06/07/2026
- Stamp N’ Steel Sunday -
Kokomo- “where the wheels always turn”
A 1919, industrial poster turned in to a stamp to highlight the grow industrial industry in Kokomo, Indiana, USA.
The city of Kokomo was named for the Miami Ma-Ko-Ko-Mo who was called “Chief Kokomo”.
1894 – Elwood Haynes makes the first successful trial run of his “horseless carriage” on Pumpkinvine Pike
1894 – The first pneumatic rubber tire in the US was created by D.C. Spraker
1895 – The first aluminum casting was developed by William “Billy” Johnson from the Ford and Donnelly Foundry.
1906 – The first Stellite cobalt-base alloy
1912 – Stainless steel tableware was invented by Elwood Haynes as a response to his wife’s desire for tableware that wouldn’t tarnish.
1920 – The mechanical corn picker was created by John Powell.
1923 – William Swern Sr. developed the first tire-building machine for mass production of auto tires
1928 – The first canned tomato juice was created by Walter Kemp
1938 – The first push-button car radio was created at Delco Radio Division
1941 – Globe American Stove Company manufactured the first all-metal life boats and rafts
1947 – The first signal-seeking car radio was created by the Delco Radio Division
1956 – Delco Radio Division of General Motors produced a transistorized signal-seeking car (hybrid) radio
1957 – Delco Radio Division of General Motors produced an all-transistor car radio
From 1914 through 1986, the Continental Steel Corporation facility produced nails, wire and wire fence, operations had included reheating, casting rolling, drawing, pickling, galvanizing, tinning and tempering.
Not all 1st are good however Kokomo also had:
Continental Steel Corporation filed for bankruptcy in 1986 and the soil was found to be highly contaminated and required $6 million in cleanup and mitigation.
The first aerial bomb with fins.
The howitzer shell
Largest K*K gathering- “literally half the town” were members
First person expelled from school due to AIDS- Ryan White.
A mayor who gunned down a civilian in broad daylight, still reelected, then was later shot to death in his office by the sheriff.
