With the invention of the electrical starting system installed in General Motors’ luxury Cadillac line of vehicles in 1912, the market for lead automobile batteries was born. Consumers eager to ditch their crank-started cars clamored for battery powered autos, and that demand was met in the United States by a small number of determined entrepreneurs, mostly operating out of their home garages.
This is the story of how that group of visionaries came together a century ago to pursue a common purpose—to protect and promote their rapidly growing trade. Those entrepreneurs eagerly seized the opportunities afforded them by the skyrocketing demand for auto batteries but were also cognizant of the challenges they all faced in managing that growth, recognizing the need for structure and organization as they moved their industry forward.
