Most immigrants who arrived in North America came with one goal—to improve their economic
circumstances. They expected that this would involve hard work and commitment, and
they were right, whatever the occupation they chose or place they settled. Some were
self-employed as entrepreneurs and artists; a number came to develop ideas and innovations
that would change the way people live. Some examples of this include Levi Strauss—blue
jeans; Roy Jacuzzi—the first whirlpool bath; and Italo Marcioni—the first ice cream
cone. Among the many success stories is also the life and career of a Finland-Swede
who has yet to receive much attention: Erhard Johannes Vilhelmsson Alm who invented,
among other things, the portable tire vulcanizing machine that is common in most service
stations today.
Born in Terjärv on April 24, 1901, and raised on a farm in Kronoby, Finland, Erhard Alm was the second son of Anders
Wilhelm and Alina Alm.
He was a boy of seventeen when an itinerant evangelist visited their
hometown in Swedish-speaking Finland. Along with other young people in the area, he
underwent a personal conversion, which led to a strong, lifelong commitment and spiritual
faith. Alm was well read, but achieved only an elementary education (Alm and Shaw
1). Throughout his life, he developed several distinctive careers—each of which complements
the others. Beginning in the early 1920s, Alm bought a Fordson tractor that he used
to plough fields in the farming area of Kronoby. Because of its efficiency and faster
speed, the tractor soon supplanted the use of horses. During that first summer, Alm
ploughed farms day and night. The harvests improved and the modern ploughman received
recognition and fame (Myhrman 2).
Recognition and fame did not follow Alm when he moved on to another venture and possible
career. In 1923 as a student at the Nykarleby Folk Academy, he participated in a class
outing to the Keppo mansion farmstead in Jeppo, where Alm was introduced to chicken
farming and incubators. In 1925, with the help of his brother, Alm established a chicken
farm at Merjärv by obtaining 500 Leghorn and Plymouth Rock chicken eggs from Keppo
as well as from Czechoslovakia (Myhrman 2). Everything went well at the beginning
and on June 10, 1925, Alm was able to marry Hildur Sofia Mattsdotter Mattsson of Lepplax. But six weeks after the wedding, when the the chicken farm had been in operation
for only six months, a dog broke into the farm and killed hundreds of baby chickens.
With the loss of the chickens and after some “strong words from his father, he decided
to leave for Canada” (Alm and Shaw 2).
In July, 1925, Erhard and Hildur Alm arrived in Windsor, Ontario, which was then suffering
a shortage of construction workers. If one was able to saw wood or hammer a nail into wood in ten stokes, one was considered
a carpenter. With a few hundred dollars, one could build a home. With a mere $20 of
his own money, and with brother-in-law Ture Mattson’s $275 loan, he started a house
construction business. In Windsor the first of his children were born: Ethel Grace
on March 18, 1926, and Doris Evelyn on September 1, 1929. Within four years, Alm had
invested some $50,000 in lots and house construction. Then in 1931 the Great Depression
struck, and in an instant Alm was left with two houses, a few worthless parcels of
land, and some stocks. This brought to an end his construction career, and the family
relocated to Toronto hoping to rebuild its fortunes.
The next stage in Alm’s career began with a few pieces of equipment necessary for
wallpapering. He earned a living for his family over the next several years as a paper
hanger and painter. Son Douglas Bernard was born in Toronto on September 2, 1934.
In 1938 when his brother Olof had begun working in the tire repair business, Alm saw
the need for a reasonably priced tire vulcanizer. He established an aluminum foundry in the basement of his home in 1939, and with
the coming of World War II, Alm turned out a number of conventional vulcanizers, a
highly prized device during a period when rubber for tires was not easily available.
This basement factory employed a total of eleven workers, and Alm sold over $150,000
worth of equipment before the war ended.
As early as 1941, Alm conceived the idea of a portable vulcanizing machine that would
be light and cheap, and could be used in service stations. However, over the next
ten years, some other business ventures of his did not become commercial successes.
These included inventions such as the water level—an instrument to show the level
by means of the surface of water in a trough or in a U-shaped tube—and a new type
of residential furnace and radiant heating system, as well as a car and truck sander.
