In 1888, Austrian-born Edward Katzinger formed Edward Katzinger Co., which manufactured tin pans for bakeries. In 1923, the company built a large new factory on Chicago's Northwest Side. In 1945, led by Arthur Katzinger, a son of the founder, the company began to sell stock to the public and changed its name to the Ekco Products Co. The company continued to grow during the 1950s, when it was the nation's leading manufacturer of kitchen tools and cutlery. By the beginning of the 1960s, still based in Chicago, Ekco employed about 6,000 people and did about $90 million in annual sales. In 1965, American Home Products Corp. of New York purchased Ekco. By the 1980s, when it was purchased by Centronics Corp. of New Hampshire, Ekco was based in suburban Franklin Park, and it remained a leading manufacturer of bakeware.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.