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Fort Wayne, Ind. — May 19, 2016 — This year marks the 75th anniversary for Little Giant, a leading worldwide brand of plumbing, HVAC, dewatering, utility, and a variety of other pumps.
Little Giant, a Franklin Electric company, originated in 1941 when a plumber named R.M. “Doc” Wolfe found a solution to the quality challenges he faced with evaporative cooling pumps. The Little Giant Vaporizer was born and was considered the first electric motor-driven submersible pump of its kind on the market. Shortly thereafter, the Little Giant Vaporizer Company was created in Oklahoma City, where 15 employees manufactured submersible vaporizers for evaporative coolers.
“Little Giant products and people have been an important addition to the Franklin family,” said DeLancey Davis, Franklin Electric vice president and president of North America Water Systems. “Little Giant has provided a terrific base business in the wastewater, HVAC, and outdoor living channels, and holds strong brand recognition with key areas of distribution in each of these markets.
"Much of this can be attributed to consistent product introductions, innovations, and a loyal customer base that has continued to make Little Giant their brand of choice for 75 years."
After World War II, Little Giant purchased an aluminum die-casting machine and started taking on die-casting contractor work in the 1940s to further increase sales and personnel expertise. By 1950, this expertise had grown so much that the company was able to develop and manufacture an upgraded Little Giant Vaporizer Pump that could be used anywhere water recirculation was a problem. This basic, self-contained electric motor-driven submersible pump was a small low-pressure, high-volume pump that was used specifically for the recirculation of water for evaporative coolers, minnow tanks, home garden pools and fountains, light coolant oils for machine tools, laboratory uses, and many other water transfer applications.
In 1954, the development of the Little Giant C2 and C3 pumps signaled the company’s true entrance into the condensate pump business. In 1960, the company reorganized and changed its name to Little Giant Corp., expanding its focus to battery chargers and steam cleaning machines that were later sold so the company could focus completely on water pumping.
Over the next 20 years, the company continued to build its name around innovation with: condensate removal pumps (1958), sump pumps (1963), magnetic drive pumps (1968), sump/sewage/effluent pumps (1980), Eliminator Series 8E, 9S, 10S pumps (1985), aquarium pumps (1990), WRS-5 and WRS-6 sewage basins (1990), pool cover pumps (1996), decorative outdoor living products for the landscape industry (1997), the VCMA condensate pump (1999), grinder pumps (2000), Pit+Plus® sewage basins (2003), and outdoor living LED lights (2004).
Little Giant was purchased by Franklin Electric, a global manufacturer of pumps, motors, drives, and controls for residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial, and municipal applications, in 2006.
With the combined Franklin engineering and manufacturing teams, the Little Giant brand has continued its focus on providing innovative products that solve contractor challenges in the pumping industry. Little Giant’s wastewater product expertise includes sump, sewage, effluent, dewatering, condensate, magnetic drive, and utility pumps, as well as low-pressure sewer systems.
For more information on Little Giant wastewater products, visit www.littlegiant.com.