In due course Alm’s attention returned to the portable vulcanizing machine. A prototype
was built in 1956, and was promoted among industry leaders. Within two years, the
Vulcan Equipment Company succeeded in breaking into the market. The new invention
revolutionized the vulcanizing industry in North America and Europe, and Alm’s company
became the largest manufacturer of vulcanizing machinery in the world (Myhrman 3,
and Alm and Shaw 3). The VULCAN MPB Passenger Section Repair Mold cut curing time
from 90 to 30 minutes and required the minimum electricity; furthermore it was mass
produced at a price that inspired the creation of tire repair and retread shops around
the world. In a few years, there were over 10,000 machines sold in forty different countries.
By 1963 some seventy employees worked at Vulcan Equipment, twenty of whom were of
Scandinavian extraction. About 90% of the total production was exported outside Canada.
In 1961 the business had been passed on to his son Bernie Alm (who died in 1992).
Although the business is no longer within the Alm family, it is still in operation
in Scarborough, Ontario. Known today as Vulcan-Vulcap Industries Inc., under the leadership
of Heinz Haischt, the plant manufactures tire retreading and tire repair equipment,
offers hands-on training and turnkey operation programs designed to help start up
or upgrade tire repair and retreading businesses with top quality, affordable equipment
(see
http://www.vulcanvulcap.com).
Over time, the company diversified and branched out into truck and large earthmover
machines and tire spreaders, as well as equipment for conveyor belt repair, a revolutionary
idea that Alm developed in 1962 (Myhrman 4). In fact, the invention of a vulcanizing
machine that renewed the worn surfaces of conveyor belts led to an enterprise that
was to become an industry leader in North America and the greatest success of Alm’s
career. In time it passed under the control of his daughter Doris and son-in-law
Jim Shaw of Parry Sound, Ontario. The company is called Shaw-Almex today, and it has
offices on five continents and customers in over 95 countries. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Parry Sound plant produced jacks and hoists, and
a tire changer, not to mention a dredge pump and block-laying machines. Today, the
industrial products division custom designs equipment systems for the rubber and carpet
industries, for composite and aerospace applications, and for specialty vinyl-clad
cabinets and furniture. The overall success of these two major businesses that continue
in operation today is remarkable.
Erhard J. Alm was a genius, always thinking of unusual and practical solutions to
basic problems in several different fields. A post-retirement career developed from
his keen interest in and awareness of health and medicine, and Alm began to study
health issues, especially the area of nutrition. He concluded that many illnesses
would be avoidable if people had proper nutrition. Indeed, some illnesses could be
cured simply by a diet that includes many vegetables, fruits, natural juices, and
especially wheat germ. In other words, a healthy meal. Erhard published his findings
and opinions in the weekly Finland-Swedish newspaper Norden in Brooklyn, New York. His discoveries also received media coverage in Finland and
Canada. These articles created much interest in and awareness of his ideas and led
to the publication in 1973 of the 286 page book Nitrilocid[er] B [sup 17]: Bot för Kancer och Leukemi [Cure for Cancer and Leukemia]. The subtitle of the book is misleading, because the
text discusses several other
illnesses that can be cured by healthy food combined with vitamins. The book also
explains how people can regain their health by following these dietary regimens (Myhrman
4). Building on the success of this book, Alm revised and reprinted it a number of
times during the next eight years, during which time it was also twice translated
into Finnish. The Finnish and Finland-Swedish press in Finland and the United States followed his
health initiatives with great interest.
Alm was a man of faith throughout his life. He was very active in several Toronto
area congregations, including the Swedish church and the Baptist churches in the region.
His strong religious commitment is evident among his descendants as well, and can
be symbolically noted on one of the business websites. Erhard J. Alm passed away in July 15, 1984. He was an unusual man whom many people
did not fully understand. His achievements deserve to be remembered. He is an example
of the hopes and desires many immigrants had as they arrived in this land of promise
and opportunity. Seldom do we hear of success stories such as this, and it is an honour
to recognize his contributions in the fields of entrepreneurship and industry.