Secretary Sandwich Early Day Engine Club, Box 43, Somonauk,
Illinois 60552
After 125 years, the final chapter in the story of the Sandwich
Manufacturing Company recently drew to a close.
Baird & Warner Company, Industrial Real Estate Division,
announced the sale of a 153,000 square foot manufacturing and
warehouse facility at 95 North Main Street, Sandwich, Illinois to
the Henderson Engineering Company of Addison, Illinois. Conversion
of the property by Henderson, a manufacturer of industrial air
filters, has been completed. Asking price for the property was
$570,000.
The property was owned by Avco-New Idea, a subsidiary of Avco
Corporation and was used as a warehouse and parts distribution and
dealer’s trailing center. A longtime Sandwich manufacturer,
Avco-New Idea has constructed a new distribution center in the Quad
Cities area to consolidate its Sandwich and Fort Dodge, Iowa
operations. The firm will retain a portion of its operations in the
Sandwich facility temporarily.
The Sandwich Manufacturing Company was founded in 1856 by
Augustus Adams and his two sons to build hand corn shellers. This
was soon expanded into other types of agricultural equipment, and
in about 1912 they entered into the production of the Sandwich
‘Excess Power’ gasoline and kerosene engines. While the
company never became a giant in the ag-machinery field, they did
make their mark by building a dependable, quality product.
Because of the change from horses to tractors, and the
pre-Depression squeeze on the farmer, in 1930 the company was sold
to the New Idea Company of Coldwater, Ohio. This gave New Idea a
branch factory to cover an extended area, and filled some gaps in
their product line. New Idea continued to manufacture products at
the Sandwich plant until the age of the buildings and the decline
in sales of the products made here made its use uneconomical.
Since the purchase of New Idea by Avco Corporation, Avco-New
Idea has continued to build quality products, and with the purchase
of the Uni-Harvestor System from Minneapolis-Moline, now a division
of White, expanded their line to make up for the loss in sales of
many of their other types of equipment.
While we wish Avco-New Idea and Henderson Engineering well in
their endeavors, it is sad to see the end of an era at the old
Sandwich plant. Hopefully as we hold our 10th annual Sandwich Early
Day Engine Club Show on June 27 and 28, 1981, the old plant will
see a few of its offspring enroute to the Sandwich Fairgrounds, and
maybe the sounds of about 400 engines of all types will carry the
mile between the two.