Hunting Park Avenue between Fox & Wissahickon Streets, Philadelphia PA
© Harold E. Spaulding,
Workshop of the World (Oliver Evans Press,
1990).
The Budd Company was founded
in 1912 when Edward Gowen Budd resigned from Hale &
Kilburn, a Philadelphia-based manufacturer of rail car
components. Budd took with him 13 men and together they
developed and manufactured the first American all-steel
touring automobile body. From early in his career, Budd
was knowledgeable in the production and forming of metal
products; while a young employee of the American Pulley
Company, he developed an all-sheet-steel pulley that
replaced the turned cast wheel/wooden block pulley, thus
saving large amounts in labor in its production. Later,
with Hale & Kilburn, Budd developed a pressed steel
railroad car seat, which replaced wooden seats and
economized production.
The first Budd Company plant was located at Tioga and
Aramingo Avenues in 1912; the Oakland auto, with its
all-steel body was the first vehicle produced. One year
later, the facility moved to a larger space at the Bogg's
Mill at I and Ontario Streets. A galvanized sheet steel
temporary building adjacent to the mill housed the
machining and press operations; nearby, sheet steel was
stacked under a circus tent. Newly developed acetylene
welding machinery was also imported from France to join
sheets. As bodies were completed at the plant, they were
loaded onto rail cars and shipped to Michigan.
By 1915, Budd employed over 600 men and was forced to
relocate to larger facilities at the present site.
Production immediately rose from 100 to 500 car bodies
per day. One year later, the company produced its
100,000th Dodge touring car body, less than two years
after its initial order. Shortly thereafter, they
developed an all-steel automobile roof for Dodge. Also in
1916, the Budd Wheel Company was formed to produce
all-steel wire-spoked wheels. During World War I, Budd's
production focus shifted somewhat; they manufactured
steel helmets, artillery wheels, shell casings, and so
on. But by 1921 after the war, Budd produced his
1,000,000th automobile body.
Budd's influence crossed the Atlantic in 1924 with an
agreement that allowed Citroen of France to produce an
all-steel car body using Budd's methods in 1924. One year
later, Budd formed a joint venture company with Morris
Motors of England and together, their Pressed Steel
Company of Great Britain produced bodies for vehicles
ranging from the Morris Mini to the Rolls Royce. Also in
1925, Budd expanded his influence directly into Detroit
with the purchase of the Liberty Motor Car Company, which
was in receivership. By 1928, Budd's work force in the
U.S. exceeded 10,000 employees manning over 600 presses.
Auto sales declined 40% in 1929 with the onset of the
Depression; however, during that time, Budd expanded his
research program and developed the Shotwell Electric
Process, which enabled stainless steel plates to be
welded. This development and the desire to diversify led
Budd to expand his production line into streamlined rail
cars. From 1931 to 1935, Budd designed and produced the
Burlington Pioneer Zephyr, the Twin Zephyr, the Mark
Twain Zephyr, and the Flying Yankee.
During the 1930s, Budd's developments continued to
advance automotive technology. In 1930, he designed an
experimental front-wheel drive system, which found its
way into the Citroen in 1934. That same year, Budd
developed the body for the Chrysler Airflow and one year
later the Lincoln Zephyr. Also by 1935, Budd's production
was so great that all of its workers who had been laid
off in 1929 had been recalled. Budd opened a plant called
Ambi Budd in Berlin, Germany in 1936; at that plant, he
assisted in the production of the Volkswagen and Opel
Kadet. One year later, Renault of France came out with a
copy of the Kadet called the Juvaquatre; Budd sued for
patent infringement and forced Renault to pay royalties
to Ambi Budd. Prior to World War II, Budd Ambi was
nationalized by the German government.
In World War II, Budd's focus was directed entirely to
the war effort. By February 1942, 4,400 employees were in
service and 5,500 women had joined the labor force. By
the war's end, over 6,600 Budd employees were in service,
and the labor force totalled over 20,000.
After the war, a Materials Distribution Center was
established to safeguard the operation from steel
shortages. In 1946, the Budd Field Plant (soon to be
called the Red Lion Plant in Northeast Philadelphia)
converted its operation from ammunition to rail car
production. Shortly thereafter, the Edward G. Budd
Company and the Budd Wheel Company were combined into the
Budd Manufacturing Company.
In November 1946, Edward G. Budd died at age 75; he was
succeeded by his son, Edward G. Jr., who continued the
expansion of the company. In 1949, Budd built a $7
million stamping plant in Gary, Indiana and the Red Lion
Plant received a $1.4 million foundry for the production
of grey cast iron brake drums. The Korean War caused a
10% reduction in the work force but in 1952 the Hunting
Park facility was expanded with a new plant to machine
and weld tank hulls, turrets, and jet engine blades.
During the 1950s, Budd continued to produce automobile
bodies, shipped to the manufacturers ready for painting;
however, during that time it also diversified its
holdings. Seven separate divisions were established:
automotive; rail car; Continental Diamond Fibre Company
(a company bought by Budd in 1955 that produced isotope
radiographic non-destructive testing machines); Defense;
Nuclear Systems; Tatnall Measuring Systems Company (a
company formed by Budd in 1956 for non-destructive
testing of equipment and materials); and International.
In 1958, the Electronic Controls Section was formed by
Budd to design, build, market, and service automatic
welding control systems.
In 1963, Budd received several large contracts. Its Red
Lion Plant was awarded a $68 million contract to produce
660 subway cars; also that year, the Electronics Control
Section developed the first successful Storm Radar
Detector Processor for the Air Force. In 1965, Budd
engineers developed the first successful automotive disc
brake (Budd developed the first disc brakes for rail cars
in 1938).
Edward G. Budd, Jr. retired in 1967 and shortly
thereafter the new management began divesting itself of
its nonproductive companies. The company continued to
grow, however, through the purchase of the Gindy
Manufacturing Company (producer of truck trailers in
Downingtown, PA), the Waupaca Foundry (producer of grey
iron), the Milford Fabricating Company (an automotive
prototype and tooling company in Detroit), and the
Durolastic Products Company (manufacturer of reinforced
plastic auto parts in Detroit). E.G. Budd, Jr. died in
1971 and one year later the corporate offices of the
company were moved to Troy, Michigan. During the 1970s,
the company continued to enjoy success, but in 1980, Budd
began to have losses. Employment dropped from 21,500 to
12,000 and many its plants across the country began to
close.[1]
[1] Most of the
material in this section was taken from Vincent R.
Courtenay, "The
Budd Company at 75," printed by the Budd Company,
Troy, MI., 1987.
Update May
2007 (by
Muriel Kirkpatrick):
One of the largest manufacturers in Philadelphia finished
operations here in 2002 when work was consolidated in
Detroit. The property was acquired by Preferred Real
Estate Investments, a local developer which has
successfully transformed a power plant in Chester into
the Wharf at Rivertown office complex. Designated the
Budd Commerce Center, plans for the seventy-five acres
with twenty buildings, offering 2.4 million square feet
of space, include commercial, retail, and residential
development. Proposals have included a junkyard and a
mushroom factory (Philadelphia Business Journal, October
7, 2006). Temple University located its Health System
Corporate Offices in the four-story building and adjacent
warehouse on the south side of Hunting Park Avenue. GRM
Information Management Services has acquired a
247,000-square-foot building. Trump Entertainment
Resorts, Inc. had an option for eighteen acres to build a
slots parlor, but the Pennsylvania Gaming Board did not
choose the site for gaming facilities, selecting instead
two sites along the Delaware River.