How a company acquired the name of a dwarf
PERKEO was the name of the court jester and dwarf serving under the Elector of the Palatinate , Karl III Philipp, in the 18 th century. The little fellow first saw light around 1702 and was baptized with the name Clemens. At sixteen he was appointed court jester by Karl Philipp. The Elector, who enjoyed the pleasures of a good wine, was impressed by the way the young Clemens was able to hold his liquor.
Today there is still a barrel housed in Heidelberg castle, which holds 221,726 liters. When asked by his employer and master the Elector whether he would dare drink the entire contents of the barrel, Clemens, who was just over three feet tall, replied cheekily and brazen-faced: „Perchè no?“ – why not? Clemens often used this expression which became commonly used in the local tongue of the Palatinate . Thereinafter he was called PERKEO. A drinking song written by Josef Viktor von Scheffel described PERKEO with the following words: "...And there was the dwarf PERKEO that housed in Heidelberg’s castle, small and wee in growth was he; his thirst, however, momentous".
This depiction, which was to be an apt description of the young company’s acetylene generator, prompted the company founder, Hermann Stahl, to give the company the name PERKEO, whereupon he adapted the phrase “ … small and wee in growth; but its performance is momentous. This laid the cornerstone for the development of portable and wheeled small-size oxy-gas welding, cutting and brazing equipment and systems.
Nine decades of entrepreneurial activity in key words
|
1919 1927 1928 1929 1930 1932 1933
1935 1936 1938 1942 |
1964 2003 2004
|
Foundation of the company in Stuttgart by the
Utility model for gas-soldering torch with mobile hose attachment - forerunner model to the PERKEO heavy-duty soldering iron.
PERKEO has its quality monitoring inspected by an external laboratory. The Welding Research Center of the Reich's Railway Repair Works in Wittenberg (Schweiß-technische-Versuchsanstalt des Reichsbahn-Ausbesserungswerkes Wittenberg) carried out this first audit.
Production and sales of the first portable small-size welding, cutting and brazing equipment. This marked the birth of PERKEO on-site equipment which became firmly established on the market; a great relief for every fitter which meant he could now take his welding or brazing equipment with him to the workplace, putting an end to any maneuvering of large cylinders or even extensive dismantling work.
First complete catalogue with systematic classification of the products by gas type and pplication. New to the program are the gas cartridge brazing torches and the gas cartridge. soft soldering irons. Introduction of the ZINNLUX soldering piece. Maintenance-free soldering iron with a special coating for the soft-soldering of sheet metal. Subsequent filing and hammering as well as the ammoniac stone are superfluous.
Expansion of the range to include the featherweight TITAN roofing torch. A tool for roofers, produced from the high quality material titanium and thus considerably lighter than conventional roofing torches. PERKEO presents a new Air conditioning and refrigeration tool program in a designated catalogue. In addition to the expanded product palette for brazing technology, special tools and measuring equipment are also available from stock.