History of the James B. Hunt Manufacturing Company
Earliest record of the James B Hunt Mfg. is 1892 when a James B Hunt was listed as the manufacturer's representative in a contract between the Borough of Princeton and New Jersey Car Spring and Rubber Company to supply fire hose to the Borough Fire Department. In 1902 the James B. Hunt Mfg. Company is listed in Fitzgerald's Trenton and Mercer County Directory as a supplier of various Industrial goods and Fire Department supplies. The advertisement also listed the “Fire Distinguisher”. Mr. Hunt had a special kind of Extinguisher private labeled to him and called it the Fire Distinguisher. The biggest market for this was in the coal mines of Northeast Pennsylvania.
The early 1900s saw a Mr. Bergen became a partner in the business. Company headquarters were located in the Forst-Richey building at the southeast corner of West State and Warren Streets in downtown Trenton, New Jersey. It was also during this period that Company founder James Hunt passed away.
Mr. Bergen kept the business going strong for the next two decades and in 1927 he hired John J. Duffy as his new Office Manager. Mr. Duffy ran the office and did the accounting for the growing company. Upon Mr. Bergen's death in 1929, John Duffy bought the business and took over all operations. In 1932 John J. Duffy married Agnes Veldolf and she soon became the Company's new bookkeeper. Around this time the Company saw its' business change to the direction of mainly providing fire fighting equipment sales and service. Fire Trucks were added in the sales line when James B. Hunt Mfg. Company became a sales representative for Ward LaFrance Fire Trucks. As the 1930's came to a close the Company was once again on the move as it relocated to 8 West Hanover Street , also in downtown Trenton.
With the advent of World War II, the Fire Equipment business changed. NO Fire Trucks were built for the civilian population as all the truck manufacturers devoted half there manufacturing facilities for fire apparatus for the government and half for War equipment such as tankers, tank retrievers and troop carriers. Mr. Duffy kept his business going and fortunately was allowed extra ration stamps for gasoline which allowed him to keep traveling for the business. Fire hose, coats, helmets, etc were still available and in demand by the local Departments.
When the war ended in 1945, the truck manufacturers slowly began the changeover back to 100% fire truck production and by the beginning of 1946 they were ready to receive orders. It was not a difficult time to sell fire apparatus and James B. Hunt Mfg. Company sold many fire trucks throughout New Jersey, eastern and northeast Pennsylvania (including the coal mining areas).
At the end of the war, Mr. Duffy's brother came back from Europe and went to work for the company. He handled the fire extinguisher sales and service. He also sold fire equipment to many of the local fire departments. He worked in that capacity until he retired in the late 1980s.
In 1950, the business moved to 1462 Liberty Street , in Trenton . In the middle 1950s James B. Hunt Mfg. Company began a joint venture relationship with the Trenton National Trailer Company (TNT). They began making HUNTCO Fire Apparatus. James B Hunt would design and sell the apparatus while TNT would build them. Together they designed and built specialty units such as rescue trucks, ambulances, and Mini-pumpers. The latter being built well before they became the hot truck of the 70s and 80s. HUNTCO Fire stayed in business over 20 years and averaged about 7 units built a year before finally closing down in 1977.
The Fire Apparatus Sales line for the Company changed in 1957. Ward LaFrance Corp was sold and new company's policies were contrary to Mr. Duffy's and he resigned his territory. He was then offered a sales territory in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for MAXIM Motors, Inc. of Middleboro, Mass.
In 1961, Jim Duffy, the youngest son of John, joined the company. Around the same time Maxim Motors extended the James B. Hunt sales territory to include the States of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware . During their long relationship, James B. Hunt Mfg. sold over 100 MAXIM Fire Trucks, from Colonial Heights in southern Virginia to Hillsdale in Northern, New Jersey. The sales of Maxim apparatus ceased in 1975 when once again a change of owners and policies caused the ending of a previous excellent relationship.
In 1961 HAHN Motors, Inc asked James B. Hunt Co. to be their sales representative in the southern, central and northwest counties of New Jersey in addition to Bucks County and part of Montgomery County in Pennsylvania . HAHN was an old manufacturer of Fire Apparatus and had been building the bodies for MACK Fire Trucks. MACK decided to build their own bodies and no longer needed the services of HAHN. The 1st new HAHN pumper was sold by James B Hunt to Rancocas, NJ. This began a great relationship that lasted for almost 30 years. In the late 1970s HAHN extended the James B. Hunt sales area to include the state of Delaware.
In 1972, the business moved outside of Trenton to 1905 Hamilton Avenue, in nearby Hamilton Township, NJ. Shortly after the move the company added the Saulsbury Fire Apparatus line to its sales. At that time, Saulsbury was a company that specialized in tankers and rescue trucks.
Emergency One Fire Apparatus approached the company in June of 1976 to represent them in southern, central and northwest New Jersey . Emergency One was a brand new company with great expectations and planned to be #1 in the Fire Truck Industry. Theses expectations were not far fetched as they have been one of the top three Fire Apparatus manufacturers for many years.
1980 brought a change in ownership of the company. Jim Duffy purchased the business from his father. John Duffy stayed with the company until 1988, after a total of 61 years. His wife Agnes served as bookkeeper for 62 years retiring in 1994.
In late 1986 the Company was forced to end its relationship with Saulsbury after other apparatus sold by James B. Hunt Mfg. Company became a direct competitor with Saulsbury. And in 1989 the Company's sales relationship with Emergency One products ended due to a number of disagreements. Around this same time the relationship with HAHN ended as that Company went out of business and closed its doors. HAHN was an excellent company, but it was apparent that the new technologies and increased financial responsibilities had created problems making it too difficult for HAHN to compete.
In November of 1989, J B Hunt became sales representatives for two excellent Manufacturers. FMC was a pumper manufacturer and Ranger built quality rescue trucks. These sales relationships were relatively short lived as in January of 1990, both companies decided to stop building fire apparatus.
In February of 1990, a friend of Jim Duffy advised him to look into the KME Fire Apparatus Company. Shortly after visiting the plant, Mr. Duffy and was offered the sales representative territory for southern, central and northwest, NJ plus the state of Delaware . The offer was quickly accepted. KME, The Leader in Custom Fire Apparatus Design, is located in Nesquehoning, Pa. , about a two hour drive from Trenton . KME is located in the same Northeast Pennsylvania Coal Mine area where much of the early business of James B. Hunt Mfg. Company and the "Fire Distinguisher" was transacted.
The year 1994 brought a 3 rd generation of the Duffy family to the business, as Jim Jr. joined the firm. He quickly fit in alongside his father in helping to run the business.
The year 2004 brought about a number of changes. The Company relocated to its current facility at 2101 E. State Street Extension, Hamilton Twp, NJ. This move provided the business with more office space, modern air pack and fire extinguisher repair rooms and a full Fire Apparatus service area. In addition 2004 saw the ownership of James B. Hunt Mfg. Company change from a sole proprietorship to a Limited Liability Corp called Duffy Partners LLC. The principals are Jim Duffy Sr. and Jim Duffy Jr.
Since 1892 the James B. Hunt Mfg. Company has been at the forefront in providing local Fire Departments with the sales and services of quality Firefighting Equipment. And with the offering of the KME line of products, the Company continues its tradition of being a leader in the sale of innovative Fire Apparatus throughout New Jersey and Delaware with over 1200 Fire Trucks sold Since1946.
