USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 1916-1955 > Part 34
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To provide more manufacturing, office, and storage space, the company in 1954 bought two buildings on Mckay Street
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and joined them to the main plant, thus considerably enlarging its facilities.
At his death in 1928, Edward Archie Jones was succeeded as president of the company by Stanley P. Benton, who was fol- lowed in 1945 by the current president, S. Harley Jones, grand- son of the founder of the firm.
Pittsfield Coal Gas Company
Another of the companies over a century old is the Berkshire Gas Company. It was born as the Pittsfield Coal Gas Company in 1853, when gas began to be used for lighting purposes in houses and on streets.
The advent of electric light after Edison's invention of the incandescent lamp in 1879 made the prospects of the gas in- dustry gloomy. Happily for the industry, the use of gas for cooking had passed the experimental stage. Pittsfield's first gas stoves were installed about 1900, and subsequently gas began to be changed from a lighting to a heating fuel.
During World War I days, this transition was largely com- pleted. The Gas Company increased its customers as gas stoves rapidly replaced coal and wood stoves. Gas mains were extend- ed south to the towns of Lenox and Lee.
The general prosperity of the 1920s was shared by the com- pany, which in 1923 changed its process of production from coal gas to carbureted water gas. The change was made to save labor and the expense of selling and delivering coke, a by-prod- uct of the production of coal gas.
The initiative of Manager Harry C. Crafts brought about in- creasing use of gas in the heating of water for domestic and other purposes. Restaurants, hotels, and bakeries installed gas for water heating and for cooking. The growing Pittsfield plant of GE found gas to be the best fuel to use for its heat-treating processes. All of this stimulated an increasing demand for the output of the Gas Company.
The full impact of the Great Depression was not felt by the company until 1931, when general unemployment and drastic cutbacks in local industry resulted in declining demands for gas.
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In 1932, Cummings C. Chesney, long manager of the local plant of GE, was made executive vice president, becoming president the next year, succeeding William L. Adam, who had occupied the presidency for many years.
During the 1930s, the company worked hard to regain the business it had lost with the onset of the Depression. The intro- duction of the gas refrigerator helped, as did the increased use of gas for house heating. Because its rates for house heating were lower, the company added many householders to its heat- ing customers. Gas mains were extended south to Stockbridge, and north to Lanesborough. By 1940, the company was well on its way to regaining the "load" it had lost in the early 1930s.
The World War II period brought new problems-how to get sufficient coal, coke, and oil to keep the company operating to meet increasing demands. As a public utility with established priorities, the company managed to obtain sufficient raw mate- rials for its operations.
In 1950, rumor ran that natural gas was going to be piped from Texas to New England. The rumor proved to have sub- stance, for in the fall of 1951 natural gas from the Southwest was piped into Pittsfield, the first New England community to have such gas.
Several utility groups began negotiating at this time for the purchase of the Pittsfield Coal Gas Company. In November 1953, an agreement was reached for the sale of the company to these groups. Robert W. McCracken, who had succeeded Cummings C. Chesney as president of the company in 1945, retired and was succeeded by the current president, Kenneth D. Knoblock. Joseph T. Kelley continued as vice president and gen- eral manager.
In 1954, the Pittsfield Coal Gas Company purchased the Berkshire Gas Company of North Adams and merged with it to become the Berkshire Gas Company with headquarters at its long-established offices at the corner of Bank Row and South Street in Pittsfield. The new company announced in 1955 an expansion program of more than a half million dollars to in- crease and improve its service to the Berkshires.
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Holden & Stone
Holden & Stone Company, one of the few specialty shops in the country having over a century of continuous existence, was founded in 1844 by Henry G. Davis. The store is probably the oldest in Berkshire County. It was in Deacon Davis' store that Marshall Field, destined to become the prominent Chicago mer- chant, secured his first job at the age of 17.
Although the firm changed names often in the early years, it was never sold to an outsider. Each change resulted from partners succeeding each other. Consecutive firms have been H. G. Davis, H. G. Davis & Company, H. G. Davis & Wood, M. H. Wood & Company, Wood & Garlick, Sturvent & John- son, Johnson & Bailey, G. W. Bailey & Company, and Holden & Stone Company. The president in 1955 was Edwin W. Hol- den, son of Harry Holden, who became a partner of George W. Bailey and Frank L. Stone in 1892.
