Benjamin Electric Manufacturing Company was a Des Plaines, Illinois electrical company founded in the late 19th century.
The company was founded by Reuben Berkley Benjamin and filed its first patent for an electric lamp socket in 1898. The company went on to manufacture various other electrical products. One of Benjamin's most notable products was their series of non-contact fire alarm horns, introduced in the early 1920s. They were available in flush-mount, single, and double projector versions, in either red or gray. These horns were mainly used by IBM, and later SimplexGrinnell up until the 1960s. In 1958, Benjamin was bought out by Thomas Industries, Inc.
The company's factory in Illinois was closed in 1963, and was replaced with a new light fixture plant in Sparta, TN.
Biography of Reuben Berkley Benjamin and background history of Benjamin Electric Manufacturing Company / Benjamin Electric, Ltd. London
Citation and summarization from:
• The Electrical World, June 2, 1923
• Article from The Alumnus of Iowa State, by Arch. R. Crawford, 1931
• In Memoriam of R. B. Benjamin, ’92; article from Vol. XXIX, January 1934
• Obituary - Reuben B. Benjamin: In Memoriam, January 1934
• Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, “EIIR The Coronation Booklet” – published by Holophane Ltd. November 9, 1953
Reuben Berkley Benjamin, born May 20, 1869, in Fulton, New York, to Timothy R. and Harriet E. Benjamin, and died December 26, 1933. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, class of 1892, and was one of the three men to whom Iowa State College first granted a degree in Electrical Engineering, at Ames, Iowa, in 1892. After graduation, Mr. Benjamin entered the chosen field of his profession, as employed by the Commonwealth Edison Company in Chicago.
He invented the wireless cluster, a device which perfected and revolutionized the lighting fixture. In 1901, with his patents, Benjamin partnered with three Ames men (from Iowa State College): W. Clyde Jones, Walter D. Steele, and Keene H. Addington, law partner of Mr. Jones. He launched a business from his Chicago home's basement with his wife, Annie Knott Benjamin as his bookkeeper. He continued to engage in the invention and manufacture of electrical appliances. Reuben was the head of the Benjamin Electric Manufacturing Company, which expanded from Chicago to New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Canada and London, England. He patented more than 350 devices, mostly in the field of electric lighting, with more patents pending at the time of his death. He was fourth among inventors in the United States for the number of patents received with Edison as the number one. He was a proficient mathematician, skilled engineer, and a competent executive; as well as a member of the American Association of Electrical Engineers.
In addition to the wireless cluster, he was the inventor of the weatherproof, one-piece socket-reflector dome lighting system, the swivel plug, the Benjamin Crysteel Porcelain Enameled products (e.g. table tops, stove parts, washing machine tubs, refrigerators, refrigerator linings, and similar products), the “Benco” socket, “Benox” interchangeable devices, two-way plugs, many designs of industrial lighting equipment, safety lighting for oil refineries and places where gases or explosive dusts are present, besides hundreds of wiring improvements, many of which have been generally adopted. He was a collaborator in the development of “Elexits.”
He was also the inventor of the R.L.M. (Reflector and Lamp Manufacturers), and this patent was sold to General Electric Company who in turn licensed its use to manufacturers. The R. L. M. reflector dome and others developed by the Benjamin Company have had a profound influence in the improvement of industrial illumination, and it is difficult to estimate the dollar value of the increased production and efficiency that have resulted since their introduction. Many electrical consumers, industrial and domestic, use one or more of Mr. Benjamin's inventions, including two, three and four-way wireless plugs, wireless and adjustable stand-lamp clusters, swivel attachment plugs, R. L. M. Dome Reflectors, weatherproof sockets, and many others. Additional patents issued to Mr. Benjamin cover speed control devices for gasoline engines, carburetors, safety devices for punch presses, laundry machinery safety devices, radio condensers, and automatic temperature control devices for flatirons.