photograph
Catalog Number
2022.24.257
Description
Black and white photograph of machinery at one of the Prince Manufacturing factories ca. 1969.
This photo was taken by Holland, MI resident and photographer Ted Jungblut, Jr. Ted's business was Holland Photography, located at 326 River Ave in Holland.
History
Ed Prince began the Prince Manufacturing Company in 1965 in Holland, MI on Windcrest Drive, near US-31 (1966, 1967 and 1969 city directories). In 1967 Ed had his wife Elsa working as treasurer and brother-in-law Ted Zwiep serving as vice-president. By 1969 he had hired Konrad Marcus as vice-president (1969 city directory).
Head of assembly in those early years was Henry Vander Kolk. Wayne Alofs served as plant manager. Both Henry and Wayne had worked with Ed at Buss Machinery. By 1977 John Spoelhof had become vice-president (1977 city directory).
Early products produced at Prince include visors for the 1972 Cadillac, map lights for 1978 Ford Mustangs and floor consoles for 1979 Cadillac Sevilles. By 1980 Prince had 450 employees and a payroll of $6 million.
By 1985 Prince had set up shop at 700 South Waverly. After the death of Ed Prince in 1995 much of the company was sold to Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, WI.
Gift of
Adient US LLC