Kolb & Osberghaus, Inventive Business Owners

From about 1869 to 1880, Adam Kolb and Charles Osberghaus worked as machinists in Sandusky. In the earlier years, the firm was named A.Kolb and Co., but by 1878, the business was known as Kolb & Osberghaus.

In 1877 Adam Kolb and Charles Osberghaus were issued Patent Number 192,438 for improvement in sash balances. In 1880 another patent was issued to Kolb & Osberhaus, this time for a fastening for the meeting rails of sashes.

The advertisement in the 1878 Sandusky City Directory for Kolb & Osberghaus stated that the company manufactured the Perfect Sash Balancer & Ventilator. Nickel plated sash balancers sold for $1.25 (about $33 today), and brass bronzed sash balancers sold for $1.00. An illustration of a sash balancer made by Kolb & Osberghaus appeared in Scientific American in 1877.

In the late 1870s, there were three separate sash and blind manufacturers in downtown Sandusky: Jay C. Butler, Schoepfle & Gfoehr, and Thorpe & Fosdick. Most likely Kolb & Osberghaus’ products helped to balance the sashes that were made locally.

Both Mr. Kolb and Mr. Osberhaus were of German descent. They were both members of the Erie Encampment No. 27, Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Sandusky. After 1880, there are no more listings for Kolb & Osberghaus, but the company made sash balancers for locally produced sashes for several years.