Jenkintown / Pennsylvania / United States
The company was originally incorporated as Filler Machine Company on April 14, 1914 by John F. Geyer in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. John Geyer was working at the time as a mechanical engineer for Baldwin Locomotive Works. An acquaintance of his, John Macmahon was an executive for American Preserve Company, a manufacturer of jams, jellies and preserves also located in Philadelphia. American Preserves volume of product was growing and they had been searching for an improved method of filling their products. They were doing what was typical at the time, filling jars by hand. Using his engineering skills, John proposed a new method of filling containers that measured then dispensed the product which we know today as the piston filling method. Mr. Macmahon lent John Geyer $500 to get his new business off the ground and also became his business partner. The first filler was built in space John Geyer rented from a local machine shop and it was a 4 cylinder automatic. It was crude, but it worked. So after this first machine was successfully installed, American Preserves immediately ordered four more machines. In the meantime, John had quit his job with Baldwin and Filler Machine Company was created. By 1919, with the company firmly established and was operating from the building shown in the photo upper left. In that year John Geyer bought out Mr. Macmahon for $20, 000. There are many anecdotal stories about customers we have manufactured machines for over the years. Companies that started very small and became large national companies such as the Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson, HJ Heinz, JM Smucker Company as well as many others. In fact, when John F. Geyer passed away in 1931 at only 49 years old, Richard Hellman ( founder of Hellmans mayonnaise and Best Foods ) had a national radio show dedicated to him in his honor. Upon his passing, his wife Blanche took over company operations until her son, John H. Geyer was of age. He took over operations of the company in 1945 after serving 4 years in World War II in the army infantry. The company moved to its current location in Rockledge, Pennsylvania ( a suburb of Philadelphia ) in 1955. Tim and Terry Geyer, sons of John H. Geyer and grandsons of the founder, took over company operations upon their fathers passing in 1982. Today, we pride ourselves on designing and manufacturing the highest quality packaging machinery. And after 94 years in the packaging industry, we are still a family run business. Not many companies can make that claim. We take each customers needs and requirements very seriously and will do whatever it takes to meet or exceed your expectations.
