William Formway
Agricultural inspiration
“ My invention relates to walnut hullers, and more particularly to a machine adapted to hull, wash and separate the hulls from the clean nuts...”
William Formway was a prolific creator of mostly agricultural products. He received numerous patents— an apricot slicing machine, a pecan cracker, box folding equipment, a hoist for roofing work, and at least three patents for walnut hullers.
In 1896 he was born in Bakersfield. He moved with his family to what is now Los Altos when he was fourteen. The family lived on a farm on Almond Avenue.
The first record that we could find about Formway is a December 1917 article in The MV Register Leader newspaper. According to the article, as an employee of the Junction Garage in Mountain View, he slept in the attic. At 5:30 in the morning he was awakened by the sound of the front door being wrenched open. Formway yelled at the intruders to stop. He fired several pistol shots at the two fleeing men. He hit one of the men who was then captured. The other man escaped and was never apprehended.
In 1918 Formway purchased a half interest in the Junction Garage. Just a week later he married Myrtle Holden of Pettis Avenue. A year later the young couple bought a home on the corner of California and Hope Streets. They lived there for six years.
Formway and a new partner, Elmer Hill, formed a company in 1921 to repair and service automobiles, batteries and starters. At the same time Formway had a new building constructed for the company on California Street.
Advertisements for the company appeared in newspapers and business registers. It appears that several partnerships with other men were formed and dissolved.
The 1920s were a heady time for companies associated with automobiles, tires and service. In the mid-1930s Formway moved his shop into a large shed on Almond Avenue where his parents lived. Although we think of the area as mainly producing plums and apricots, other tree crops were grown, including walnuts. His father’ s property contained walnut trees, as did other small farms in the area.
Removing the outer husk of a walnut is a time consuming and messy job. Formway worked for several years to perfect a machine to do this task. He called the device the“ Walnut Wizard.” He was manufacturing machines prior to the first submission of a patent in 1935.
Top: William Formway; Middle: The Junction Garage
Right: Formway and his wife Myrtle, with his company truck, 1930s
Left: A 1920s Ad for Formway & Hill Machine Shop
Below: Walnut Huller Patent
The year 1937 was a time of accomplishment and tragedy. He received the formal paperwork for his first patent on October 5. But less than three months later his son was killed in a traffic accident near Salinas. Early on Christmas morning, Formway and his son( also named William) were driving north on Highway 101. An approaching automobile suffered a blown tire, causing the driver to lose control. In the collision that followed, Formway’ s son and the two people in the other car were killed instantly. Formway himself, was severely injured and spent months recovering.
Formway continued to refine the Walnut Wizard and was granted two more patents. The Walnut Wizard Manufacturing Company was founded, with at least one partner brought in to help manage the operations.
In 1941 the partnership was dissolved after the development of an apricot slicing machine. Manufacturing was moved to Sunnyvale. At some point the Walnut Wizard Company was moved to Chico, California, where the company still manufactures equipment for the tree nut industry. After years of ill health, Formway passed away on September 9, 1945. He was only 49 years old. His wife, daughter and father survived him.
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