M I S C
Other makers Workstations, Cabinets and History
Balcrank Lubrication Equipment
Cincinnati, Ohio 1940 - 1941 ?
Produced with similar components to the stand-alone oil pumps, the Service Salesman was the only merchandiser that was offered in a two-tone enamel scheme. You could have it in this yellow and red color or in a solid white enamel. It had a single counter-balanced pull-down door, parts washer, and a hidden waste cute for soiled rags. The “Velvetizer” cabinet may be the first true merchandiser produced as some ads seem to date back to 1939. It is also the only workbench that we do not have any actual photos of.
Borroughs Manufacturing Company
Kalamazoo, Michigan 1941 - ??
Built like a tank, this rare instance of their early 1940’s bench posses a two panel pulldown door, double stripped stainless trim, a blacked out peg board, and what appears to have been a large slide-out parts washer. The red benches below were most likely produced by Borroughs as well, as the trim and badging are perfect matches. Borroughs is still building workbenches today.
1 9 4 6 - 1 9 4 9
1 9 4 9 - 1 9 5 4
Sioux Tools
Sioux City, Iowa 1946 - 1954
Sioux manufactured two different styles of workbenches over the years. A Valve Service shop cabinet and a Wheel Alignment workstation. All of their Merchandisers had a wide rolled top workbench surface, no pull-down door, and star shaped handles.
Starting in March of 1949, Bear Alignment sold this Sioux manufactured bench in catalogs
ARO Equipment Corporation
Bryan, Ohio 1948 - 1950
Possessing a single stainless trim piece across the top of the cabinets and a sturdy center bench, the ARO merchandiser appears to be able to take a variety of different center sections. Much of the center benches details, like hinges, handles and proportions, lead us to believe that most of these workbenches were supplied to them by Lincoln Engineering. The side cabinets and top looked to have been built by the ARO corp. We have not seen the rectangular ARO emblem until January 1948 and after, so that is the best gauge of when these cabinets would have been manufactured.
ARO also had a deal with Natkin and Shure to produce merchandisers for them. Both agreements were short lived, and this ad image of a ARO badge added to the top of a Shure cabinet is all that is left.
John Bean Visualiner
Lansing, Michigan 1946 - 1958
Manufactured in Lansing Michigan, John Bean offered a steering service wall cabinet called the "Visualiner". It appears their were six different configurations / models. Years of manufacturing were from 1946 through the late 50's. The first year of production cabinets lacked the Visualiner top signage. Typically these models measured 137 inches wide, 70 inches tall, and 16 inches deep
Here are the variations for wide, pit mounted and so on. The projector alcove would move as well as the adjacent cabinets depending on need.
— Visualiner Variations —
In 1946 this first incarnation of the Visualiner was built out of a standard Lincoln merchandiser. The company decided to not move forward with this “on the door projection” design, and created their unique style cabinets for consumers in late ‘46.
The late 1950's model below, had no top trim and was slightly shorter than the proceeding years. The Visualiner sign did not have the right and left wings, because there were two mirrors attached to the top of the cabinet for further alignment usage.
From our research, these would be the four different manufactured styles of John Bean Visualiners.
Some John Bean cabinets being used as back-bars
Sun Electric Corporation
Chicago, Illinois 1948 - 1951
The Diagnosis Cabinet gave the mechanic a place to tuck away their Sun Test equipment. It came with a writing desk in the center and a top illuminated glass display. There looks to have been 5 different configurations. The large Sun Blue unit measured in at 13 feet wide, 17 inches deep, and 7 and a half feet tall.
Other types of Benches
Production Volume % by Brand - compared to each other
What would draw a dealership or garage to purchase Department Service Merchandisers?
To give your Service Department a clean and organized appearance. To offer the mechanics more efficiency and a dedicated work area, based on the task.
Heavy duty and modular to fit any desired configuration, these Work Stations added efficiency to any busy Service Area. All manufacturers delivered their Merchandisers enameled in White.
You would have a choice of Ad Glass for a given specialty or Marquee signage that could be customized by department or dealer.
Kent-Moore catalog - August 1940
The main manufacturers Work Station Emblems through the years
