Adaptable Awning Companies Celebrate 100 Years (or More) in Business

Sept. 5, 2012 - PRLog -- ROSEVILE, MN (August 21, 2012) – Fabric awnings and tents have played an important role in history making for over 100 years. The Wright Brothers, inventors of powered flight, were customers of Glawe Awnings & Tents, Fairborn Ohio. When Orville and Wilbur traveled to Kittyhawk, they took along two Glawe-manufactured tents. They also purchased Glawe awnings for their bicycle shop and family home.

What more could attest to a company’s ability to adapt to the times than to reach 100 years or more in business? This year the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) celebrates its 100 Year Anniversary.  A significant number of the founding companies are still in business and members of IFAI’s awning division, Professional Awning Manufacturers Association (PAMA).  This attests to these companies’ ability to change with the times, by keeping up with new equipment, products, fabrics, techniques and new technology. Today, these companies consistently provide high quality products and services to both residential and commercial markets.  In addition, the longevity of these awning companies demonstrate ongoing reliability—a trait buyers wanted over a hundred years ago, want today and will want in the future.

As part of IFAI’s 100 Year Anniversary, PAMA recognizes member companies that have been in business 100 years or more:

1840     Evanston Awning (G.B. Carpenter & Company), Evanston, IL
1844       Marygrove Ohio (Wilcox Awning of Toledo), Toledo, OH
1853       John Boyle & Co. Inc.,--Now Tri Vantage LLC., Glen Raven, NC
1855       Coye's Canvas & Awnings, Grand Rapids, MI
1861       Hudson Awning Co., Bayonne, NJ
1865       Ohio Awning & Mfg. Co., Cleveland, OH
1866       Pease Awning, East Providence, RI
1870       Baker-Lockwood Western Awning, Grandview, MO
1876       Wm. J. Mills & Co., Greenport, NY
1876       The Astrup Company - Now Tri Vantage LLC., Glen Raven, NC
1877       Engineered Textile Products, Mobile, AL
1877       Glawe Awnings & Tents, Fairborn, OH
1877       Queen City Awning, Cincinnati, OH
1880       Glen Raven, Glen Raven, NC
1880       Sunair Awnings & Screens, Jessup, MD
1881       Pike's Awning, Woodbridge, Ontario
1888       Atlantic Awning, Melrose, MA
1888       Goodwin-Cole, Inc., Sacramento, CA
1891       Pike Awning Co., Portland OR
1892     Anchor Industries, Evansville, IN
1893       Peoria Tent & Awning, Peoria, IL
1896       Rainier Industries, Seattle, WA
1898       Awnings by Bigley and Hogshire, Newport News, VA
1899       The Godske Co., Racine, WI
1901       Kansas City Tent & Awning, Kansas City, MO
1902     Ponca Products, Wichita, KS
1903       Chilson's Shops, Easthampton, MA
1903       Out West Awning Co., Colorado Springs, CO
1910       Phoenix Tent & Awning, Phoenix, AZ
1911       Memphis Delta Tent & Awning, Memphis, TN
               
And South Akron Awning, South Akron Ohio will be 100 next year in 2013.

These companies’ stories are filled with colorful accounts of America’s history.  For example, Caleb Jason Baker, founder of Baker-Lockwood Western Awning Company, Grandview, Missouri, opened his Chicago awning shop just before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. He saved his business by wrapping his equipment in waterproof canvas and throwing it into the Chicago River.

Rainier Industries, Seattle, Washington, was established in 1896 and supplied tents and fabric camping accessories to gold prospectors heading for the Alaska gold rush.

The majority of PAMA’s members are family-owned businesses that have been passed from one generation to another. Some of these companies are in their 5th and 6th generation.  

Read more about PAMA’s 100 year old member companies:
http://www.awninginfo.com/pama_100_years.html

About PAMA
PAMA provides a forum to exchange information, solve common problems and develop mutually beneficial relationships. Additional PAMA educational and professional resources are available at awninginfo.com including numerous residential and commercial awning videos highlighting the many benefits of fabric awnings and canopies.

The Professional Awning Manufacturers Association (PAMA), a division of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), is the only international trade association committed to the awning industry. PAMA membership is open to companies who are current members of IFAI and manufacture or sell awnings, as well as those who supply goods and services to the awning industry. Learn more at awninginfo.com. PAMA provides a forum to exchange information, solve common problems and develop mutually beneficial relationships.