House of Bodine

[B C Johnson]

Carl and Paul Bodine were also natural tinkerers. As children in Loomis, Nebraska, the two Swedish immigrants were fascinated by the town's first electric generator. And they began to send away for every available catalog and pamphlet to find out more about this exciting "new" source of energy. But their interests weren't confined to electricity. They tinkered with just about everything, eventually building a hot air balloon which exploded and rattled every window in town. 
With the promise of jobs in Chicago - and the memory of rattled windows in Loomis - the Bodines set off for the thriving prairie metropolis, and just in time. Chicago had discovered the wonders of electricity. 
Bodine entered the booming radio market in 1924 with a specially designed loop aerial. They improved it a year later, creating a product that resulted in better reception in densely populated cities. 
In 1928, Seeburg purchased Bodine motors for their first commercial phonograph - the jukebox.
Bodine continued to expand during the war years. The "AC" series, introduced in 1940, was particularly important to the aircraft industry. These explosion-proof motors were designed for RAF bomber fuel pumps and represented 30% of Bodine production in 1942. Bodine motors powered many other war products too. Gun sights, beacons, and propeller control mechanisms were all powered by reliable, well-built Bodine motors. 
Perhaps the most exciting development in office equipment came in the late 1950s when the then Haloid Corporation approached Bodine for a motor for a new kind of copying machine. Bodine supplied the motor for the first of what was to be called the "Xerox®" machine, and continues to make special motors for many of the large copier manufacturers. 
http://www.bodine-electric.com/Asp/CompanyHistory.asp
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