Red Ball Battery Co., Inc. was founded in 1930 by Joseph R. Daniell. He began by buying junk and batteries and removing bad cells from one battery and replacing them with good cells from another battery. In those days the battery tops were sealed with hot tar and it was possible to change cells.

Later, Mr. Daniell purchased equipment from a bankrupt battery plant in Cleveland, Ohio. When he cast his battery case he found the imprint "Red Ball" on the side of the case, thus the name.Robert Daniels, an Electrical Engineer who was a salesman for Lincoln Electric, joined the firm in 1945, and the name Red Ball Battery and Oxygen Co. evolved. Red Ball became a distributor for National Cylinder Gas shortly thereafter.