View Craig Issod
Craig Issod has been involved in the hearth industry since 1978 and burned wood stoves for heat starting in 1972. Having moved to rural WV and TN to escape the city life, Martha and Craig Issod quickly turned to chain saws, axes and wood stoves in order to warm their homes (well, actually their shacks and army tents, but that is another story).
Craig heating with wood in WV, 1972
After moving back to NJ in the 1974, the Issods missed the feeling of true warmth associated with Wood Heating and started shopping for a new stove to heat their small ranch house. At the time, there were no stove shops. so the Issods found a decent Atlanta Stove in a small appliance shop in Trenton. After installing a Hart and Cooley Metalvent chimney, the stove was ready to heat.
Burning wood was such a rarity at the time that the smoke exiting the chimney brought the Fire Dept. to the door one day to inquire about whether the Issods house was ablaze!
A few years later, Craig and Martha desired a newer stove – and they heard about the new “Airtight” models. Some shopping around revealed an interesting fact : You could buy one stove for $525, but buy 3 or more and a price break to $375 was possible. After some additional research, the Issods decided to set up a stove shop in their dining room and place a few classified ads.
Right about this time in history, the second oil shock hit, as well as the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island nuclear plant. The result was a strong market for wood stoves and the birth of Stoveworks Medford and Williamstown NJ, a retail shop which became a leader in the industry.
In 1984, Craig purchased the assets of the Upland Stove Co. and commenced the manufacture of stoves in a small Medford factory – See Upland Stove Company
In 1986, Craig partnered with Richard Brown and J. Dell Conner to develop and market the “1/2 Kettle”, a patented tea kettle which fit on the narrow ledge of many Fireplace Inserts.
In 1990, Craig purchased the US and Canadian importing rights to the [HS Tarm boilers] and introduced a number of new products including the Excel Multi-Fuel Gasification boiler.
Computers were always in use at the many businesses, so Craig was always learning more about these technologies. Craig taught seminars on using computers in the hearth business at the yearly trade shows and also was involved in online communities as early as 1986, well before the birth of the public internet.
More later….
Craig’s most recent hearth industry effort is Hearth.com (Hearth.com Background ), which the wiki you are reading now is a part of.
In his spare time, Craig enjoys skiing, tennis, reading, computing, writing, inventing, teaching,, sailing, historic places such as the families new cottage in coastal RI and, most of all, Rosie – our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
A new (for fun) venture is Life is Suffering™ – sportswear with whimsy and philosophy – you can check it out at:
Life is Suffering™
Craig plays the Blues along with industry veteran Richard Brown
Craig maintains a blog – stories, tales, bs, pictures and much more at:
Craigsfire™
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