Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on January 25, 1971.
V-M Viewpoint
About Local Industry
What products are made and what services are provided by local manufacturers and firms?
We believe that it is unfortunate that most of us wouldn’t score too well if we were asked to take paper and pencil and list these products and services. And yet many of the things manufactured here not only are spread around the country, but around the globe as well.
We would suppose that most people residing in this area are aware that we have firms in our community that manufacture bearings, magnets and food processing machinery. Probably a lot of local residents know that Valparaiso is the home of the world’s largest producer of hybrid popcorn seed.
But how many people could say what goes on at the Robert L. Miller Laboratory, Impact Extrusions, Inc., or Shepco Products, even though these firms have been with us for many years?
We suspect that many local persons realize that wiper blades for automobiles are made by the Anderson Company, which has diversified operations based in Valparaiso and Gary. It also manufactures blades for airplanes.
In a recent edition of the Anderson Company’s house organ, Anco Family News, there was an interesting discussion on the firm’s wiper blade business.
It was pointed out that it supplies blades for the huge 747 jets, but despite the big bulk of this plane, the wipers are not eight feet longーwhich is quite a bit longer than those used on passenger cars.
Incidentally blades are longer than that on two jumbo jetsーLockheed 1011, 26-inch long blade; and Douglas DC 10, 29 inches.
Maxi-sized wiper made by the company dates back to World War II when Anderson produced a 36-inch blade for the tail gunner windshield on the B-29. Probably most people didn’t realize that the tail gunner rated a wiper blade.
Now what about mini-sized blades? That one’s being made now by Anderson for the Volvo, a Swedish car, which sports a four-inch wiper blade for its headlamp.
You never heard of wiper blades for headlamps and tail lamps, but they are already popular in Europe as safety measures, and they are expected to become so soon in the United States.
It’s like we say, you never know what’s going on inside the walls of our local industries, unless you inquire or the company takes time out to brief you on its operations.
