Elsner Engineering Works, Inc. Celebrates 75th Anniversary

Known as the “Little Dutchman”, Franz “Frank” Elsner, Sr., began the business repairing equipment and designing special machinery for local manufacturers. The potato chip slicer was the first machine developed by Elsner, followed by extensive work in cigar box machinery. Until Elsner’s entry into designing and manufacturing converting machinery in the mid 1950s, Elsner continued designing and manufacturing special machinery—whose numbers exceed 400. The firm sold its first roll packaging system to convert and package gift wrap rolls in 1955 to the Tuttle Press Company.
Upon Frank, Sr.’s, passing in 1967, the founder’s two sons, Frank, Jr., and Bertram, took over the business. They worked 38 and 43 years, respectively, with the firm—with Frank, Jr., retiring in 1993 and Bertram in 2001. Now under third-generation active management, the founder’s two grandsons, Frank “Rusty”, III, and Bertram, II, operate the business.