Originally occupying the southeast corner of North and School streets, the firm moved after 41 years to the Central Block. When this building was sold to England Brothers in 1930, the store took its present quarters on the main floor of the Onota Building. Before this, Holden's had been a general department store. In its present smaller quarters it became a specialty shop, chiefly selling ready-to-wear clothing and ac- cessories but having a domestic department.
England Brothers
Long the largest department store in western Massachusetts, England Brothers was preparing in 1955 for its approaching centennial, having been founded in 1857 by Moses England on the east side of North Street. It later moved across the street to the west side, where it has since remained, a landmark for many years. Two stories were added in 1926. The firm acquired the adjoining Newman building in 1931, and the store was en- larged to its present size in 1938.
The firm was incorporated in 1927 by three sons of the founder-with Benjamin M. England as president, Simon Eng- land as vice president and treasurer, and Daniel England as
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secretary. Bridges to the Central Block were built in 1938, 1947, and 1956. An escalator was installed in 1949.
The average number of employees rose from 200 in 1916 to 300 in 1955. In the latter year, employment rose to more than 600 during the Christmas shopping season. A Quarter Century Club was founded among employees in 1947. The club now has 40 members, more than 10 per cent of all permanent em- ployees. Three members have worked in the store for more than a half century.
In 1955, the officers were Benjamin M. England, son of Daniel England, president; Simon England, Jr., vice president; Daniel England, Jr., secretary; and Alan J. Blau, son-in-law of Simon England, treasurer and general manager.
Pittsfield Electric Company
Pittsfield's first power for electric light was turned on in 1883 by the Pittsfield Electric Light Company. It furnished direct current for carbon arc lamps from engine-driven gen- erators in a wood-working shop near the corner of North and Melville streets. Another company to supply incandescent light- ing was organized in 1887, the Pittsfield Illuminating Company.
The two companies consolidated in 1890 as the Pittsfield Electric Company, with Alexander Kennedy as president. Pur- chasing land at the corner of Renne Avenue and Cottage Row, now Eagle Street, it erected there a two-storied brick building and boiler house. Exhaust steam from the boiler house engines was piped and sold to business blocks for heating during the winter. In 1904, a new power house with diesel engines was built on ground purchased between Silver Lake and the Boston and Albany railroad tracks. By 1915, the company was serving 4,500 businesses and homes, with its output steadily increasing.
During World War I, with demands for industrial power in- creasing, the company extended its services to Dalton and Lee through an arrangement with the Lee Electric Company. Be- tween 1916 and 1919, the maximum load on the company's sys- tem increased 70 per cent, and its revenues doubled.
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The post-war recession in the early 1920s reduced the sale of power for industrial use, but sales to householders continued to rise, though slowly. In 1922, with demands for power increas- ing, Pittsfield Electric made a ten-year contract with the Turners Falls Power and Electric Company to build a double-circuit transmission line of 37 miles from its plant to Pittsfield to sup- ply the extra power needed. The boilers at the Silver Lake plant therefore became available to supply steam for the company's steam heating system through a high pressure main laid along the Boston and Albany's tracks to the heart of the city. The boiler plant on Renne Avenue was dismantled, and the build- ing reconstructed for other purposes.
In 1923, Alexander Kennedy, president of Pittsfield Electric since its organization, died and was succeeded by William A. Whittlesey 2nd.
During the boom years in the late 1920s, a period of mergers and more mergers, several large financial combines sought to obtain control of the company. The Turners Falls Power and Electric Company, which was supplying power to the Pittsfield Electric Company, the Greenfield Electric Light Company, the United Electric Light Company of Springfield, and others in western Massachusetts, proposed an association of the com- panies so physically connected-a proposition that was adopted.
Three directors of Pittsfield Electric Company became trustees of the association known as the Western Massachusetts Companies-Winthrop M. Crane, Jr., Edward A. Jones, and William A. Whittlesey 2nd. The last was named as a vice president. John J. O'Connell, manager of the electric company at Amherst, was made manager of Pittsfield Electric.
