USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume III > Part 5
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Employee relations have always been excellent at The Hartford Electric Light Company, and labor turnover unusually small. Of the company's 1,109 employees the year before the merger (1957), twenty- two had been with the company forty years or longer, one hundred sixty-four had served over thirty years, and two hundred eighty-five belonged to the 25-Year Club (which had an additional one hundred seventy-five retired members).
This historical review would not be complete without mention of atomic energy. From the time that atomic power first entered the picture the company has kept in close touch with such developments. In 1953 it joined with a large group of industries, including the Detroit Edison Company and the Dow Chemical Company, to study the feasi- bility of developing atomic power. At the present time it is a member of the Yankee Atomic Electric Company, which is building a 134,000- kilowatt atomic power plant on the Deerfield River at Rowe, Mas- sachusetts. Most of the larger utilities in New England are members of Yankee.
The plant at Rowe is schedued to be in operation late in 1960. While it will not produce power as cheaply as our present steam sta- tions, the experience gained will help bring the costs of nuclear power down to where it will be competitive, perhaps ten or twenty years from now.
THE HOGGSON AND PETTIS MANUFACTURING COMPANY
One of New Haven's long-established industrial firms, in exist- ence for more than a century, is the Hoggson and Pettis Manufactur- ing Company. As is usually the case with firms with a long history, it was not at first known under the present name. When founded by Samuel Hoggson in 1849, it was a one-man operation. In the course of the intervening years, a variety of marking devices, hand tools, and components for more complex machinery, have been produced at its plant.
Its reputation had grown considerably when, in 1879, its founder enlarged the company and took as a partner George C. Pettis. It also
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underwent several removals in location from the time manufacturing operations were commenced on Union Street. In 1912 a plant on Brewery Street was occupied, and its present location is a three-story building at No. 141.
Its founder, Samuel J. Hoggson, was a skilled engraver, die maker and inventor, and from the beginning the organization has concentrated on metal working. One of its major lines today is the metal molds used in the manufacture of plastic and rubber products for defense purposes and domestic use. The firm also has a long- standing place of leadership in making stamps, dies and other marking devices used by American industry. Its steel stamps are used to ham- mer serias numbers or other marks of identification on metal parts, while the marking dies are used predominantly to label products with company trademarks. More complex devices in its line are used in marking conical dials, steel rulers and cylindrical metal parts. Mod- ern methods for laying linoleum, installing window screening, and cementing and vulcanizing rubber goods have created a demand for the firm's hand rollers and stitchers. A more familiar "hand tool" which it manufactures is the conductor's punch, used by railroads and other transportation companies for over thirty years. These are pro- duced in many different designs, and marketed throughout the world, from the Philippines to South Africa.
In wartime, the company played a significant role in defense, producing molds for the manufacture of combat boots. Its mold fabricating department has also produced rubber molds for airplane engine parts.
The Hoggson and Pettis Manufacturing Company maintains a high standard of employee relations. More than half of its staff have been with the organization over twenty-five years, and in a number of instances, two or even three successive generations of a family have worked here. Pleasant working conditions, paid holidays and group insurance are among the attractive features of employment at its New Haven plant. Mr. George P. Stephan, Jr., is now president of the company, and Carl A. Stephan is secretary-treasurer.
THE INTERNATIONAL SILVER COMPANY, MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT
World renowned for its fine tableware, the history of The Inter- national Silver Company, and its predecessors, is a history of America's silversmithing.
The Company was incorporated in 1898 by a number of indepen-
THE INTERNATIONAL SILVER COMPANY, MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT
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dent New England silversmiths whose family backgrounds date back to the days the Pilgrims first set foot on American soil. Through the years, International has developed steadily to become the giant of the silver and tableware industry.
Early records of this great industry go back to 1808 when Ashbil Griswold, having learned his trade from the famous Danforth family, set up his pewter shop in Meriden, Connecticut.
Soon he expanded his business to include britannia ware, and, around the middle of the nineteenth century, he joined other indepen- dent makers of pewter and britannia ware to finance the Yankee peddlers ... resourceful men who traveled about selling and bartering. Meriden became known as the center for pewter, britannia ware, and coin silver due to the ability of Ashbil Griswold and others such as James Frary, Isaac Lewis, Lemuel Curtis, William Lyman, John Munson and Horace C. Wilcox.
