Rand Company, Kardex, Remington-Rand

Rand Company, Kardex, Remington-Rand

The Rand family powerfully shaped the Tonawandas' business landscape over several generations. Starting in banking, the Rand men (sometimes in direct competition with one another) would become involved in filing systems, office furnishings, automatic musical instruments, and even what would be come the modern computer.  In 1908, James Rand Sr.'s Rand Company has its Plant No.1 on the west side of Goundry, near the train bridge (now a parking lot). In 1919 Rand adds Plant No.2, the former North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works (now Liston Mfg. Co.). The rival Kardex company (operated by James Rand Jr.) is in Tonawanda at Main, Wheeler and Franklin in 1920. This site is later Remington-Rand Plant No. 10 in Tonawanda, where a workers' strike is broken in early summer of 1936 (see plates 48 and 54 for maps of Plants 10 and 11).

Wikiepdia, Remington Rand Strike of 1937-1937:

The strike is notorious for spawning the "Mohawk Valley formula," a corporate plan for strikebreaking to discredit union leaders, frighten the public with the threat of violence, use local police and vigilantes to intimidate strikers, form puppet associations of "loyal employees" to influence public debate, fortify workplaces, employ large numbers of strikebreakers, and threaten to close the plant if work is not resumed.