Hill-Chase & Co., also know as the Hill-Chase Steel Company, was formed in February 1929 by Charles H. Chase (1884-1967), John J. Hill, Jr. (1891-1978), and several other employees of Edgar T. Ward Steel Service Center in Philadelphia. The company was well known for its innovations in steel. It was the place inventors went to resolve issues relating to design and other specialty needs. The inventor of the Slinky worked with Hill-Chase engineers to address such needs, then purchased steel from Hill-Chase to produce the Slinky. Other clients included the Underwood, Remington, and Smith-Corona typewriter companies. Hill-Chase sold steel to The Budd Company for the railroad cars of the Spirit of St. Louis and the Spirit of Los Angeles high-speed trains.

The company's warehouse and offices were located at Trenton Avenue and Ontario Street in Philadelphia. During the 1940s and 50s, the company expanded to include district offices in Allentown and York, Pennsylvania, as well as a warehouse and office at 6501 Erdman Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland. Hill-Chase & Company was privately held from 1929 until 1966, when it was sold to the Earle M. Jorgensen Company. [Note by Karen S. Chase, 2009.]