Max McGraw

Max McGraw
McGraw on a hunting expedition
Born	(1883-02-01)1 February 1883 Clear Lake, Iowa, US
Died	26 October 1964(1964-10-26) (aged 81) Utah, US
Nationality	American
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Known for	McGraw-Edison and Centel

Max McGraw (1 February 1883 – 26 October 1964) was an American entrepreneur who founded McGraw-Edison and Centel. He financed marketing of the first domestic toaster, the Toastmaster. He was also a conservationist and hunter.

Max McGraw was born in Clear Lake, Iowa on 1 February 1883, and grew up in Sioux City, Iowa. As a youth he became fascinated with electricity. While at high school he enrolled in a correspondence course in electrical engineering and organized an amateur telegraph circuit linking the homes of fourteen of his friends. He delivered newspapers and did odd jobs to save money.

In the summer of 1900, aged 17, McGraw entered business as an electrician. He called his enterprise the McGraw Electric Company. Most of his early work was wiring houses that were converting from gas to electricity. The business struggled at first, but in the second year gained profitable contracts from the Stockyards and the Peavey Grand Opera House in Sioux City. In 1902 the McGraw Electric Company moved into larger premises on Fifth Street, Sioux City. In 1903 McGraw organized the Interstate Supply Company in partnership with his father and four others, selling mill, railroad and electrical equipment. This business grew rapidly. McGraw married Frances Schaaf on 16 August 1904. They would have two daughters and a son.

In 1907 McGraw founded the Interstate Electric Manufacturing Company, which manufactured magnetos, telephones and power switchboards. In 1910 he merged the supply and manufacturing companies into the Interstate Supply and Manufacturing Company. In 1912 he bought the Lehmer Company, a mill supply and electrical equipment manufacturer which he had used as a model for his earlier enterprises. He merged this company and the Interstate Supply and Manufacturing Company into the McGraw Electric Company, taking the position of President. The combined business had sales of more than $2 million that year.

McGraw bought the Central Telephone and Electric Company of St. Louis, Missouri in July 1922. He also bought an electric light plant in South Dakota and acquired electric and telephone companies in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota. By 1925 the company was providing electricity or telephone service throughout the US mid-west. On 28 June 1926 the electric and telephone utilities were spun off into the Central West Public Service Company, which combined more than twenty former companies. In the mid-1930s the company was reorganized and renamed the Central Electric and Telephone Company, Inc. In May 1944 McGraw split the company into the Central Electric & Gas Company and the Central Telephone Company, a subsidiary. Central Electric & Gas, under president Judson Large, expanded through mergers and acquisitions in the 1950s and early 1960s. The company shifted its focus from power supply to telephone service, and formed the nucleus of what would become the Centel Corporation. McGraw continued to chair the company until his death.