In the first three blogs I have shared with you my early life and introduction to the field of architectural/engineering drafting. At the end of my previous blog I promised more information about the development of the drafting industry. World War II was a big game changer in the American culture. I mentioned earlier regarding the extensive travel of all the military personnel. Many of our fighting men and women were from very rural parts of our United States. For the first time in their lives our bucolic neighbors began to discover their own country and major parts of the rest of our globe. This promoted a shift in the population in many of the states. New industries from the war effort evolved into consumer manufacturing and engineering in a robust economy. General Dwight Eisenhower became President Eisenhower in 1952. From his war experience as Supreme Commander of World War II, he realized that our nation needed to drastically upgrade and our highway network. The aircraft and auto industries were coming alive with new developments. There was huge demand for consumer convenience and comfort items in the households and on the roads. All of these totally new trends in the new American way of life began to energize the economy, moving many families from the rural life into the city structure to fill the job demand.
The creation of new jobs brought pressure to our colleges and universities to supply new demands for architects, engineers, accountants, and other professions. The old gang-type drafting rooms began to slowly change into small individual offices housing draftsmen and engineers. During the war women became a vital part of our work force. In this new environment women began to gain working-equality with men. The two-income household became the rule rather than the exception.
During the time from 1946 until 1985 the basic architectural/engineering tools remained relatively unchanged. The demand for these tools increased dramatically. More manufacturers of this kind of equipment increased. Then in the late 1980’s the computer age began for the architectural/engineering industry. Auto-CAD was introduced. I owned an engineering company at that time. I was asked to be in the ground-floor release of Auto-CAD in Austin, TX. Because it was in its infancy, requiring much third-party software, I declined the offer. This meant that something new was coming to the industry, but efficient programs were not yet available. Manual drafting was still required and would be for many years.
In the early 1990’s there was an economic downturn causing many companies to reduce or close their engineering. There was an abundance of drafting/engineering room surplus equipment on the market. This was the beginning of our current business. Drafting Equipment Warehouse, LLC was created in September 1994 in Arizona. Our next blog will cover our modern industry.