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History

In the 1940's, Rufus L. Grason worked in and later took responsibility for the electronics shop at the Psychoacoustic Laboratory [1] at Harvard University in Cambridge. It was there that behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner was changing the face of psychology. As these research scientists left Harvard, they needed new reliable instruments to continue their research at other laboratories and looked to Mr. Grason to provide them. Steve Stadler was a Harvard student/technician who was building psycho-acoustic instruments (testing how humans perceive sound). Both Grason and Stadler realized the need for these specialized instruments and in 1949 they formed a partnership to manufacture and standardize this equipment. A third partner, Paul W. Dippolito soon joined the group as chief engineer. The company originally manufactured electronic medical instruments for behavioral and pharmaceutical research but in 1952 introduced its first audiometer, the model 160-A speech audiometer to be followed in 1953 with the model 160-B. With his background from the Harvard Psychoacoustic Lab and his strive for quality and perfection, Grason-Stadler instruments were soon recognized as the cadillac of the industry.
 

The partnership originated in Peg Grason's sewing room but soon relocated to a 200 sq. ft. facility on Washington St. in Somerville, MA (1950), I think it was a garage and the only source for heat was a kerosene stove. During this period the price of instruments was based upon the number of vacuum tubes times $25.00. By 1952 more operating space was needed so Grason-Stadler Company was formed and moved to Hampshire St. Cambridge (700 sq. ft) with 2 engineers and about 8 employees. In 1955 the operation was moved to a 3,000 sq. ft. facility in West Concord. In 1958 there was 9,000 sq. ft. added to the building and Dick Vanderlippe and Greg Andrews joined the team. In 1959 the company became incorporated and in 1964 a third addition to the building brought the total to 18,000 sq.ft..

GS plant West Concord

During the 70's Rufus Grason was directly responsible for the design and manufacture of 5 new audiometer models and 2 new middle-ear analyzers. He served as the company's president and director of engineering until his retirement, a term lasting 40 years.  He was a soft spoken, gifted gentleman and it was a privilege to have known and worked for him. Below is the company logo officially filed as a trademark on 06 Feb 1962 with it's first use in commerce on 29 Feb 1960. This however, was not the very first company trademark, see Nostalgia for more information.

 

 

GS company logo 1960's
Instruments for
Psychology and Acoustics
Rufus L. Grason

Rufus L. Grason

Steven J. Stadler

Steven J. Stadler

[1] The Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory was established in 1940 to conduct research on speech, hearing, and communications during  World War II. It continued to operate after the war and in 1962 it was renamed the Laboratory of Psychophysics: Harvard University Library UAV 713.9

56 Winthrop Street, West Concord, MA

 

 

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