Throughout our company's history we've challenged ourselves to develop products which affect the quality of human life in positive and lasting ways. We're proud to say that during the past 50+ years we've introduced a great variety of products contributing to the health or standard of living of our customers.

Allied has strong Midwestern roots.

          Our history dates back to the 1930's as the medical department of National Cylinder Gas (NCG) in Chicago. NCG produced gases in cylinders and sold them to hospitals in the 1930's and early 1940's. These cylinders had to be carted around from floor to floor when and where needed.

          In order to eliminate the use of the heavy cylinders, the cost of moving them around, and the explosive hazards of handling them, the idea was developed to pipe medical gases from an outside source to the point of use, either at bedside or in the operating room. Thus the innovative Chemetron® medical gas piping system was developed and the Chemetron Medical Products Division of National Cylinder Gas was formed in 1947.

          The Chemetron Medical Products Division became the pioneer of piped medical gases and vacuums to hospitals and dental clinics, and soon had piped more facilities than all other companies combined. It also created new healthcare equipment that became the standard that other companies strove for, no longer restricted to the respiratory field.

          Nearly all of the current product line evolved from this system. After developing the piping system, contact was made with the Schrader Company, which made tire valves and had a coupler that was used industrially for plugging hoses together. Using this Schrader coupler, an outlet station was developed in the mid 40's. In 1954 an outlet was developed that would be flush with the wall, like an electrical outlet.

          Meanwhile, in the Italian neighborhood of St. Louis, five entrepreneurial brothers decided to go into business together. With a knowledge of machining and manufacturing, the Sciuto brothers -- Carl, Joe, Sam, Charlie and Jim -- began making electric pencil sharpeners, kitchen sink/dishwasher couplers, and Venetian window blinds from wood, which homemakers found easier to maintain and more effective at light control than traditional draperies.

          The Sciuto's window blinds became popular and soon their company, Stile-Craft, was producing them for Sears Roebuck and other companies. In 1946 they opened a manufacturing plant not far from home at 1825 Macklind Avenue. In addition to Venetian blinds, they also machined parts for the defense industry and manufactured a line of OEM parts made with screw machines. Gradually Stile-Craft began placing more resources into its screw machine business. The company's 40-plus employees machined a host of consumer product parts, including those for automobiles. Stile-Craft soon diversified, producing industrial pneumatic controls, gas cylinders, magnesium-coated photo engraving plates for Dow Chemical Company, and corrosion-resistant magnesium anode rods for water heaters.