August Johnson

August Johnson was born on June 2, 1800 in Stockholm, Sweden.  In 1882, his father immigrated to the United States and settled at Grand Forks, ND.  Mr. Johnson grew up in Grand Forks working in as an elevator operator and in a bicycle repair shop.  In 1912 he moved to Fargo to become a garage foreman for Wheelock  Auto Company.  In 1920 he and his brother, John, opened the Johnson Brother Garage.  It was during this time that Mr. Johnson developed a high pressure grease gun and began manufacturing it in 1923 as the Jiffy Manufacturing Company.  Mr. Johnson also developed a hydraulic coupler, a device for seeding and fertilizing lawns, a grease gun, an automobile sun visor and an electric snow shovel.

The collection consists of brochures and other records for his various inventions including Jiffy Electric Snow Shovel, Jiffy Hydraulic Lubricator Grease Gun and others such as the chuck coupler, barrel type grease gun, and an automobile auxiliary sun visor; legal papers dealing with court cases on patent infringements in the Eighth Circurt Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court; and family history material on the Johnson and Lloyd families.
 

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