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History Of Lenox Instrument Company
1900 - 1920
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Lt. Col. Crampton (far left)
28th division, World War 1. |
George S. Crampton, founder of Lenox Instrument Company, was a pioneer
in the development of borescopes for a host of applications throughout
the world. He was a "Thomas Edison" type who almost always had his
own shop where he could experiment with, and advance borescope and
other optical technologies.
Crampton, born in Rock Island, IL in 1874, was using a tiny "machine
shop" housed in a packing case at the age of 10. His first ambition
was to be an electrical engineer, however, he decided to study medicine
and obtained his M.D. in 1898 from the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia.
While interning at Pennsylvania Hospital, still uncertain about
which branch of medicine he would enter, Crampton received some
advice from the superintendent of nurses, which would change his
life. She had noticed his mechanical and engineering ability and
suggested that he become an oculist. Crampton returned to Penn and
obtained a graduate degree in ophthalmology, later he would maintain
practices in Philadelphia and Princeton, NJ.
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Dr. Crampton's oculist column. |
It was in 1912, with his practice in Princeton, that Dr. Crampton
began making special optical instruments for fellow oculists, but
World War I interrupted his work. Crampton when to war and served
two years in the US Army, including a year (1918-19) in France as
a Lieutenant Colonel directing the field hospitals for the 28th Division.
After the war Dr. Crampton returned to private practiced, mostly
in Philadelphia, which gave him the ability to work "after hours"
in his machine shop located at 2010 Chancellor Street. In 1920 he
established Lenox Instrument Company. The year 1921 brought Lenox
one of its first large contracts from the Westinghouse Company.
The Westinghouse Co. was familiar with Crampton's abilities in optical
instruments, asked him to make a borescope that would check against
possible flaws inside the rotor of a stoma turbine.
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First Borescope for turbine
rotor inspections, 1921. |
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First turbine rotor insp., Lenox
borescope at Westinghouse plant, Lester, PA, 1921. |
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First Borescope for turbine
rotor inspections, 1921. |
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Dr. Crampton's first borescope,
1920 |
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Viewing heads for first Borescope,
1921. |
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Lenox machine shop, circa 1920's. |
Crampton developed the instrument in his Philadelphia shop and
delivered it in short time. It was the first of what would become
thousands of Lenox industrial applications throughout the world.
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Lenox Borescopes History 1900-1920
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