Then in 1852, Griswold's associates and successors, headed by Horace C. Wilcox, formed the Meriden Britannia Company-a move that united independent manufacturers and put into force better selling and business methods.
Meriden Britannia Company was the leading spirit and direct forerunner of The International Silver Company.
Meanwhile William Rogers, a silversmith's apprentice with Joseph Church in Hartford, Connecticut, progressed so rapidly that Church took him into partnership in 1825, and coin silver spoons with the mark, "Church and Rogers," were advertised in 1828.
A growing demand for "Rogers" coin silver led William Rogers, with the assistance of brothers, Asa and Simeon, to open his own business in 1836.
Coin silver, the predecessor of sterling silver, was, in addition to the high cost, not practical for long use. As a result, the Rogers bro- thers began experimenting in electro-plating spoons and forks with pure silver.
In 1847 they succeeded in perfecting this silver plating-a history- making new process in America that brought silverware within the reach of everyone !
This new product was first marketed in Hartford under the firm name of Rogers Bros. It soon established an excellent reputation nationally for fine workmanship and highest quality material. The name and reputation of 1847 Rogers Bros. Silverplate has continued to the present day.
Horace C. Wilcox and associates saw big possibilities in the
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Rogers silverplate process and arranged with the Rogers brothers to leave Hartford and join forces with the Meriden Britannia Company- which they did in 1862.
Other individuals had set up small shops in Meriden, and during the period 1810 to 1898 had, under the American system of free enterprise, built up individual businesses to varying sizes according to their and the workmen's abilities.
It was a period of rapid expansion, but in time these companies found their methods of operations had become inefficient. They realized that they could work more efficiently, and supply the demands of the public better, by combining into one organization. So, The Interna- tional Silver Company was formed in 1898.
The merger, led by the Meriden Britannia Company, was com- posed of a number of small Connecticut firms which included Holmes & Edwards, a Bridgeport silverplate firm that originated the sterling inlaid process in the 1880's.
Consolidation continued, and other companies entered the fold of International Silver. These individual companies had factories scat- tered all over Connecticut, and in adjoining states, as well as Canada.
By the turn of the century, the Meriden-Wallingford area in Connecticut had become a center for silver craftsmanship, entirely in keeping with old established Yankee traditions, and yet with a prac- tical forward look to the future.
While these consolidations were going on in the domestic com- pany, the Canadian branch had also undergone some changes. To the original Meriden Britannia, Limited, of Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1879, was joined the Standard Silver Company Limited, of Toronto, and the William Rogers Manufacturing Company Limited, of Niagara Falls.
This Canadian branch became known as The International Silver Company of Canada Limited in 1922.
By combining these small concerns, and consolidating the plants under one general administrative organization, International has had continually, since it was formed, a type of organization which is today nationally considered the most efficient: centralization of administra- tive and service organizations with decentralized production.
Awards have been the lot of International Silver since 1853 when a bronze medal was awarded to Rogers Brothers Manufacturing Com- pany at the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations in New York.
Since then, at World's Fairs and industrial exhibitions in Paris, London, Sydney, Australia, and throughout the United States, In-
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ternational has continually given proof of the excellence of its products and is universally recognized as a leader in the field.
With the approach of World War II, silverware production was almost at a peak. Conversion from peacetime to wartime production began in 1940, and was accomplished by almost super-human efforts.
In June 1943 the Company was engaged practically 100% in war production. More than 100 different products were made, including shells, rifle parts, surgical instruments, magazines, cartridge clips, mess kits, bomber parts, and incendiary bombs.
As a result of their contribution to the war effort, a total of 21 Army-Navy "E" awards and renewals were presented to the Company.
Readjustment after the war was accomplished with minimum of dislocations.
In 1947 construction of a new million dollar plant was started in Wallingford, Connecticut. Known as Factory A, it specializes to- day in making the popular priced "promotion flatware" in silverplate and stainless steel.
The most recent addition to International is a new Administra- tion and Manufacturing Plant situated midway between Meriden and Wallingford. Here for the first time in the Company's history, the sales, advertising, financial and various administrative functions have been consolidated in one large modern office building.
