For sale is an original 1908 WESTINGHOUSE COMPANY BUSINESS LETTER, Schenectady, NY, addressed to Mr. John Paynter, Fremont, Ohio. This cryptic letter appears to be the company asking an attorney to investigate the prospects of filing a claim against a judgment note resulting from a business dispute. My favorite part of this odd letter is that the author instead of signing his/her name signed the letter as being from “The Westinghouse Company”. This antique business letter is in excellent condition.
More than any other man, George Westinghouse was responsible for the introduction and development of alternating current for light and power. With the desire to turn ideas into enterprises, he founded Westinghouse Electric and 59 other companies, eventually receiving more than 360 patents for his work. His firm faith in the alternating-current system led to the founding of the Westinghouse Electric Company in 1886, which was in bold opposition to the well-entrenched backers of the direct-current system, led by Thomas Edison. But in a span of just 10 years, the value of the alternating-current system had been convincingly demonstrated. By the turn of the century, Westinghouse’s enterprises had grown to employ over 50,000 workers. Acclaimed in his time as the “greatest living engineer,” George Westinghouse was accorded numerous honors in the U.S. and abroad, even after his death on March 12, 1914. Perhaps the finest tribute of all came from inventor Nikola Tesla, whose patents for the polyphase system of alternating current and the induction motor were acquired by Westinghouse and gave the company its early leadership in electric power developments. Westinghouse used Tesla’s system to light the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.