Depressed business conditions in the 1930s made it necessary to reduce operating expenses without impairing service to cus- tomers. All employees and officers accepted a graduated pay reduction.
In 1933, the Lee Electric Company and the Pittsfield Electric Company, having been closely associated for 16 years, consol- idated, the former company becoming the Lee Division of Pittsfield Electric.
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In March 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a Bank Holiday. With only a small amount of cash on hand, Pittsfield Electric could not meet its payroll for the first and only time. By 1938, the effects of the Depression had been re- lieved, and the company's business resumed its rapid growth.
The eleven operating companies that comprised Western Massachusetts Companies in 1928 had been slowly consolidated into four operating companies-Western Massachusetts Electric Company, Turners Falls Power & Electric Company, Pittsfield Electric Company, and the United Electric Light Company of Springfield. These consolidations led to increased efficiency, better service to the public, simplified accounting, and improved operation.
In 1939, the companies petitioned the Department of Public Utilities to consolidate into one operating company without change in the financial structure for the purpose of further ad- vantages in operation, economy, and financing. Considerable opposition developed so that it was not until 1941 that the petition was granted.
As with electric service companies all over the country, World War II brought many restrictions in the use of metals, coal, and man power. The War Production Board restricted the company's efforts to increase its sales. A drastic limitation was placed upon construction of all types. Sales promotion was first affected by not permitting the sale of refrigerators; next, elec- tric ranges; and successively, all electric appliances for the home. Companies were requested not to make line extensions of more than 250 feet unless useful for the war effort. Street light extensions were prohibited.
The year 1942 closed with a most destructive ice storm which brought down distribution lines in western Massachu- setts, particularly in rural areas. No industry in war production was seriously affected by this storm, due to the company's ability to thaw out its high voltage transmission lines electrically. As the ice formed, the lines were heated by applying a controlled short circuit to various sections of the transmission network, a: procedure only possible on the main double-circuit transmission:
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lines. With copper on the critical list and the supply limited, many substitutes for copper were used for temporary repairs- even iron wire-all of which had to be replaced later.
In 1943, the Pittsfield Electric Company became the Western Division of the Western Massachusetts Electric Company. The officers and directors of the four consolidated companies became the officers and directors of Western Massachusetts Electric. The policy of local management was maintained. Upon the death in 1944 of John J. O'Connell, manager of the Western Division for thirteen years, he was succeeded by Assistant Man- ager Charles S. Van Buskirk, who held the position until his retirement in 1951.
Early in 1945, the Federal government ordered that all non- essential lighting and transportation be eliminated, and that interior temperatures be kept at a maximum of 68 degrees to conserve the coal supply. This "brown-out" had a decided effect on commercial lighting, but little on the domestic business. On V-E Day, restrictions were removed. Late in 1945, Fred C. Abercrombie, president of the Western Massachusetts Com- panies, died and was succeeded by Howard J. Cadwell.
The demand for electric power in the post-war years grew beyond what could be economically produced with the facilities available in the Pittsfield area. Principally, there was a lack of sufficient condensing water. The needed power had to be sup- plied by additional steam plants on the Connecticut River, or by connection with other power systems.
In 1951, Charles S. Van Buskirk, manager of the Western Division since 1944, retired and was succeeded by William A. Whittlesey 3rd, grandson of the first manager of the Pittsfield Electric Company. William A. Whittlesey 2nd, associated with the Pittsfield Electric Company and the Western Massachusetts Electric Company for 46 years, retired as vice president of the Western Massachusetts Electric Company in 1952.
During the decade following V-J Day, the trend of the com- pany's electric energy sales has been constantly upward at the rate of approximately 10 per cent annually. The company has
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been for many years Pittsfield's largest taxpayer except for the General Electric plant, the city's major industry.
