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YEOMAN & COMPANY
MONTICELLO, IA |
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 William F. Yeoman (front) with sons Williard, Orvin, and Harold.  Thomas W. Yeoman, President and Chief Executive Officer |
Yeoman & Company was founded in Monticello, Iowa at the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. William F. Yeoman, living in rural Monticello, Iowa, with his wife, Edna, and four children, resigned his position as a salesman for a farm equipment manufacturer to produce a lawn rake and snow shovel for the hardware market. Bill contracted with area manufacturers to fabricate steel rake heads and shovel blades. He located sources for wooden handles in nearby Wisconsin. The components were shipped to Monticello where they were assembled in the basement of the Yeoman home. Employees were family members in the beginning. Once tools were assembled, Bill loaded them into the family automobile and, along with his eldest son, Willard, headed for small towns in the region to peddle them to hardware stores. The company’s products became known as "YO-HO" tools, reflecting the Yeoman name and that of two local brothers named Hoag who had invested in the business in the middle 1930s. They later sold their share of the company back to Bill. The original YO-HO spring-steel snow shovel, which was introduced in the early 1930s, is a mainstay today in the company’s line of snow tools. Bill Yeoman’s round-tooth rake became the company’s first product and is a popular tool in the YO-HO lawn and garden tool line today. By 1935, the company required additional space and moved into a manufacturing building in Monticello. The Yeoman family moved to an apartment over the facility, which allowed Bill to keep a close watch on production operations. Work started early in the morning and lasted well into the evening during peak times. During World War II, the company was designated as an essential industry and produced tools for Victory Gardens, which helped feed Americans on the home front and in military service. YO-HO snow tools were used by the U.S. Navy to clear the decks of aircraft carriers operating in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. As the company’s early years passed, tools were added to both the winter and lawn and garden tool lines. The post-war period saw the introduction of aluminum snow shovels and pushers. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Yeoman & Company’s business continued as usual. Tools were manufactured and marketed primarily in the states adjacent to Iowa. Bill Yeoman died in 1964, leaving the company in the hands of Willard, who was president, and his brothers, Orvin and Harold. Yellow YO-HO tools, the company’s distinctive signature color, were introduced in 1971 with the addition of an electrostatic powder coating system to the manufacturing operation. The company was the first west of the Mississippi River to finish products using a production powder coating process. Willard, choosing early retirement, turned the company over to Orvin and Harold in 1974. Five years later, Tom Yeoman, Orvin’s son, joined the company in sales and marketing. This move would signal a decade of growth for the company through the 1980s. Polyethylene tools were added to the YO-HO line in 1980. By the end of 1983, Harold had left the company, Orvin headed the management team and Tom had been elected a vice president by the board of directors. During the same period, the company undertook an aggressive approach to marketing, seeking to broaden its customer base and begin a steady sales and earning growth. On May 5, 1992, Tom Yeoman was elected president and chief executive officer, succeeding Orvin as president. The 1990s continued as a decade of change, and the new millenium promises more of the same as Yeoman & Company competes in the new century. High quality yellow YO-HO tools are sold from coast to coast in North America and overseas. The company has moved into a new corporate office and manufacturing complex, and an adjacent warehouse in Monticello. Applying state-of-the-art technology has allowed Yeoman & Company to steadily increase its manufacturing throughput, ensuring that customer orders are processed and shipped in a timely fashion. Excellent quality and customer service remain the company’s goal, continuing the philosophy initiated in 1929 by Bill Yeoman. |