In 1916, Grandview resident Stephan Stepanian (top left) developed the plans for a revolutionary piece of equipment, designed to carry concrete from the plant to the job site, and keep it mixed en route. His design (actual patent drawing, bottom) for the first motor-truck concrete mixer has resulted in his designation as the father of the ready-mix concrete industry. Stepanian moved to Grandview in 1906 and resided on Glenn Avenue near Bluff. He was the President of the Marble Cliff Quarries and the Central Ohio Concrete Company, and later founded Arrow Concrete. He filed for a patent for the design, but was rejected because the patent office didn't think a truck could support the weight of the mixer nor have the mechanical components integrated with those of the truck. He did finally receive a patent in 1920, and the first trucks based on his ideas were built in the late 20s (top right).


Mixer inventor honored
The Concrete Producer, November 2004

Stephen Stepanian, inventor of the self-discharging, rotating drum mixer that revolutionized the concrete industry, was named one of the leading transportation construction figures of the 20th century. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association honored Stepanian and others who made the Top 100 list at a reception and dinner last month in Washington, D.C.





Colombo traces its roots to the kitchen of Rose and Sarkis Colombosian in Andover, Massachusetts. The year was 1929. Using yogurt cultures from her native Armenia, Rose made the first batch of Colombo yogurt over a wood-burning stove.

Up until that time, almost no one had heard of yogurt except the small group of immigrants who had come to America from the Middle East. However, the virtues of yogurt spread quickly by word of mouth, and soon Rose and Sarkis started a business, using a horse-drawn wagon to distribute the yogurt across northern Massachusetts.

The Colombosian's yogurt business remained relatively small until the early 1960s when the health benefits of yogurt gained a larger following. As a result, Colombo grew from a family business to became a leader in the refrigerated yogurt industry. Modern machinery replaced the old wood stove, and a fleet of refrigerated trucks replaced Sarkis's pick-up. But today, it's still just as good as if Rose was making it herself.





Varaztad Hovhannes Kazanjian (1879-1974) was a famed American pioneer in Plastic Surgery and Harvard's First Professor of Plastic Surgery whose unique treatments and methods revolutionized the field.

The first person to hold the title “Professor of Plastic Surgery” at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Varaztad Hovhannes Kazanjian, oral surgeon and physician, is a well-known Armenian-American plastic surgeon who invented innovative techniques for treating World War I veterans whose faces had been disfigured. In a May 1932 issue of Time magazine, he is mentioned as receiving the Rhode Island Dental Society Medal “for his methods of reconstructing shattered faces.” He co-authored the first concise book on plastic surgery, and is widely regarded as one of the fathers of plastic surgery.




Edmund Yaghjian 1905–1997

Edmund Yaghjian was born in Harpoot, Armenia in 1905 and died in South Carolina in 1997. He immigrated with his family to Providence, Rhode Island in 1907. At an early age, he knew he wanted to be an artist. In 1926, Edmund won a scholarship to study at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he graduated with a BFA in 1930.

Upon graduation in 1930, Yaghjian moved to New York and enrolled at the Art Students League. At the league, Yaghjian studied with John Sloan and Stuart Davis. Like Sloan and other artists of the Ashcan school, Yaghjian concentrated on naturalistic depictions of the city, emphasizing commonplace activity as well as the vitality and distinctiveness of urban life in the 30's.

Yaghjian left the Art Students League to briefly teach at the University of Missouri. In 1945, he was hired by the University of South Carolina in 1945 as head of the Department of Fine Arts. He was instrumental, with teachers Augusta Witkowsky and Catherine Rembert, in bringing a level of professionalism to the department and encouraging the development of the arts in the community and across the region. As in New York, he fell in love with the real life scenes of Columbia, and was drawn to scenes of everyday, vernacular life in his paintings. Yaghjian served in that position until 1966, when he was named USC’s first artist-in-residence. Among his students are Jasper Johns and the well-known mural artist, Blue Sky, as well as Bill Poulos of Rice University.

"I call myself a painter, only time will tell if I am an artist".
Yaghjian

Peter Paul Halajian

The first product of the Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Company, established in 1919 in New Haven, Connecticut, was called "Konabar" and was a blend of coconut, fruits, nuts and chocolate. All products were made at night when air was coolest and sold fresh, door-to-door the following day. In 1920 the MOUNDS candy bar, sweetened coconut enrobed in dark chocolate, was introduced.

During World War II Peter Paul was faced with severe shortages of sugar and coconut which had been shipped from the Philippines before war broke out. Rather than sacrifice quality, the company discontinued some of its lesser selling brands and concentrated production on the MOUNDS candy bar. Over the years Peter Paul added several products to its line, including ALMOND JOY candy bar and YORK Peppermint Pattie.

Cadbury and Peter Paul merged in 1978, and Hershey Foods purchased the company's U.S. operations in 1988.

© 2008 Armenian Arts Fund, Inc. P. O. Box 287, Glendale, California 91209