John Michael Kohler, was an Austrian immigrant, a businessman and a visionary. In 1873 he purchased a foundry in rural Wisconsin that produced a variety of cast-iron and steel products.Ten years later, Kohler took a product in his line, heated it to 1700°F and sprinkled it with enamel powder. Placing a picture of it in the center of his one-page catalog, he called it “a horse trough/hog scalder . . . when furnished with four legs will serve as a bathtub.” Kohler was in the plumbing business.