The second oldest business in the City of Whittier is Rasmussen Iron Works. You probably know the business as Rasmussen Gas Logs & Grills which is prominently located on the southeast corner of Whittier Blvd. and Philadelphia St.
Rasmus Rasmussen was an immigrant from Denmark. His family immigrated to the United States in 1878 when Rasmus was 9 years old. He grew up in Greenville Iowa and his family joined the First Friends Church. Rasmus started his own family in Greenville and had four children by 1906. He decided to try his luck in sunny Southern California in late 1906. He initially came to Whittier by himself, but quickly sent for his family a few months later. He founded a blacksmith business, Rasmussen Iron Works, in 1907 in uptown Whittier, blocks from its location today.
From the start, Rasmussen Iron Works was a family business, and four generations later, it still is. Let’s take a brief look at each generation. It was Rasmus himself who got started in the fireplace business fabricating fireplace accessories such as spark screens as a sideline to his regular smithing jobs. Both of his sons, Harry and Ted, worked in the business, but it was the younger son, Theodore (often referred to as Ted Sr.) who took over the business during the Depression. Ted Sr. was the last Rasmussen to complete a blacksmith’s rite of passage: shoeing a horse. The photograph above shows Rasmus (left) and his son Harry (right) at work in about 1910. During World War II when most of the steel and iron was dedicated to the war effort, Ted Sr. taught high school welding classes and fabricated welding rod handles. Long-time members of Whittier Historical Society may also remember Ted Sr.’s sister, Temperance Rasmussen Bailey (no relation to Jonathan and Rebecca Bailey). She was very active in the effort to purchase and preserve the Bailey House and also served on the Whittier City Historical Commission.
Like father, like son: Ted Sr. (left) and T.R. (above) both enjoyed the engineering side of the business, keeping the spirit of the blacksmith alive.
Theodore Jr. (known to all as T.R.) and his brother Doug were the third generation to lead the company beginning in 1958. T.R. developed an important technical innovation when he created the sand pan burner which provides a realistic wood flame for use with a gas log set. After a fruitless search for a supplier of realistic artificial logs, T.R. decided to manufacture them himself. His system of making rubber molds from real logs, casting the logs with heat-resistant cement, then carefully hand painting the logs with multiple ceramic stains is still used by the company today. T.R.’s wife, Marilyn, was active in the Whittier community and was a long-time member of the Whittier Historical Society.
Whittier artist Bob Bates was hired to do many advertising, catalog, and technical drawings for Rasmussen Iron Works. Bob was also very active with the Whittier Historical Society during the early days of the Whittier Museum. He contributed art work and helped to design some of the first floor exhibits.
The fourth generation of Rasmussens to be involved in the family business included Theodore III (Rett) in 1987 and his brother John in 1997. Today the company is led by a husband-and-wife team. Rett serves as president, and his wife Irene is vice-president and general counsel. They added a new product to the line-up in 2000: beautiful stainless steel infrared grills marketed under the Solaire brand.
Rett and Irene were very kind to give Nick Edmeier and me a tour of the property – which is only a few blocks south of the Museum. We were very surprised to learn how large the footprint of the company is: Nine buildings are spread over four acres with about 55 employees. The buildings are a fascinating mix of old and new. Rett showed us the workshop where his father and grandfather tinkered in a never-ending quest to improve their processes and products. Then in another building we saw a new robotic welder and several CNC machines that are used to fabricate stainless steel parts for Solaire grills. The log business takes up a large warehouse where the logs are cast, dried, and skillfully painted.
As a historical society, we are very proud that Rasmussen Iron Works has been a thriving company in our city for 119 years. Our congratulations to the Rasmussen family and best wishes for many more successful years.
Author: Tracy Wittman
Adapted from a Whittier Museum Gazette article from May 2026