Eaton Paper Corporation
One of Pittsfield's chief enterprises, now known as the Eaton Paper Corporation, produces fine stationery and writing ac- cessories for a national and international market. The enterprise dates back to 1893 when a stationery factory was established in the city, taking over the building on South Church Street for- merly occupied by the Terry Clock Company. The concern, then known as the Hurlbut Stationery Company, was directed by Arthur W. Eaton, a native of Nova Scotia, who had been for some years president of the Hurlbut Paper Manufacturing Company of South Lee, the parent company.
In 1899, both companies were taken over in the age of trusts by a large paper combine, the American Writing Paper Com- pany. Almost simultaneously, Eaton and associates bought back the Pittsfield plant and reestablished local ownership and con- trol, incorporating it as the Eaton-Hurlbut Paper Company. In 1907 it became the Eaton, Crane & Pike Company, with Eaton as president and treasurer, and with the paper-making Cranes of Dalton having a substantial financial interest.
The company's greatest expansion occurred during the 1920s when the number of employees, originally about forty, increased to some 1,200, which necessitated the acquisition and construc- tion of additional buildings to provide working space. In 1928, the company resumed manufacture of its own paper, exclusive of Crane products, acquiring for the purpose the former Berk- shire Hills Paper Company of Adams near by.
Then the Great Depression struck, which caused many changes, resulting in the reorganization of the company and the sale of the Adams mill. In 1932, the company decided to dis- continue making into stationery the paper of the Crane mills in Dalton. At the same time, the company took its present name, the Eaton Paper Corporation, but with no change in ownership.
In 1934, Arthur W. Eaton died, being succeeded as chairman by his son, William H. Eaton. The latter was succeeded as presi-
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dent by Horace W. Davis, who had been president of the Agfa Ansco Corporation of Binghampton, New York. During Davis' regime, the company acquired the business of Laura Lee Linder of New York City, manufacturers of leather accessories for writing desks, moving the plant and most of the staff to Pitts- field. The firm of Whiting & Cook, stationery manufacturers at Holyoke, was also absorbed in this period.
Upon Davis' death in 1942, George P. Clayson became presi- dent. Under him, the company took over in 1947 the business of the Nascon Products Company of New York, manufacturers of social and business record books with nation-wide distribution. The next president was Harry C. Dutton, president of the White and Wyckoff Manufacturing Company of Holyoke, who since 1949 has directed Eaton's. In 1953, Colonel William H. Eaton, successively secretary, treasurer, president, and board chairman over a period of 53 years, retired from active business but continued as chairman.
Crane & Company
Though its main mills have always been in neighboring Dal- ton since the first was established there more than a century and a half ago, the firm now known as Crane & Company has long had an important and interesting mill in Pittsfield-since 1879, when it bought and converted the old Colt textile mill in the northeastern section of Pittsfield near the Dalton line.
Since that date, the Government Mill, as it is known, has supplied to the Federal government under annually awarded contracts all of the especially fine, strong, and distinctive paper that the Treasury uses in printing "greenbacks" and government bonds. In a real sense, every bill in the wallets of Americans, as well as every Treasury bond in their safe deposit boxes, comes either from Pittsfield or from Dalton.
From 1915 through 1955, the Government Mill shipped to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington an aver- age of 1,500 tons of paper a year-which represents a lot of circulating currency and more or less permanent investment. For
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obvious reasons, the Government Mill is under strict security control.
A. H. Rice and Company
A. H. Rice's reputation is known in the thread and braid business from coast to coast. More than three quarters of a cen- tury old, the firm was organized in 1878 by S. K. Smith, W. B. Rice, and his son, A. H. Rice. The company began operations in a small wooden building about forty feet square at the corner of Linden Street and Robbins Avenue. The Smith and Rice Company, as it was first known, was reorganized in 1884, taking the name of A. H. Rice and Company. Two years later, it moved to larger quarters in a vacant woolen mill at the corner of Burbank and Spring streets, the site of today's greatly en- larged plant.
The firm first produced silk sewing thread, later adding the manufacture of silk and mohair braids, then widely used in trimming men's and women's coats and suits. In 1908, the com- pany began to use rayon-or wood silk, as it was then called- in its braids, one of the first successful textile products made from rayon.
