Incorporated in March of 1948 in Kansas City, SPECO was originally known as the Drive-In Theatre Manufacturing Company.  The name was fitting - at the time we manufactured everything for drive-in theatres including the steel screen towers, the kids' playgrounds known as the 'Streamliner', the classic RCA & Circlite speakers & junction boxes, roadway lighting, marquee signage and in-car heaters. 

However, it was not the Drive-In Theatre industry that fueled our early successes.  The company started research and development on electronic test equipment.  The electronics testing equipment division grew into dominance in the field of testing circuitry.  In 1954, the company's name was changed to DIT-MCO, Inc.  This was derived from the initials of Drive-In Theatre Mfg. Co. and began our affinity for acronymns.

In 1962, the Drive-In Theatre Mfg. division was sold to the four employees who ran this division, and the name Drive-In Theatre Mfg. Co. was used once again.  It was also around this time that we began to design and manufacture our own projection room equipment, most notably our first platter system, the venerated LP 270.

This new company tack proved to once again be beneficial, as the drive-in theatre industry began to wane.  In approximately 1967, many drive-in theatre owners started selling their land to developers and drive-ins started on their decline.  What had once been wonderful family attractions that brought people out on the weekends were now seen as large, leveled plots of multiple acres for prime land development locations.  Following the paydirt trail, drive-ins started to succumb and their properties were developed into many things, such as Walmarts, strip malls, and sometimes indoor movie theatres.

In December of 1983, the name of the company was changed the final time to Systems & Products Engineering Company, our current acronymn of SPECO (pronounced SPEE-co).  By this time, SPECO had developed an entire selection of products for indoor theatres, and the old name of Drive-In Theatre Mfg. Co. was misleading.  While we continued to provide equipment for drive-ins, our emphasis had changed to engineering, developing, and manufacturing equipment for indoor theatre projection booths, including our signature LP 270-3 red platter system, our automation systems, dimmers, cue sensors, film cleaners, and a multitude of industry-leading film roller and interlocking assemblies.

An alternative version of SPECO's history ran in the May 2nd, 1953, publication of the Showmen's Trade Review, and is chronicled here:

WHY FOR AND WHY COME THE CHOO CHOO AND MOVIE SCREEN?
By Price Wickersham

Juanita asked me to write this thing, probably thinking that since I'm one of the oldest hangers-on here at dear old DIT-MCO, I must be able to explain the above picture [shows a drive-in screen and kiddie playground shaped like a Freightliner train].  Well, maybe.  Since JB is such a nice person, I really couldn't refuse an effort:

Honest, all I know about this place and its pre-history (before 1961) comes from Tom Thompson.  He's our boss.  He hired me.  He must know.  The way I understand it (from him) is this: 

There was this Scotsman, a guy descended from the ancient Scottish family McEaugh.  Hill folk, sheep herders, and wool weavers from way back.  Well, this young Scotsman was unfortunately burdened with a series of given names, like Scots and Brits tend to do, to satisfy their relatives.  His given names were Dingwall, Inverary, Tich.  Dingwall Inverary Tich McEaugh!  Can you imagine having that handle?!? 

Well, the Scot didn't like it either and his friends ended up calling him "Dit".  Dit McEaugh.  Dit grew up by that tag until the emotional burden of continually explaining what it meant drove him to leave his beloved homeland for the promising land of the USA.

Because his uncle Tich was a prominent railroad man with connections, he got a "railroad job", with the help of Uncle Tich's friend, cleaning out cattle cars in the K.C. stockyards.  As time went on, and because the U.S. of A. is truly the Land of Opportunity, old Dit saved enough money to buy a Lionel model train.  He was nuts about trains.  Watched 'em choo-choo by every day as he steadfastly removed the stuff from the cattle cars.

Well, anyway, Dit played with his Lionel toy train every night after he left the stockyards, dreaming of the day when he could drive a real choo-choo himself.  Dit was also an avid baseball fan.  After being introduced to American baseball, he became one of the most loyal fans of the old K.C. Blues [not to be mistaken for the St. Louis hockey team].  In the late 40's, when the Blues were 100 to 1 longshots for the American Association Pennant, Dit saved his money, quit spending on his model trains, starved a while, and then put his last paycheck plus most of his savings on the Blues to win the Little World Series.  And they did!

Dit was no longer poor.  To make this short (at the expense of leaving out a fascinating scenario) let me recount that Dit put his money into a new company, formed to make amusement park choo-choos, and later, movie screens and stuff.  He, of course, named the company after himself:  D.I.T McEaugh, INC.  But, as you can guess, nobody could pronounce it, or even spell it, so he changed the company name to DIT-MCO, INC.  I bet that surprises you!

Shortly thereafter, in a momentary fit of madness, Dit left the halcyon days of riding around in choo-choos and going to drive-in movies with his group of happy employees behind him, selling off business and entering the trouble-filled wide-wide-world of electronics.  The Company's been in that business ever since, with practically nobody remembering the great old fun days.  I will leave the equally fascinating story about how old Dit got involved with the mysterious female financier, Xaveria Xebec, to Tom.

(Editor's Note:  "Believe it or Not"!)