Robert E. Michel and his wife Mary Ellen went into business in 1935 as a supplier of oil burner parts and supplies. At a cost of $25 a month, they leased a couple of rooms in a row house in the 1000 block of Greenmount Avenue on the East Side of Baltimore, Maryland. Mary Ellen Michel handled the bookkeeping while Mr. Michel (R.E.) took care of purchasing, and sales. Three years later in 1938, R.E.’s brother J.V. “Bunny” Michel joined the company, allowing him to expand his sales activities. Not long after that, the business had grown to the point that a panel truck was purchased to replace the family’s automobile that also saw duty as a delivery vehicle.