The adjacent holloware plant is the largest and the world's most modern for manufacturing silverplated and stainless steel holloware.
Additional post-war plans for International called for diversifi- cation.
International's Rolling Mill, which heretofore produced metal only for International products, added facilities that produce non- ferrous metals for outside commercial use.
In 1955 the Times, Wire & Cable Company became a subsidiary, specializing in many types and sizes of coaxial cable in addition to the designing and manufacturing of special cable for data processing and missile applications.
Most recent in the series of steps for International's long-range diversification plans was the acquisition of assets of The Eyelet Special- ty Company of Waterbury, Connecticut, early in 1958.
The acquisition of this leading maker of lipstick cases, closures and electric specialties marks one of the largest additions to the cor- porate family since the formation of The International Silver Com- pany back in 1898.
Today International Silver enjoys a position that is unique in
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the silver industry. Not only is it the world's largest manufacturer of fine tableware, but it makes a broader variety of products than any other silverware manufacturer. Flatware and holloware lines vary in quality and prices range from the finest sterling silver to the lowest price silverplate and stainless steel.
In addition to household tableware, International makes institu- tional and ecclesiastical ware.
The Hotel Division specializes in flatware and holloware designed for use by hotels, restaurants, railways, steamships and institutions. All the leading airlines of the nation are equipped with silverware services by International.
An Ecclesiastical Division fabricates a wide variety of articles for divine service in both Catholic and Protestant churches.
The Home office is located in Meriden, and its products are man- ufactured in eight different plants-three in Meriden, four in Wal- lingford, and one in Florence, Massachusetts. In normal times, ap- proximately 4,500 people are employed by International.
Its present officers are: Craig D. Munson, President; John B. Stevens, Vice President for Sales; Lee F. Revere, Vice President in Charge of Manufacturing; Durand B. Blatz, Vice President and Treasurer; John F. Mickelson, Assistant Treasurer and Controller ; M. Taylor Mayes, Secretary and Counsel; and Gordon P. Cushman, Assistant Secretary.
KNUDSEN BROTHERS DAIRY, INC.
As a major milk distributor of the New Haven area, Knudsen Brothers Dairy, Inc., plays its part in what can justly be termed America's foremost food industry. Milk, as the most nearly complete of nature's foods, has had an outstanding place in the human diet since the beginning of time. In this country alone, nearly twenty-two and a half million cows on almost one-half of the nation's more than five million farms produce a total of fifty-three billion quarts an- nually. This volume of milk would fill a river three thousand miles long, forty feet wide and three feet deep. There are about a quarter of a million workers engaged in the processing and delivering of milk and other dairy products in the United States.
Knudsen Brothers' share of this volume of business, within its own area of New Haven, is an appreciable one. It is essentially a fluid milk distribution company, one of about fifty thousand such organizations in the United States. Its routes cover New Haven County, and some extend into Middlesex County. As a sideline, the
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company ships great semi-trailer loads of ice cream into the metro- politan New York and New Jersey areas throughout the summer season.
Knudsen Brothers Dairy, Inc., established in 1934, takes its name from the fact that it was founded by three brothers, Chris, Daniel and Peter Knudsen. They are sons of John Knudsen, who was at that time a dealer in small produce. With a few hundred dollars and a wealth of energy and determination, the brothers took over a small retail business, which was operated by their father. They re- cognized the importance of quality in milk supply, and their adherence to this standard has brought the firm leadership in its field. Within a few years of its founding, Knudsen Brothers Dairy was firmly es- tablished as a distributor. Aggressive leadership, hard work, and con- stant recognition of its duty to customers and employees have won the firm respect in the Connecticut dairy industry. There are now more than one hundred and fifty employees maintaining and extending this reputation, with the best potential sales force in the area, the best and most up-to-date equipment kept in top condition by the plant and maintenance men, and a careful and accurate office force.
Still guiding the affairs of the company are the three Knudsen brothers: Chris, who is president and treasurer; Daniel, who is vice president; and Peter, who holds the office of secretary. They are ef- fectively aided by Andrew E. Turner, director of distribution, who is in charge of sales, advertising and personnel. His biographical re- cord is found in a separate sketch in the biographical section of this history.