During World War I, the Rice company supplied the military with many essential items and continued its expansion during the 1920s. It installed a new electric power system to drive its machines in 1923. Changes in fashion and the decreasing use of braids for ordinary clothes caused the ruin of many com- petitors. The Rice company acquired the business of some of the bankrupts and went on prospering, promoting the industrial use of braids and threads to replace the demand that had formerly come from tailors and dressmakers.
Again in World War II, the company turned its operations in large part to supplying military needs, producing braid and thread for trimming and stitching service uniforms, nylon cord for parachute shroud lines, silk thread for stitching powder kegs, nylon thread for stitching parachute canopies and other uses. During the Korean War, Rice products were used in sev-
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eral new items-in armored vests, and in deceleration chutes for jet aircraft.
Today, Rice's production of thread goes largely into the manufacture of men's suits, coats, and sports shirts, where it is used for both utilitarian and decorative purposes; into shoes for men, women, and children; into seaming of women's full-fash- ioned hosiery; and the stitching of automobile upholstery for some of the largest makers of fine cars.
Rice threads are also used for a wide diversity of purposes- including windings for fishing rods; stitching of awnings, base- ball gloves, and lingerie; quilting of linings for overcoats; and lacing operations in the fabrication of electric and electronic equipment. The firm's products are offered in more than a hun- dred different colors or color combinations.
Since 1927, William T. Rice, grandson of the founder of the concern, has been president of the company. His sons, John H. and Peter Van S., are vice presidents of the firm, representing the fourth generation of the Rice family to be active in the thread and braid mill. Late in 1955, the company announced immediate construction of a $45,000 addition to the plant to provide more space for its operations.
Berkshire Woolen Company
The Berkshire Woolen Company was formed in 1910, estab- lishing operations in what had been the Upper Mill of the J. L. & T. D. Peck Manufacturing Company. The mill was owned at the time by Ralph D. Gillett of Westfield, who became presi- dent of the new company. He was joined in the enterprise by James R. Savery, of Pittsfield; Denis T. Noonan, a woolen man- ufacturer in Dexter, Maine; and Wesley V. E. Terhune, a sell- ing agent in New York City. Savery was named treasurer, while Noonan and Terhune took charge of manufacturing and sell- ing respectively. Upon Gillett's death in 1913, his son Edgar, of Westfield, became president.
In 1915 the Berkshire Woolen & Worsted Company, as it was first known, was reorganized and took its present name. The Gillett estate received preferred stock for its interest.
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Noonan, Terhune, and Savery shared the common stock and assumed active management. In 1918, after the last of the pre- ferred stock had been retired, Noonan became president, with Terhune as vice president and Savery as treasurer. After Savery's death in 1938, Noonan also became treasurer.
To expand operations, the company acquired in 1923 the Peck mill at the corner of Peck's Road and Onota Street. A new power plant was built in 1941 to supply all of the company's power needs. In 1947, needing more manufacturing space, the company constructed a new three-storied building and provided other space by erecting additions to older buildings. To expand further and keep itself competitive in the industry, Berkshire Woolen in 1949 leased, with an option to buy, a large Air Force warehouse at Monck's Corner, South Carolina, for use as a branch plant.
In 1951, the original Savery interest in the company was pur- chased by G. Harry Gwinnell of Pittsfield and Denis T. Noonan, Jr. The following year, the elder Noonan became chairman of the board, Gwinnell was chosen as president, with the younger Noonan as vice president and treasurer.
Early in 1954, a major portion of the Lower Mill at the cor- ner of Peck's Road and Onota Street was destroyed by fire. To replace this, the company erected an addition to the main plant on Peck's Road.
Pontoosuc Woolen Manufacturing Company
The history of the Wyandotte Worsted Company dates back to 1930. But the history of the mill itself goes back to the year 1827 when the Pontoosuc Woolen Manufacturing Company was incorporated. The Francis family, which was to help shape its destiny, acquired an interest in it about the time of the Civil War and was closely associated with it until Pontoosuc ceased operations in 1929.
During World War I years, the Pontoosuc Company enjoyed its period of greatest prosperity, having the highest profits in its long history in 1918. The post war years of 1920-1923 brought
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