Thalheimer Brothers was founded in 1939 by Max, Gus, and Martin Thalheimer. The business began as a small family operation in Philadelphia, primarily handling copper bearing residues for brass foundries in the region. The brothers built their business by emphasizing product quality, value, and customer service.

By the 1960s, Gus's son, John Thalheimer, had taken over the family business. John used his academic background in metallurgy to help grow the company into several new markets, aggressively expanding into a wide range of coppers, brasses, bronzes, nickel alloys, and stainless steels.