HYPERLOCAL NEWS HUB BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM
Cooper-Young and the Coin-Operated Horse
Ashli Blow/MicroMemphis Reporter
September 28, 2011
“It began when the owner of the first Memphis supermarkets, Mr. Fred Montesi, had asked my father to make a machine similar to one at the gym that he could use at home,” said owner of Memphis Metal Manufacturing Company, Bill Mason. “So we put a 55 metal drum with a motor on it and one of the guys said ‘You know this kind of simulates a horse.' Then they cut down metal and welded a horse’s head and they put on a tail. That was the design.” This is how a Cooper-Young company would be become the inventor of "The Mechanical Wonder Horse." William B. Mason, Jr. is the current president of one of Cooper-Young’s oldest businesses. He took over for his father William B. Mason, the creator of the first mechanical horse. Mason, Sr. developed it in 1950 with the help of co-founder, C.T. Small. The mechanical horse, named Crusader, quickly became a grocery and department store phenomenon. Metal Manufacturing Company created the gold coin operated horses in Cooper-Young and sold them for $925.00 – the price of an automobile at the time. The company sold 400 models and leased 600 to various stores across the nation. |
After their lease had ended Bill Mason, Jr. came up with the idea of Bozo’s Circus Horse, which were simply the refurbished and cleaned up Mechanical Wonder Horses that were returned from stores.
The company also created the “Pouncing Pal” - a spring-loaded horse that could be put in your own home.
Memphis Metal Manufacturing stopped creating the horses in 1970, but is still a thriving company today just as it was when it was founded in 1945.
Although best known for their horses, the company's roots are grounded in materials you don't generally see advertised in the toy section. C.T. Small and William B. Mason began working out of the back of a Studebaker car on South Cleveland. They manufactured fan parts. But when they turned their focus to home air venturis, a crucial part in cooling systems, the business developed quickly. They started in 1945 until they put in a request to buy a plot on Tanglewood in 1946.
“The property used to house a cotton seed oil plant, but it had been burned, and it was overgrown with weeds. I remember that there used to be a tree in the middle, however, we were granted the permit by the City of Memphis. So in 1947 they built the rest of the warehouse in 1966,” said Mason.
Although best known for their horses, the company's roots are grounded in materials you don't generally see advertised in the toy section. C.T. Small and William B. Mason began working out of the back of a Studebaker car on South Cleveland. They manufactured fan parts. But when they turned their focus to home air venturis, a crucial part in cooling systems, the business developed quickly. They started in 1945 until they put in a request to buy a plot on Tanglewood in 1946.
“The property used to house a cotton seed oil plant, but it had been burned, and it was overgrown with weeds. I remember that there used to be a tree in the middle, however, we were granted the permit by the City of Memphis. So in 1947 they built the rest of the warehouse in 1966,” said Mason.
Photographs courtesy of Memphis Metal Manufacturing Company, Inc.
Mason said that in recent years, the company struggled financially, but business picked back up in 2010. Memphis Metal Manufacturing makes custom parts from steel to aluminum at a company’s request for the piece.
“We like to stay low profile but we’re an international business,” said Mason,” We’ve had parts in Europe, in space, and in the Olympics.”
Memphis Metal Manufacturing Company, Inc. today through pictures:
All photos taken by Ashli Blow
About the Reporter
Ashli Blow is a reporter for MicroMemphis and a student at The University of Memphis majoring in Broadcast News and Marketing. Follow her on twitter!