Starting in Chicago
The company began in Chicago in 1892. A Milwaukee history says MIT graduate Harry H. Cutler and partners, including Edward West Hammer, first called it the Chicago Electric and Manufacturing Company. Eaton says Cutler and Hammer incorporated the Cutler-Hammer Manufacturing Co. in 1893, making electric starters, speed regulators and rheostats.
Sources: Encyclopedia of Milwaukee: Cutler-Hammer Eaton: Our heritage, Cutler-Hammer
A move to Milwaukee
The young company nearly folded during the hard times of the 1890s. After a patent dispute with Milwaukee’s American Rheostat Company ended in a partnership, Cutler-Hammer moved to Milwaukee in 1899 and became one of the city’s big employers.
Controls for big jobs
Eaton credits Cutler with patenting the first automatic motor starter in 1900, and says the company designed control equipment for the Panama Canal. Over the years it made elevator controls, lifting magnets, theater dimmers and controls for Navy ships.
Sources: Eaton: Our heritage, Cutler-Hammer Encyclopedia of Milwaukee: Cutler-Hammer
CH panels and Eaton
The CH line of loadcenters and breakers began in 1962; Eaton’s catalog calls CH “originally a Cutler-Hammer product.” Cutler-Hammer became part of Eaton, which gives 1978, the year the deal was agreed; the Milwaukee history gives 1979. CH is still sold today under Eaton.
Sources: Eaton: Loadcenters and circuit breakers catalog, Type BR and Type CH history notes (Vol. 12, Tab 5) Eaton: Our heritage, Cutler-Hammer The New York Times: Eaton offer for Cutler (June 27, 1978) Encyclopedia of Milwaukee: Cutler-Hammer
This is a history, not an endorsement. IES isn’t affiliated with Cutler-Hammer, and its name and product names are trademarks of their owners. We use plain text, not logos.