HOMEGROWN

EARLY FARM MANUFACTURERS THRIVED IN SMALL-TOWN AMERICA

The industrial base of Salem, Ohio, where I long lived, is today a pale shadow of the booming factories, foundries and machine shops that once crowded along the railroad tracks at the southern end of town. Long-forgotten firms with names such as Buckeye Engine, Victor Stove, Silver & Deming, Grove Chewing Gum, Salem Wire Nail Mill, Aetna Mfg. and Salem Mfg. Co. once gave employment to thousands of men and boys.

Many of these manufacturing concerns were started by men who recognized the need for a product, and who had the ability or the genius, as well as