Porter Bros. manual (image courtesy of Filson Historical Society)
Allen County native Eugene A. Porter (1841-1922) was a farmer and entrepreneur who, together with his three brothers, developed the “corn cob crusher,” a machine that processed corn into livestock feed. According to a manual at the Filson Historical Society, by 1891 E. A. Porter & Bros. corn crushers were manufactured and sold throughout the South and Midwest for prices ranging from $125 to $165.
Available at WKU’s Special Collections Library is a collection of correspondence dating from 1892 to 1895 documenting Porter’s manufacture, marketing and sale of the corn cob crusher. In letters to Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska and elsewhere, he relays orders to local manufacturers and shippers, licenses dealers, settles accounts and handles complaints. Porter’s correspondence is also interesting because it is preserved in two letter press books containing about 1,000 sheets each of tissue-thin, linen-fiber paper. Porter had written each original letter using special ink, which was then transferred to the moistened tissue paper by the use of a press. The absorbency and transparency of the paper allowed the script to be read from the front side, thus preserving a copy of the letter for Porter’s records.
A finding aid for the Eugene A. Porter collection can be downloaded here.
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I like so much about Countries history. Thanks for post.
I think thats a decent prce for a manual that old. Great post
Sounds like an interesting book. I love to discover book about businesses from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. I would love to read is letters, especially about customer complaints.
It must be a very interesting book…
Great piece Lynn. In my opinion Eugene Porter deserves to be in history books for their highly productive invention.
However, perhaps in modern days, this corn cob crusher would have been re-engineered and modified to a more modern standard.
Could you explain what a finding aid is? Since it is creative commons, does that mean that the book is available to the public to read for free?
I am quite confused here.
So are these corn cob crushers in use any more or not? Surely, if it does any good for the cattle, there must be newer versions of it been made right?
@ Chuck
Do a simple google search for Corn Cob Crushers and there are a ton of search results coming in for the modern crushers.
Obviously a very clever guy and a good business man. Is the crusher on show anywhere?
He was a resourceful guy, what other things did he develop. Also how long did his family stay in the business?
I really don’t understand why anyone would disagree with that. I think that sounds like it is something to look more closely at. I feel sometimes alot of people can be pretty narrow minded when it comes that. Well thats all for now, look forward to more post and information.. Talk to you guys later. “As in life, Chill for best results”
Is it a manual or a book?
Corn cob crusher…what a great name. Sounds like a good book
I like the name.
Fantastic blogpost, I bookmarked your blog so I can visit again in the near future, All the Best, Tim
That’s a pretty old doc. Where did you get a hold of the copy if you don’t mind me asking?
Really great book. Where did you hear about it?
Seriously…. this doesn’t sound like an interesting book to me… sorry!
The book looks very interesting, thanks for letting us know about it Lynn.
Thanks for sharing nice information with us. i like your post and all you share with us is uptodate and quite informative, i would like to bookmark the page so i can come here again to read you, as you have done a wonderful job.
This is very historical information. You really have to admire how these people lived in that time frame. Thanks.
This is an interesting historical accumulation of letters which should be treasured. Thank you for the information.
It’s our history. Thank you Lynn
This is a great inspiring article.I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Looking to reading your next post.
Great Info….history-must learn from the past…
Great post. We should really learn from history.
Excellent article. I love getting great information like this. Makes doing research online worth it. Thanks
thanks a lot for great post. i was looking for something else and landed on this post..
I always wanted to know about this, excellent.
I love history. I think this book contains some good info.
Thank you for this it means alot to me especially on the cob!
This was a very interesting read and I learned about a really important invention! Thanks!
I love old books and history. Not sure if this one is for me but i think history is cool.
im a fan of some history not particularly american though. but i do like corn, lol
I love stopping here to read your post, each one tops the next. Can’t wait for your next addition to this sweet blog
Great Post very informative
Fantastic writing.
$165 must have been alot of cash in those times. What would it equal to these days?
Well put. Thanks for the post, it was well thought and informative.
Love it thanks!
awsome info I love it thanks:)
Nice post. Never knew about this invention…
Interesting…I’ll have to follow that link to get more info on this corn cob crusher.
i like your post and all you share with us is uptodate and quite informative, i would like to bookmark the page so i can come here again to read you, as you have done a wonderful job.
Really cool piece of history. It is amazing that some of these documents still look really great. Keep up the good work and research,
Brett
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Well put. Thanks for the post, it was well thought and informative.
I love stopping here to read your post, each one tops the next. Can’t wait for your next addition to this sweet blog
Fine information, many thanks to the author