Bobcat’s history will soon be an exhibit for history buffs, thanks to a donation from the company. Scott Nelson, president of Bobcat, donated 58 boxes of corporate records to the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History in 2008. The records, which span from the 1940s to 2008, will be housed in the museum’s Archive Center and will be available for viewing from November 30 through January 17, 2010.
Bobcat’s donation includes records relating to manufacturing, marketing and business development. The record tells Bobcat’s story from its beginning as family-owned Melroe Manufacturing in 1947 to the creation of the four-wheeled Bobcat skid steer and how that creation led the company into the Bobcat of today. Bobcat’s story will be told through photographs, product literature, advertisements, employee newsletters, drawings, scrapbooks and audiovisual materials.
“Equipment industry experts have called Bobcat a national treasure, and we are pleased the Smithsonian archivists agreed that our materials should be preserved for future generations,” says Leroy Anderson, marketing communication manager and Bobcat historian.
To learn more about the Bobcat collection, visit the National Museum of American History’s website here or the Archive Center’s website here .