THE LYMAN GUN SIGHT CORPORATION
Since the time of its founding eighty years ago, The Lyman Gun Sight Corporation of Middlefield has held a place of leadership among New England firms specializing in the production of components for firearms. The company began its existence in 1878 with the manufac- ture of the first peep sights for sporting arms. In 1924, it expanded its line by acquiring the Ideal Reloading Tool business, which had been founded by a Mr. Barlow about 1875. The tools, still produced by Lyman under the original name, are used for reloading rifle, pistol and shotshell cases after they have been fired.
Shortly after 1924, the company purchased the telescopic sight business from Winchester and Stevens and have now developed their products into a most popular line of hunting scopes under the brand name of Lyman "All American" scopes. In 1933, choke devices for
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shotguns were added to the line, making use of a most popular device invented by General Richard Cutts. These devices, known as Cutts Comps, are used to reduce recoil and control the patterns of the shot.
At the present time the officers of the Lyman Gun Sight Cor- poration are: Charles E. Lyman, 3rd, president ; Charles E. Lyman, Jr., vice president ; Henry H. Lyman, Jr., secretary ; and Richard C. Lyman, treasurer. Currently serving on the board of directors are Charles E. Lyman, Jr., who is board chairman, John Lyman, Sr., of whom there is more in the biographical section of this history, Henry H. Lyman, Sr., Harold Woolverton, Roland Van Name, Neil Moses, and Charles E. Lyman, 3rd.
The Lymans also have a reputation in the Middlefield area for their achievements in agriculture. The preceding generation in the company's management, the three brothers, John, Henry and Elihu Lyman, built up a prosperous farming operation, including an excel- lent herd of cows, and peach, pear and apple orchards. These interests the family still carries on. On their extensive acreage there is also maintained an extensive rifle range-the Blue Trail Range, which is one of the best-equipped in the country. The gun sight factory is located in this pleasant rural area near Middlefield, and hence has one of the most attractive sites for industrial work of any plant in New England.
THE MARLIN FIREARMS COMPANY
Founded by John Marlin in New Haven, in 1870, and today manufacturers of sporting guns and of razor blades, the Marlin Company employs more than seven hundred people in its factories in New Haven.
Born at Rainbow, in the town of Windsor, Connecticut, in 1836, John Marlin learned the trade of making firearms at the Colt fac- tory in Hartford, and it was at the age of thirty-four, in 1870, that he founded his own company. At first only pistols and revolvers were made, but the company branched out into making the Ballard Single Shot in several calibers and the big buffalo guns used by Buffalo Bill Cody. When the repeating rifle came into use in the 1880's, the Marlin Company was one of the first manufacturers, listing a re- peater in 1881. This gun was re-designed in 1889 by Louis L. Hep- burn to include a solid-top receiver and side ejection, two features still in use in today's guns. At that time the company employed about two hundred men.
On Mr. Marlin's death in 1901, he was succeeded by his son,
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Mahlon, with another son, J. Howard, becoming head salesman. In addition to the stock model, lever-action repeating rifles in all calibers, the company received many orders for elaborately engraved rifles and shotguns, with inlays of gold, silver and platinum.
At the outbreak of World War I, the company was sold to a newly-formed corporation, the Marlin-Rockwell Company, which was established to manufacture machine guns for the Allied Forces. Dur- ing 1918, United States production reached a figure of five hundred a day, where it had been only five a month before.
The company was purchased in 1924 by Frank Kenna, who, in taking over the management, restored the original name of the Mar- lin Firearms Company. The manufacture of razor blades was added in 1936, and by 1947 Marlin had manufactured more than a billion razor blades. The company ceased production of sporting guns dur- ing World War II, and re-tooled for the manufacture of airplane wing-tips, barrels for the Garland rifle, ammunition belts and a light 9mm sub-machine gun. At the war's end, Marlin returned to its specialty of sporting guns and has continued the manufacture of razor blades.
The president of the company is Frank Kenna, who succeeded to this post in 1959, and he heads a management that is continually improving Marlin products and is developing new ones. The other main officers of the company are Theodore Lynch, chairman of the board, and Edward Brennan, secretary.
