Erie can be justly proud of Wilbur Henry Adams, the famous industrial designer who was born in Erie and who ran an innovative studio from his Wolf Rd. farmhouse. Trained at Carnegie Tech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Adams worked on important industrial design projects from New York to Hollywood, before returning to Erie to start a private studio.

He was sought after by many prestigious national companies, who hired him to lend his artistic vision to redesigning everything from appliances to trucks and buses. Adams' range was exceptional--he designed a float for the Rose Bowl in California and also had a hand in the construction of the largest drive-in theater screen in the world. It is estimated that Adams created approximately $50,000,000.00 worth of designs during his prolific career.

Adams' originality can be seen in the way he tackled industrial design obstacles, turning in brilliantly imaginative and innovative solutions to

thorny problems. One of the best examples of his ability to make the proverbial "lemonade out of lemons," was the child's tricycle he created for the Colson Corporation of Elyria, Ohio. Designed during World War II, the Colson tricycle was a clever response to the shortage of metal products. During a three month period, the United States War Production Board actually banned the building of all juvenile bicycles, in order to conserve metal. Adams' response was to build a tricycle made almost entirely of wood, with recycled rubber tires. The Colson tricycle, with the motto, "Children will play again," was Adams' own symbol of hope during one of the darkest, most trying periods of our nations' history.

BACK