Gustave H. Grimm (1850-1914), a German immigrant tinsmith, established the G.H. Grimm Manufacturing Company in Hudson, Ohio. His device, the Champion Evaporator, revolutionized maple syrup production with the use of a corrugated pan which increased the efficiency of evaporating liquids such as saps.
Grimm, a distant relative of the Brothers Grimm of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, was born in Baden, Germany. Grimm’s family immigrated to Northeast Ohio in 1864, bringing with them a proud tradition of tinsmithing.
In 1870, Grimm moved to Hudson, Ohio, with his wife, Esther Logan, and briefly worked with John Chapman in his tin and stove shop before opening a competing business on Main Street also selling tin wares and stoves.
For years, Grimm and Chapman harbored a bitter rivalry, which reached a boiling point in 1879 when Grimm publicly attacked Chapman’s business ethics in a scathing advertisement in the local newspaper:
“I don’t sell whisky, I don’t hire a pack of thieves to steal railroad brass and iron, nor do I steal iron trimmings from John Holmes’ feed cutter, (after selling it to him for $18). Neither do I manufacture rubber paint from whitefish oil and whiting and sell it for pure material. But I do business in a straightforward way, and early my money by receiving a fair compensation for my work and goods.”
– Hudson Enterprise, May 17, 1879
In response, Chapman made derogatory comments about Grimm’s wife, prompting Grimm to confront him with a shotgun. Grimm’s friends talked him out of retaliating, but he was arrested on a peace warrant. Grimm agreed to drop his slander suit in exchange for Chapman retracting his statement and paying Mrs. Grimm $500. Chapman made the retraction, but some accounts suggest that Chapman never made the full payment.
Grimm had no ties to the maple syrup industry, but his background in tinwork and stoves gave him valuable insight into manufacturing metal products. Grimm was approached by Hudson farmer and syrup producer Horace M. Clark (1852-1913), and the two collaborated on an evaporator design. In 1881, Grimm and Clark patented the Champion Evaporator. Clark continued to make design improvements and later took out his own patents for various evaporator innovations.
Grimm was instrumental in establishing the Western Reserve Sugar Makers Association and regularly traveled throughout the region to promote the Champion Evaporator.
Grimm also wrote scholarly articles on maple sugar and syrup production. He likely attended the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition where his former partner Horace M. Clark received the second-place award for the best maple syrup in the world.
In the 1890’s there was great discussion about importing and exporting goods over the Canadian border. Maple syrup was and still is a thriving industry in Canada. The proposed McKinley Tariff of 1890 would be detrimental to the American farmers and syrup producers. Products would be cheaper if they were imported, as opposed to the locally grown or produced items. Grimm understood this, rallied the maple sugar & syrup industries, and protested greatly. He later brought suit against the federal government for refusing to pay the costs for locally made syrup. He was becoming a nationally known advocate for the syrup industry.
Grimm built a home at 55 Oviatt Street in Hudson. He was active in the Hudson community, serving on the town council and fire department, and is credited with installing the first gasoline streetlight in Hudson on the corner of Aurora and East Main streets.
The maple syrup and sugar industries were growing and Grimm capitalized on this by establishing branches of his business in outposts of the maple belt: Montreal, Quebec and Rutland, Vermont.
Grimm and his family left Hudson and moved to Vermont in the late 1890s. Grimm then divested his interest in the Hudson branch of the company. Several individuals in Hudson continued the operations, until the 1940s when the company closed.
In 1979, architect and Hudson resident Allan Sveda converted the old evaporator factory on Ravenna Road to a retail establishment now known today as “Evaporator Works” honoring Grimm’s legacy as an inventor, researcher, and manufacturer in Hudson.
