“MyTana equipment is factory-direct and American made.” We write it on our catalogs, our website, our marketing. And while “Made in America” is an afterthought for many operations, at MyTana we’re proud that our story parallels that of so many American success stories—full of hard work, innovation and a dash of luck.
It was downright lucky, for example, that in the 1930s Sol Gottstein lived down the street from Samuel O. Blanc, the inventor of the first electric drain cleaning machine and founder of Roto-Rooter. Though Sol and his brother ran a Des Moines grocery store, they worked closely with Blanc on the development of his early machines. The Gottsteins helped weld prototypes of the equipment in their garage, and Sol and his brother soon became involved in training some of the nation’s earliest Roto-Rooter operators. Inspired by their neighbor’s success, the brothers moved to Minnesota to open twin Roto-Rooter franchises in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
But Sol had bigger ambitions. Rather than purchase parts from Roto-Rooter, he wanted to make better, stronger cable himself—and save some money in the process. With the help of collaborators Jerry Isaacson and John Sentman, Sol soon found himself in the cable business, competing with Roto-Rooter for sales to other operations. In 1957 he began selling machines also. In creating his new business, Sol was inspired by the beloved cartoon hero, Mighty Mouse. Sol turned Mighty into “My-T,” and the rest “came to him in a dream.” And so MyTana was born.
