of P. O. Box 1628 Lockport, N. Y., makes ...

• A 1959 issue of Veneers and Plywood.

  Solem's New Plant in Rockford
  Solem's new modern plant in Rockford, Ill., was conceived and planned with the idea of bringing Solem Machine Company and the Merritt-Solem Division together under one roof as soon as possible, to more closely integrate and expedite the entire operation.

• A 1961 issue of Hitchcock's Wood Working Digest.

  Peter A. Solem Dies
  Mr. Peter A. Solem, president of the Solem Machine Co. and the Merritt-Solem Division, died April 28. Many considered Mr. Solem the dean of woodworking machinery designers of the old school. A great deal of his early experience was as a machine designer and builder. He eventually established the Solem Machine Co. in Rockford, Ill. The firm became widely and favorably known for its line of drum sanders.

• A 1961 issue of The Southern Lumberman.

  ROCKFORD, Ill., May 5—Peter A. Solem, president of Solem Machine Company and The Merritt-Solem Division, of Rockford, Ill., died suddenly on Friday, April 28, 1961. His funeral was held on May 1st.

  Mr. Solem was considered practically the dean of woodworking machinery designers among men of the older school, having had much of his early experience as a machine designer and builder in the plant of J. A. Fay and Egan Company of Cincinnati...

• An email correspondent reports:

  We purchased a Solem 4 drum production sander and with the original paperwork a postcard was attached stating that "on September 16, 1970, Tannewitz (div of Weiman Co., Grand Rapids, MI) had acquired the complete line of Solem Machinery. The machine was originally sold in 1946.