W.C.
Coleman was a schoolteacher, a son of parents who had migrated west from
New England in 1871. In an effort to broaden his knowledge, he quit teaching
and entered the University of Kansas Law School. He had a dual handicap:
little money and poor eyesight. When he was within a year of getting his
law degree, he ran out of money even though he had been living for over
a year on canned tomatoes, brown sugar, and day-old bread.
He started selling typewriters to replenish his depleted funds in a coal-mining town of Brockton, Alabama. It was there that he saw a brilliant light coming from a drug store window. It was so bright even Mr. Coleman with his bad eyes could read comfortably in its light. The light came not from Mr. Edison’s invention but from a flame powered by gasoline that caused a mantle to glow with an intense white brilliance.
Mindful of the millions who had nothing better than smoky wick-type lamps, flickering gas lights, or the dim glow from carbon filament light bulbs, W.C. Coleman saw the lamp as a boon to mankind. There was a need for good light on farms and in towns and villages, the vast majority of which had no electricity. He was determined to fill that need.W. C. made arrangements with Irby-Gilliland Co. of Memphis, Tennessee, Owners of the Efficient Gasoline Lighting System, to sell this new-fangled lamp that burned gasoline under pressure. W. C. was so successful at promoting and selling this product that he soon purchased the patent for the lamp. This was the beginning of The Coleman Company.
When Franklin Roosevelt became President, massive rural electrification was launched. It appeared that markets for gasoline lights and gasoline stoves would decline substantially. The use of the lantern and camp stove for outdoor recreation had barely begun. This situation meant the Company had to find new products for growth markets and find them quickly.Coleman identified two markets - oil space heaters, to replace the wood and coal heaters then in use, and gas floor furnaces, a low-cost product bringing automatic heating to parts of the country where natural gas was available. For the Coleman Company, there was only one approach: design a product that would be the best of its kind. And this they did, using innovations in both design and manufacturing which revolutionized oil heaters and gas floor furnaces. Thus it was here Coleman started manufacturing products for indoor home comfort.
In 1991, shortly
after the death of Sheldon Coleman, W. C.’s son, the Coleman Company was
sold. The heating and air conditioning division, recognized by the industry
to be a leader in design and innovation, was a pearl waiting to be found.
In 1996, York International took the initiative and purchased Evcon Industries,
manufacturer of Coleman Heating and Air Conditioning Products. This union
has enhanced the product, by making a proven commercial product offering
available to an already proven residential line. The multi-million dollar
research and development lab built by Sheldon Coleman's efforts in Wichita,
Kansas is still maintaining the creative thinking that has kept the Coleman
products on the leading edge. This along with the parent company’s devotion
to the heating and air conditioning industry, assure continued growth in
market share as well as consumer satisfaction.