Floorola shifted from waxing floors to scrubbing Axis foes
Floorola’s Kay Busser at work on the floor at this World War II defense industry. Also of interest: Check out these stories and photos about York County in World War II.
Al Savard, sav4940@comcast.net, works for Motion Industries, owner of the old Floorola Building at 560 Maryland Avenue.
He read my York Sunday News column that touched on World War II’s York Plan and is seeking information on Floorola.
The company is a good example of a local factory that effectively retooled for defense purposes and benefited from cooperative agreements with other York companies to score large defense contracts – the York Plan.
I included some information and photos on Floorola in my World War II history “In the thick of the fight” and Georg Sheets had a brief explanation about the company in his “Made in York:”
Maryland Avenue’s Floorola converted its operations to defense work. Floorola is long gone, but there’s still an manufacturing operations on this site in northwest York, Pa.
Before the war, Floorola produced floor waxing, polishing and scrubbing machines. During the war, it adapted its production lines to make radar parts for the Signal Corps, Bofors gun parts, Army/Navy aircraft parts, trench mortar parts. It machined shells for 105 mm guns.
Early on, Kay Busser, assistant to owner Ernest Newcomer, sought business from York Safe & Lock.
Here’s the neat thing: The shop became so busy that Busser, herself, gained an assistant to ease the workload.
Al Savard wrote that an unused flagpole stands in the parking area in front of the former Floorola building. He has learned that it was put up as a flag memorial to those who died in the war.
I bounce Al’s question to you:
“Do you have any additional information on Floorola and the flag pole? I would greatly appreciate any information or leads that you could give me on these.”
