A history of the Armbruster Manufacturing Company

Rudolph Herman "R.H." Armbruster was born in 1852 in Baden, Germany. He emigrated with his parents to the United States before the Civil War and the family settled in Springfield in 1855.

In 1875, R.H. Armbruster broke away from his family's prominent Springfield jewelry business to open an awning and upholstery store. His first shop was at Sixth and Capitol, but he moved several times around downtown Springfield until a huge 1901 fire destroyed the firm's location at 307 S. Sixth Street. Armbruster then moved his office and workshop to the 400 block of South Fourth Street around 1908 and stayed at that location for more than 60 years.

During the 1880s R.H. Armbruster became acquainted with the Florida-based "canvas man" of the Ringling Bros. Circus. Armbruster Manufacturing was born from that encounter, and the company began its 149-year run of designing, fabricating and renting circus tents. Armbruster also produced sheltering canvas for covered wagons, tote bags and coverings. Portuguese sailors were the primary fabric makers in Springfield, and they trained the Armbruster staff how to sew the large canvas tents required for circus tent use.

R.H. Armbruster diversified his business in the 1890s to include baby carriages and household furniture. When the Illinois State Fair moved to Springfield in 1894, the Armbruster company began to supply tents for the fair and that contract has been with Armbruster's ever since. Armbruster Manufacturing obtained its first large-scale federal contract to supply Red Cross tents during World War I.

R.H. Armbruster married Mary A. Ramstetter in June 1881 in Springfield and the couple had eight children. After the death of R.H. in 1922, his son, Walter, took over the business. Walter married Helen Mengel, the grandchild of German immigrants from Ohio.

Helen Armbruster took on a major role in the company during World War II, when the military called on Armbruster to make pup tents, wall tents, hospital tents and enormous aircraft enclosures. The Illinois State Register reported in August 1940 that the company had been awarded a $27,350 contract for 2,500 pyramid tents.

U.S. Army Lt. John Stelle Jr., the son of John H. Stelle, Illinois governor from 1940 to 1941, was one of the U.S. soldiers sheltered by an Armbruster tent.

"It really gave me a spark of happiness," Stelle wrote from North Africa in April 1943, the Illinois State Register reported. "I tell all the fellows in my tent, 'Don't worry, Armbruster tents cover the world."

Helen Armbruster died in 1965. Helen and Walter's youngest son, Bernard "Bernie" Armbruster, took over Armbruster manufacturing after his father suffered a stroke in 1970.

Armbruster developed several specialized products under Bernie's leadership, including TensionTents and the twin-poled EuroTent. Armbruster built a new plant and office in 1978 along the Interstate 55 frontage road near Chatham and the business has been located there ever since.

Bernie's sons Tadd, Hellar and Gunther each worked for the company over the years. Hellar became the company's president in 2005, the fourth generation to run the business.

In recent years Armbruster manufactured vintage-style tents used by reenactors and the film industry, and the firm worked directly with first responders to shelter people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hellar announced in February 2024 that he was selling Armbruster Manufacturing Company to the central Illinois Roto-Rooter franchise and would cease all operations by early June.