In 1880, the two sons of Orville Ingersoll, a farmer from Michigan, founded their enterprise in New York by manufacturing and selling a great number of articles for which they believed that there was a general demand for. Until that time, pocket watches were rather expensive due to the fact that manufacturing a watch required a lot of handicraft. In contrast to big watches which had even at that time been manufactured at relatively lower prices.

 

They followed an ambitious aim on one hand to offer watches to a broad public and on the other hand to realize reasonable prices although offering real quality. In 1982 thanks to Henry Ford they succeeded to develop an automated production first for pocket watches and later for wrist watches, too. Besides the already existing handicraft production of Ingersoll watches, an automated production of watches was started.

 

At a very high quality "one watch exactly like the other" and at very reasonable prices of 1 dollar (which was a day's wages at that time), the so-called "Dollar-Watch" or "Yankee" had been born. The "Dollar Watch" became so popular, that some million watches of them had been produced. Advertisement at that time wrote: "The watch which made the dollar famous." The Ingersoll brothers had achieved considerable success on the field of sales policy.

 

By the end of World War One, Ingersoll was able to show a whole production of 50 million pocket watches. Ingersoll customers were people with 20 different mother tongues.

 

Even Mark Twain, whose creations of "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" embodied the image of the young American very successfully, was so eager to own a "Dollar-Watch" that he sent his order directly to the company. Also the famous inventor Thomas Edison relied absolutely on his "Yankee" and even Theodore Roosevelt mentioned that during his hunting in Africa his was described as "the man from the country where Ingersolls are produced."

 

The history of the United State can be reflected by this legend. A legend is alive! 

In 1880, the two sons of Orville Ingersoll, a farmer from Michigan, founded their enterprise in New York by manufacturing and selling a great number of articles for which they believed that there was a general demand for. Until that time, pocket watches were rather expensive due to the fact that manufacturing a watch required a lot of handicraft. In contrast to big watches which had even at that time been manufactured at relatively lower prices.

 

They followed an ambitious aim on one hand to offer watches to a broad public and on the other hand to realize reasonable prices although offering real quality. In 1982 thanks to Henry Ford they succeeded to develop an automated production first for pocket watches and later for wrist watches, too. Besides the already existing handicraft production of Ingersoll watches, an automated production of watches was started.

 

At a very high quality "one watch exactly like the other" and at very reasonable prices of 1 dollar (which was a day's wages at that time), the so-called "Dollar-Watch" or "Yankee" had been born. The "Dollar Watch" became so popular, that some million watches of them had been produced. Advertisement at that time wrote: "The watch which made the dollar famous." The Ingersoll brothers had achieved considerable success on the field of sales policy.

 

By the end of World War One, Ingersoll was able to show a whole production of 50 million pocket watches. Ingersoll customers were people with 20 different mother tongues.

 

Even Mark Twain, whose creations of "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" embodied the image of the young American very successfully, was so eager to own a "Dollar-Watch" that he sent his order directly to the company. Also the famous inventor Thomas Edison relied absolutely on his "Yankee" and even Theodore Roosevelt mentioned that during his hunting in Africa his was described as "the man from the country where Ingersolls are produced."

 

The history of the United State can be reflected by this legend. A legend is alive!