Found in garages all over the world!!
From Confer Plastics, Follow them on Facebook
Today is a big milestone anniversary!
FIFTY years ago today — September 28th, 1976 — Doug Confer got the patent for the flexible funnel, a device now found in garages and auto shops around the world!
The item was invented when 24 year-old Doug was working on the family farm in Gasport (that in itself is a testament to the work ethic of Ray and Doug Confer – they ran a farm AND a factory!) Pictured is Doug with wife Cheryl.
Back then, fuel and oil funnels were made out of metal that would either corrode or not clean very well. So, Doug thought, why not make them out of plastic at their recently-founded plastics company? Plastic wouldn’t corrode and leave pieces of metal in fuel tanks, and it would be much cheaper than the metal alternatives. Plus, the flexibility of plastic allows you to access hard-to-reach places.
Doug received his patent in September of 1976 and Confer Plastics then made hundreds of thousands of the funnels until the patent expired 14 years later. After that, Mexico and China could make them far cheaper than we ever could. We lost all market share.
We never lost the molds, though. They were sitting in storage in our warehouse. So, for the company’s 50th anniversary three years ago, after a 30+ year hiatus, we got the molds out of storage and brought the funnel back to life, doing consumer direct sales (as a 3rd party seller on Amazon) hoping we can get back a little bit of that business from China.
If you’re handy with your vehicles and lawn equipment and would like to add an American-made product — the ORIGINAL flexible funnel — to your garage, visit our storefront on Amazon:
Also, if you are a retailer and would be interested in buying the funnels in bulk — with your own branded nameplate — please reach out to us. plastics@conferplastics.com
