Hobbs
The Hobbs Meter is named after John Weston Hobbs (1889–1968), who in 1938 founded the company named after him in Springfield, Illinois which manufactured the first electrically wound clocks for vehicle use. World War II created the demand for aviation hour meters which led to the development of the original Hobbs Meter. The company was eventually renamed Honeywell Hobbs after being acquired by Honeywell International, who in 2009 announced plans to move manufacturing to Mexico.
Hobbs himself had been general manager of the George W. Borg corporation in Chicago from 1930 to 1937, before founding the Springfield company in 1938 and becoming a director of Stewart-Warner when it bought out his company in 1956. He died in Springfield and is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
