Globe Wernicke
Encyclopedia
History
The Globe-Wernicke Company was formed as a result of the Cincinnati based Globe Files Company (est. in 1882) purchasing the Minneapolis based Wernicke Company in 1899. The company is best known for their high end bookcaseBookcase
A bookcase, or bookshelf, is a piece of furniture, almost always with horizontal shelves, used to store books. A bookcase consists of a unit including two or more shelves which may not all be used to contain books or other printed materials. Shelves may be fixed or adjustable to different positions...
s, Desks
Desk
A desk is a furniture form and a class of table often used in a work or office setting for reading or writing on or using a computer. Desks often have one or more drawers to store office supplies and papers. Unlike a regular table, usually only one side of a desk is suitable to sit on . Not all...
, and other office furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
. Globe Wernicke established factories in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
The company patented the 'elastic bookcases' also known as a modular bookcase. These were a high quality stacking book shelves, with a standard width of 34 inches, in Oak, Walnut and Mahogany, capable of being adapted to fit together to form a bookcase which could either be all of the same measurements or which could be re-arranged by the insertion of units of different depths and heights. These glass fronted shelves now are proving to be collectable, desirable and usable antiques - with regularity these bookcases appear in auctions and internet sites and, what originally cost $75 or so will now be sold for $900 or more.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
90% of the company's business in the US was converted to produce military equipment.
Mergers and acquisitions
- In September 1955, the company was purchased by the City Auto Stamping CompanySheller-Globe CorporationSheller-Globe Corporation was a U.S. auto parts manufacturer and industrial conglomerate based in Toledo, Ohio. Formed in 1966 on a heritage of much older companies, Sheller-Globe grew through the acquisition of many other businesses before it was acquired by United Technologies Corporation in...
of Toledo, OhioToledo, OhioToledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
. - In 1963 Globe-Wernicke acquires the Weis Manufacturing CompanyWeis Manufacturing CompanyThe Weis Manufacturing Company, currently known as WoodCraft Square, is a former factory located at 800 West 7th Street in the city of Monroe in Monroe County, Michigan. It was listed as a Michigan Historic Site and added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 26, 1981.The factory...
, and changes the company name to Globe-Weis Systems Company. - In 1987 American Trading and Production Company purchases Globe-Weis, and operates them under new name - ATAPCO Office Products Group.
- In 2000 Cardinal Brands Inc. of Lawrence, KansasLawrence, KansasLawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
is formed merging Globe-Weis and four other brands.