Few companies have the history of Koch Originals. From inception, the Koch name has stood for the highest quality in the metal and floral business. Always inventing, perfecting and manufacturing the finest products, the Koch Originals story is truly an example of American quality and pride shining through. Today our candelabras are no different, but it's always best to learn from those before us. Read below to see the basic story of Koch Originals and it's family of American pioneers.
It started when George Koch founded the George Koch Tin Shop in Evansville, Indiana in 1873. After immigrating from Albig, Germany in 1843 to reunite with family, George began to handcraft tin goods. George would annually build a flatboat and float down the river and sell his handcrafted goods. After selling out of all his goods one year, he ended up in Vicksburg, Mississippi and decided to call it home. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, George enlisted in the Confederate Army and unknowingly fought against his brothers (none were hurt). After the war, George married and started a small tin shop in Vicksburg, but it burned down in 1872. George moved back to Evansville and started the George Koch Tin Shop in 1873 with his three sons, Albert, Louis and George (pictured on left).
The three brothers expanded the business, named it George Koch and Sons, and ventured into different items ranging from tin horns to ductwork to metal floral containers. Through both good and bad times, the brothers and family kept the various businesses going. Different divisions of the company were formed and different product lines developed. In the 1930's, the floral business blossomed and George Koch and Sons became the world's largest manufacturer of metal floral containers along with other metal items.
Louis's youngest son, LJ Koch Jr., had been around the family business since birth. After graduating from college, he began with the company in 1943 and formed a separate wedding and floral division, Koch Originals, as it's known today. Operations were moved to an 100,000 square foot facility in Evansville, IN and production of a variety of candelabras, wedding arches, floral containers and designer metal furniture began.
Upon LJ Jr.'s death, his children, especially LJ the third, began to oversee operations in the 1990's and continued to offer new designs and concepts to rental companies, churches and florists. They developed different lines of glassware and concepts you'll see in our line today and moved the company to a larger facility in Evansville to handle operations.
From the 1970's to the present, the candelabra and wedding portion of the business began to show up in weddings across the country and the world. Unique designs and stunning presentations made Koch Originals Candelabras the showcase of many events and resulted in the annual photo contest. Celebrities, common folk and everyone in between have treated their guests to brilliant candelabra displays and some of the results are spectacular.
More recently, in order to focus on quality and serving each market separately, the furniture and wedding portion have separated. Koch Originals Candelabras, LLC offers the same great history, quality and design you've always expected from a Koch Originals product. As always, we're working on new designs and concepts to make sure your event is great. We understand history and it's value. We incorporate it in all our designs and production so that you'll have the same experience as your grandparents did when you brighten the room with your Koch Originals Candelabra!
Outside our history, you can still contact us today and we'll be happy to talk with you about your companies needs and how our candelabras and wedding equipment can work with your existing setup. We are knowledgable in the parts and repair of our candelabras also. We are now located in Tacoma, WA (industrial town south of Seattle) in the beautiful Northwest and have many combined years of service in our staff serving the wedding and party related business. Call us -- we can't wait to talk with you!
