MSS 861 AV Lustron Corporation Records

              MSS 861
L u s t r o n C o r p o r a t i o n
( Col umbus, Ohio) Records
3/ 4 cubic f o o t
S t a n d a r d i n v e n t o r y
C o l l e c t i o n Synopsis
Provenance: The Ohio His t o r i cal S o c i e t y a c q u i r e d t h e Lus t r o n
C o r p o r a t i o n ( Columbus, Ohio) Records as a g i f t of Lustron Cor-p
o r a t i o n ' s former marketing d i r e c t o r , R . Harold Denton, A r l i n g t o n ,
V i r g i n i a , in J u l y 1984. Kathleen McIntyre Conway processed t h e
c o l l e c t i o n in J u l y 1984.
P r o p e r t y r i g h t s : The Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y owns t h e p r o p e r t y
r i g h t s t o t h i s c o l l e c t i o n .
C o p y r i g h t s : R . Harold Denton has d e d i c a t e d such c o p y r i g h t s as
he p o s s e s s e s i n t h i s c o l l e c t i o n t o t h e p u b l i c . C o n s i d e r a t i o n
of a l l o t h e r c o p y r i g h t s i s t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of the a u t h o r and
pub1 i s h e r .
Access: This c o l l e c t i o n i s open under t h e r u l e s and r e g u l a t i o n s
of t h e Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y .
C i t a t i o n : Researchers a r e r e q u e s t e d t o c i t e c o l l e c t i o n name,
c o l l e c t i o n number, and the Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y in a l l f o o t -
note and bi bl i o g r a p h i c r e f e r e n c e s .
T r a n s f e r s : Photographs were t r a n s f e r r e d to t h e a u d i o v i s u a l
c o l l e c t i o n s , SC 4669, in J u l y 1984.
H i s t o r i c a l s k e t c h : The Lustron Corporation was founded i n t h e
mid- 1940s by Carl G , Strandlund, an e n g i n e e r who was v i c e - p r e s i d e n t
and g e n e r a l manager of t h e Chicago V i t r e o u s Enamel Products Company.
In 1946, S t r a n d l u n d went b e f o r e a f e d e r a l c o n t r o l board in
Washington, D . C . , t o r e q u e s t an a l l o t m e n t o f s t e e l so t h a t Chicago
V i t r e o u s could b u i l d p r e f a b r i c a t e d gas s t a t i o n s . The board denied
h i s r e q u e s t c l a i m i n g t h a t they would be c r i t i c i z e d f o r a l l o w i n g gas
s t a t i o n s t o be b u i l t while t h e r e was a housing s h o r t a g e .
From t h i s i n c i d e n t S t r a n d l u n d g o t t h e idea t o develop a p r e f a b r i c a t e d
house made of baked enamel s t e e l . In 1947, with a $ 12.5 m i l l i o n loan
from t h e R e c o n s t r u c t i o n Finance Corporation ( RFC), S t r a n d l u n d moved
t o Columbus, Ohio, and s t a r t e d r e t o o l i n g t h e C u r t i s s - W r i g h t p l a n t
f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n of Lustron homes.
Strand1 und planned on producing t h o u s a n d s o f homes a n n u a l l y a t h i s
f a c t o r y . The houses, i n c l u d i n g t h e nuts and b o l t s , would be shipped
on s p e c i a l l y made t r a i l e r s t o a u t h o r i z e d d e a l e r s and b u i l t by a crew
of f o u r i n about 350 h o u r s . All s u r f a c e s , i n c l u d i n g t h e i n t e r i o r
w a l l s and c e i l i n g s and t h e r o o f , were of baked enamel s t e e l . The
f i n i s h e d houses were f i r e p r o o f , r u s t p r o o f , t e r m i t e - p r o o f and p r a c t i -
c a l l y maintenance f r e e . Plans t o s e l l t h e house a t about $ 10,000
made them a few thousand d o l l a r s c h e a p e r t h a n s i m i l a r houses b u i l t
of c o n v e n t i o n a l m a t e r i a l s .