William J. Strandwitz & Company
William J. Strandwitz was born November 20, 1875 in Norway. He emigrated to the United States in 1893. By 1915 he had gone into business with James Scott at Delaware Avenue and Penn Street in Camden NJ, turning out sheet metal work. The business was located in the 500 block of South 2nd Street in the mid-1920s. By the 1940s the business was known as the William J. Strandwitz Company, and had moved to Jefferson Avenue and Master Street in South Camden. The business remained in Camden through 1947, but had ceased its operations in Camden by 1959.
Strandwitz & Scott, 1915
Named: Strandwitz & Scott, Manufacturers and General Contractors of all Kinds of Sheet Metal Work, and A Few of Our Specialties: Tanks of all Descriptions; Automobile Fenders, Hoods and Tanks; Smokestacks and Hoods; Pneumatic Conveyers for Wool, Cotton, Shavings, Dust, etc.; Oil Collecting Systems for Steam Engines; Steam Exhaust Head; Ship Ventilators; Heater and Range Work; Metal Roofing and Spouting; Power Press Work and Oil Guards. Estimates Cheerfully Given. Delaware Avenue and Penn Streets, Camden, New Jersey..
The Plant of Strandwitz & Scott
Camden Courier-Post —
The Plant of Strandwitz & Scott—One of the Largest and Best Equipped in This Section of the Country. Shop Floor Area Over 23,000 Feet
The purpose of this plant with a staff of trained engineers is to assist manufacturers in their sheet metal problems.
Camden Turrets Spell Terror
Camden Courier-Post —
These are two pictures among many that could be taken every day in and around the Strandwitz shops. At the top a specially designed auto-crane, itself a product of Strandwitz ingenuity, is hauling part of a turret for a Camden-made Navy ship into position — Joseph Burke and Robert Thiede are the employes in the photo. Below, Oscar Sanse, a riveter, is working on another of the prefabricated turrets.
STRANDWITZ FIRM TURNS OUT METAL PARTS FOR SHIPS
Shops Work Overtime on Variety of Work for U.S. Navy
Component parts of ships which will soon take an active part in battle against Axis powers are being made in Camden at the plant of William J. Strandwitz & Co., Inc., Jefferson and Master streets.
The Strandwitz firm is already ahead of schedule on Navy contracts for companionways, hatchways, hatch covers, engine room tanks, ventilators, pyrotechnic lockers, projectile storage lockers, powder tanks and other sheet metal construction.
Chief among the company’s work now is the riveting and welding of bulkheads for sub-chasers under construction at the Mathis Shipyard. Seven of these bulkheads will be later assembled to put aboard each ship as it is launched.
Strandwitz workers are engaged in making metal superstructure and underdeck necessities for more than 16 Navy ships, two of which will be launched from the ways of the Delaware Bay Shipbuilding Company at Leesburg and 14 on the Mathis schedule in Camden.
A radio-equipped walking stick for watchmen is a new device developed by a radio company to aid in the protection of property. The radio device is concealed within the stick. By pushing a button, the watchman sends a special wireless signal which can be arranged to set off alarm sirens or bells, warn other guards or notify the police.
The keyhole of your automobile door will not be hard to find when the night is dark or other conditions are unfavorable if you use an illuminated keyhole that has recently been patented. So long as you can find the handle to the door and press a button conveniently on it, you are all right. Of course, if you can’t find the automobile, . . .
William J. Strandwitz
William J. Strandwitz became involved in the civic life of Camden City and Camden County. He became a charter member of the Rotary Club of Camden when it was founded in 1912. He was a long-time resident of Haddonfield NJ, where with wife Dorothy, he raised five children, Margaret, William Jr., Norman, Robert, and John T. Strandwitz. In the early 1930s, William J. Strandwitz was one of the leaders of the Citizens Relief Committee, a private sector organization devoted to aiding those most hurt by poverty from the Depression in Camden.
In 1942, youngest son John T. Strandwitz was killed while serving with the United States Marine Corps at Guadalcanal. William J. Strandwitz moved to Merchantville NJ by 1947. He passed away in August of 1967 and is buried at Locustwood Memorial Park in Cherry Hill NJ.