THE MERIDEN RECORD COMPANY
Through its two newspapers, the morning Meriden Record and the evening Meriden Daily Journal, The Meriden Record Company performs an indispensable public service in providing the citizens of Meriden, Wallingford, Southington, Berlin, Middlefield, and Cheshire with complete daily news coverage. The present corporation can trace its history back more than seventy years to the founding of The Republican Publishing Company, which was incorporated February 15, 1887, with William F. Graham, Erwin D. Hall and Edwin E. Smith as officers. Thomas H. Warnock became editor on November 28, 1888. On October 8, 1892, the first issue of The Meriden Record was published, with Edwin E. Smith and Thomas H. Warnock at the helm. William F. Graham had died on May 1, 1891.
Edwin E. Smith continued in his publishing duties for more than four decades, and on his death, January 24. 1934, his son, Wayne C. Smith, became publisher. He was elected president of The Republican Conn. III-5
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Publishing Company in March, 1948, succeeding Thomas H. War- nock. In April of that year the name of the corporation was changed to The Meriden Record Company to conform to the name of the news- paper.
Blanche Hixson Smith, wife of the publisher, Wayne C. Smith, joined the editorial staff of The Record in 1940. In 1949 she became executive editor of both The Meriden Record and The Meriden Jour- nal, which latter newspaper was purchased on June 28 of that year by The Meriden Record Company. Attorney Carter H. White, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne C. Smith, became vice president and general counsel of the company in 1948, and in May, 1954, he became general manager of both papers. Thomas H. Warnock, editor of The Record, died November 28, 1952, and he was succeeded by Warren F. Gardner, the present editor of The Record.
The history of The Meriden Journal also goes back more than seventy years. It was first published on April 17, 1886, by Francis At- water, Thomas L. Reilly, Lewis Allen and Frank E. Sands. Mr. At- water retired in 1913, and Mr. Sands served as editor and publisher until 1943, when he became chairman of the board. He died on June 8. 1951.
In 1915, C. Howard Tryon, a former Record employee, purchased an interest in The Journal Publishing Company, was elected treasurer and served as business manager. In 1943 he became publisher, in which capacity he remained until The Journal was sold to The Meriden Record on June 28, 1949.
Sanford H. Wendover joined the staff of The Journal on July I, 1916, as telegraph editor, and was later elected to the vice presidency of the company, succeeding Walter Allen, son of one of the founders, as managing editor. In 1920 he became advertising manager, and later advertising director. On June 28, 1944, he became editor of The Journal, and continues in that capacity today.
O. F. MOSSBERG AND SONS, INCORPORATED
Manufacturers of a line of high quality .22 caliber rifles, shot- guns, telescopes and spotting scopes, O. F. Mossberg and Sons, In- corporated, employs one hundred and sixty full-time employees and enjoys a high reputation in the fine gun field. Organized in 1919 by O. F. Mossberg and his sons, Iver and Harold, the firm had its be- ginnings in a small loft space on State Street in New Haven, and be- gan operations with three employees, making the "Brownie" 4-shot .22 caliber semi-automatic pocket pistol.
OSCAR F. MOSSBERG
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O. F. Mossberg had come to the United States from Sweden in 1886 and had become associated with the Iver Johnson Arms Com- pany. His interest in firearms and his mechanical ingenuity led him to develop the famous "hammer to hammer" revolver action for Iver Johnson, and it has since been an outstanding feature of their fire- arms. Superintendent for a time of the Shattuck Arms Company of Hatfield, Massachusetts, makers of palm pistols, revolvers and shot- guns, Mr. Mossberg joined the J. Stevens Arms Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts, in 1900, and in 1914 he took a position with the Mar- lin-Rockwell Corporation of New Haven, Connecticut, which had pur- chased the Marlin Firearms Company from the Marlin family. He was active with this company in the development and manufacture of machine guns during World War I.
It was in 1919 that, with his sons, Iver and Harold, Mr. Moss- berg organized as a partnership. Both sons had inherited their father's skill, and while still in high school were manufacturing a novelty pistol for the South American market, using their home and barn at Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, as their workshop. Both sons attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and they worked in gun plants dur- ing their school vacations.
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