In The Cradle of Industry and Liberty

EHMKE
MANUFACTURING
COMPANY
@
Above: Howard Jonathan Ehmke.
Top: Howard Ehmke, lower left, founded
Howard Ehmke Manufacturing Company
following a record-setting win in Game 1 of
the 1929 World Series. The first product
manufactured was a tarp for Philadelphia’s
Shibe Park.
Right: Left to right, Ehmke Manufacturing
Company Chief Executive Officer Robert L.
“Bob” Rosania and Chief Operating Officer
S. Clifford Stokes have ensured the future of
the diversified textile company through their
commitment and innovation.
Opposite, top: In 2015, Ehmke
Manufacturing Company employed more
than 140 men and women, with sales
exceeding $12 million.
Opposite, middle: Ehmke Manufacturing
Company has been awarded some of
the government’s largest contracts to
manufacture products for the military
such as High Ground Tactical Gear Items.
Opposite, bottom: The insulation blankets
inside of a CH-46 U.S. Department of
State Helicopter.
In 1929, Howard Jonathan
Ehmke won Game 1 of the
World Series for the Philadelphia
Athletics over the Chicago Cubs
with thirteen strikeouts—a record
that lasted twenty-five years. That
same year, he founded Howard
Ehmke Manufacturing Company
to manufacture athletic field
covers for athletic stadiums.
Ehmke, born and raised in
Silver Creek, New York, had
arrived in Philadelphia to play for
legendary manager Connie Mack of the
Philadelphia Athletics. And, immediately following
that historic Game 1, he decided to
make Philadelphia his home. Known for its
highly-skilled textile workers and fabric
industry, it was the perfect location to begin
production of covers to protect athletic fields.
From his experience on the mound,
Ehmke knew the deteriorating conditions rain
had on the infield. During inclement weather
most fields were left uncovered, while smaller
tarps pieced together loosely covered others.
He began developing a process to create
oversized, one-piece covers.
The result came in the form of a trench—
a thirty-six inch trench the width of the
building in the floor of the warehouse. In the
bottom of the trench Ehmke placed a single,
railroad rail and mounted a sewing machine
with a fitted wheel to it. The sewing machine,
mounted even with the floor, would be
ridden along the track to bind the edges of
the fabric. This allowed the huge textiles to
be sewn without having to pull the cumbersome
fabric up onto a sewing machine table.
The company’s first infield tarp was manufactured
for Shibe Park in north Philadelphia
at Twenty-First Street and Lehigh Avenue,
located directly across the street from the
Howard Ehmke Manufacturing Company. Later
renamed Connie Mack Stadium, during its
existence from 1909 to 1970 the park was
home to the Philadelphia Athletics, Philadelphia
Phillies, and the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
Visiting teams took notice of the infield
coverings and business grew. By the 1940s,
Howard Ehmke Manufacturing Company
athletic coverings were being used in college
and professional baseball and football stadiums
throughout the United States. In addition,
the company had ventured into producing
canopies and awnings. During the Great
Depression, while other companies were
folding, Ehmke persevered by staying true
to his core business and not employing more
than a few people.
Following a brief illness, Ehmke died in
early 1959. Within a month, the company was
sold to Louis S. Verna and Walter E. Rowe.
Verna and Rowe were forced to reduce the
workforce and decreased their own salaries to
free up capital.
New industries were added to the customer
base and the 1960s welcomed updated
equipment and a larger plant at Wister and
Barfield Avenues. The company was incorporated
as Ehmke Manufacturing Company, Inc.
The awning and canopy share of the business
IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBERTY
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