Our History
1950s: The Beginning
Then, almost 25 years after he came to this country, his big break came. An inventor from California brought him what, at the time, was considered an oddity — a single-handle faucet. He had invented a ball valve that combined the mixing of hot and cold water with volume control. It was easy to operate and repair. Although the ball valve was a good idea, the inventor's single-handle faucet design leaked.
But Alex had vision and was determined to make it work, so he bought the inventor's rights. At first, no other company wanted to have anything to do with a single-handle faucet because most faucets in use at the time had two handles.
He developed the first successful washerless ball valve faucet in 1954 — and called it the Delta faucet. The faucet was named after the faucet cam, which was in the shape of the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet…“delta.”
His initial idea was to perfect the design of the single-handle, washerless faucet and then sell it to a company already in the business. But the plumbing manufacturers he visited scoffed at the invention. Then, Alex made a decision that would change the course of plumbing history.
Alex started selling Delta faucets himself in Detroit. At the same time, he hired the first manufacturer's representatives to start selling Delta faucets with him. They actually sold the first products out of the trunks of their cars. At first, they gave away more faucets to plumbers than they sold. Soon word caught on, and the Delta faucet began to gain popularity not only with plumbers but also with plumbing wholesalers. Since it had no washers to wear out, it didn't leak or drip. It was a true breakthrough.
After its start in Detroit, Alex moved the growing faucet business to Greensburg, Indiana, and founded what became known as the Delta Faucet Company.
