A. S. Aloe Company
1860 - 1959
Albert Sidney Aloe, born in 1841 in Edinburgh, Scotland, migrated with his parents as a child to the United States. His father, an optician, established his business in New York City.
After a period of travels working as an optician and even helping to build a sugar mill in South America, he settled in St. Louis, Missouri where he established his optical business.
By 1865 Albert and his father, Sadoc, were in business together as opticians in St. Louis under the name S. Aloe & Son. In addition to selling eyeglasses, they also sold opera and field glasses, telescopes, microscopes and magnifiers.
This arrangement lasted only a couple of years and in 1867 Albert was in business for himself as A.S. Aloe. In 1876 he went into a partnership with William H. Hernstein. From 1876 until 1880 the company was doing business as Aloe & Hernstein. In 1880 it was changed to Aloe, Hernstein & Company. In 1885 Albert again decided to go his own way and established A.S. Aloe & Company. This was the final form of the company name which was to last 76 years and through two following generations of Aloes. Albert himself died in 1893 and his successors incorporated the company with the same name.
Over the years, the company expanded to several department, including optical, mathematical and surveying instruments, surgical equipment and photography. Some of their products were manufactured by other makers such as Gurley, repackaged and branded as A.S. Aloe.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the company restructured and kept only its surgical department. This business continued to be successful and merged with the Brunswick Corporation in 1959.
A company history emphasizing their surgical instrument business is in: James M. Edmonson, American Surgical Instruments. An Illustrated History of Their Manufacture and a Directory of Instrument Makers to 1900 (Norman Publishing, 1997), pp. 311-312.