Original compact loader to Hall of Fame
Exhibit features one of the original Bobcat compact loaders, the precursor to the modern skid-steer loader, at the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Bobcat Company has its history on display in a new exhibit within the National Inventors Hall of Fame museum in Alexandria, Virginia.
The opening of the museum exhibit follows the announcement that Cyril and Louis Keller, the brothers who invented the world’s first compact loader (later named the Bobcat skid-steer loader), have been selected as 2023 inductees for the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF).
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| The museum exhibit features one of the Keller brothers’ original three-wheel loaders, along with a timeline of Bobcat’s history and a video display highlighting various aspects of Bobcat’s products, people and initiatives. |
“As Bobcat celebrates 65 years since the invention of the machine that created the compact equipment industry, we are thrilled to uplift our history to museum attendees of all ages,” says Mike Ballweber, Doosan Bobcat North America president. “As a company we continue to grow and evolve, but we stay connected to our roots through our spirit of innovation sparked by the Keller brothers.”
The museum exhibit features one of the Keller brothers’ original three-wheel loaders, along with a timeline of Bobcat’s history and a video display highlighting various aspects of Bobcat’s products, people and initiatives.
The loader on display in the exhibit was one of the first 10 compact loaders built in the late 1950s by the Keller brothers and has been generously offered on loan from the Keller family. Joe Keller, son of the late Louis Keller, transported this family heirloom nearly 1,400 miles from North Dakota to Virginia to be exhibited in the museum. Along his journey, he visited several Bobcat dealerships to showcase the loader to staff, customers and fans.
The Bobcat exhibit will be on display through April 2024. The NIHF Museum is located inside the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 600 Dulany St., Alexandria, Virginia. It is free and open to the public Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the first Saturday of every month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is closed on Sundays and federal holidays.
Cyril and Louis Keller will be inducted posthumously into NIHF on Oct. 26.
Learn more about the history of Bobcat.
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