Newgren
Article from Jan 11, 1947 The Daily Sentinel-Tribune (Bowling Green, Ohio)
There are no public records of the Newgren Equipment Company’s operations. But by December 1947, when the Monroe Auto Equipment Company (hereafter Monroe) purchased Newgren, it sold a full line of agricultural implements designed to work with the Jeep.
In the first years of Newgren’s operation, Robert Green shifted his focus from hydraulic systems to farm implements. He returned to hydraulic systems when Monroe replaced the Newgren lift with its own hydraulic lift in 1948. Green was granted a patent for an improvement to the Monroe Hydraulic Lift.
During this time, Green authored a book on planning and conducting farm demonstrations. It most likely became the basis for Monroe’s spring 1949 advertising campaign called “Revolution in Farming.“
We have compiled a list of ads and, most importantly, a movie that highlights the importance of demonstrating this new type of farm vehicle.
The end of Newgren
Newlin and Green retained their leadership roles at Newgren after Monroe purchased it. However, Monroe sold Newgren to American Bantam within a few months in a stock deal. In September 1948, Monroe announced that Newgren was moving from Toledo to Butler, PA, the home of American Bantam. George Newlin resigned from his position as head of the company to pursue a career in breeding purebred Guernsey cattle. He would become manager of Wood Acres Farm of Princeton, N.J.
Green remained in Ohio, retaining his role as vice president. According to a November 1, 1948, Toledo Blade newspaper article, Newgren still operated a training center at the old Toledo facility, with Green in charge. We suspect that Green would not have wanted to move to Butler and this assignment seems like a good “fit.”
Things did not work well with the Monroe-Newgren-Bantam arrangement. In late 1949, the Monroe family executives removed the responsibility of distributing the Monroe Lift and its implements from Newgren and handed it to Willys-Overland. In 1950, a new department was formed within Willys. It was to be named the Farm Sales Department. The new department was given complete control over the procurement, field testing, and distribution of implements and the Monroe Lift itself.
The Toledo Blade article dated Aug. 21, 1950, shows Green returning to Willys, along with W.W. Smelker. While there is no proof, Green and Smelker might have been a package deal arranged by Monroe when they turned the sales and distribution of their lift over to Willys.
Robert Green took a position as assistant to Charles R. Vincent, named manager of the new Willys department. The Newgren Equipment Company and the brand disappeared.
Up next, 1951-1955
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