TABLE OF CONTENTS
I N T RO D U CT I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 TA B L E O F CON T E N TS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 CONNECTICUT SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Atlas Shear Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Acme Shear Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Joseph Mallinson & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The American Engineering Company . . . . . . . 16 Butler And Sugden Shear Factory . . . . . . . . . . 17 Union Shear Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Renz Shear Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 William Schollhorn Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Clayton Brothers Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Lenox Shear Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 John Ahlbin & Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Connecticut Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 United States Steel Shear Company . . . . . . . . 40 Northfield Knife Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Florian Manufacturing Company . . . . . . . . . . 44 James Frary & Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Doolittle Manufacturing Company . . . . . . . . . 51 Barnard, Son & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Niagara Shear Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Empire Knife Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Holley Manufacturing Company . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Waterville Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 American Shear And Knife Company . . . . . . . 67 Tuttle & Whittemore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Concannon Shear Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Remington Arms Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Winchester Arms Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 John J. Conway Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Landers, Frary & Clark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 NEW JERSEY SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transomatic Corporation Of America . . . . . . William Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sayre Scissors And Shear Company . . . . . . . . Charles Felder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rochus Heinisch & Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
90 92 93 94 95 96
H. Boker & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Valley Forge Cutlery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schnefel Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jacob Wiss & Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bontgen & Storsberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W.H. Compton Shear Company . . . . . . . . . . Anvil Cutlery Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Friedman & Lauterjung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.S. Osborne Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Bauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
104 109 112 117 128 129 138 139 140 142
MICHIGAN SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Berridge Shear Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E.E. Morris Manufacturing Company . . . . . . Michigan Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hatch Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
144 146 150 151 152
NEW YORK SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schatt & Morgan Cutlery Company . . . . . . . The Pinking Shear Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . Hardened Copper Cutlery Incorporated . . . Henry Seymour & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robeson Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fabyan Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Herman Wendt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geneva Shear Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marx Manufacturing Company . . . . . . . . . . . Adolph Kastor & Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bmc Manufacturing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . Judson Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Breeden & Nelke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graef & Schmidt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. Klauberg & Bros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cling Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Rowe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . August Eickhoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cattaraugus Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . Davies Automatic Shear Company . . . . . . . . Griffon Cutlery Works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Twix Manufacturing Company . . . . . . . . . . .
156 158 159 163 164 171 172 173 176 177 179 180 185 186 187 188 189 191 192 193 198 200 204
PENNSYLVANIA SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 National Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
C.Platts & Sons Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company . . . . . . Clarenbach & Herder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Queen Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disston Saw Works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frederick C. Leypoldt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OHIO SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maher & Grosh Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ohio Cooperative Shear Company . . . . . . . . Philip Emrich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ridgeley Trimmer Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clauss Shear Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Henkel Corporation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jackson Shear Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Manufacturing Company . . . . . . . . .
Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Company . . . . Rudolph Sevic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W.C. Hocking & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheer Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
209 210 213 217 218 220
MISSOURI SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Simmons-Keen Kutter-Shapleigh Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Macon Shear Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
222 224 225 226 228 229 233 234 236
IOWA SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Davenport Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 ARKANSAS SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 Solid Steel Scissors Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
INDIANA SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Haynes International Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Schimkat Cutlery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
WISCONSIN SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 American Metal Products Company (Ampco) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
MASSACHUSETTS SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 I.P. Hyde Manufacturing Company . . . . . . . . 244 Martin Bradford & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
NEBRASKA SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 Paxton & Gallagher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
RHODE ISLAND SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 Walcott Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
COLORADO SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Western States Cutlery And Manufacturing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
KENTUCKY SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 W.C. Heimerdinger Cutlery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Belknap Hardware & Manufacturing Company . . . 257 ILLINOIS SCISSORS AND SHEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chicago Mail Order Company . . . . . . . . . . . . Henry Sears & Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W.L.W. Grinding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And Manufacturing Company . . . . . . . . . . . .
264 266 269 270
BALL BEARING / F O L D I N G S CI S S O R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 F O L D I N G S CI S S O R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 PINKING SHE AR S/WICK CU TTING S C I S S O R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 MYSTERY SCISSORS (CANDIDATES FOR FURTHER RESE ARCH) . . . . . . . . . 303 ACK N O W L E D G E M E N TS . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
258 260 261 262 263
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THE ATLAS SHEAR COMPANY
ittle is known about this company that was located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. One clue is the March 1906 advertisement in the Hardware Dealers’ Magazine that displayed one of the company’s shears with the patent date of January 9, 1900. That patent design, (No. 32,084), was awarded to J.J. Alvord, of Bridgeport. A later 1911 advertisement refers to another Alvord patent, (No. 918,942). Research revealed that John Jay Alvord, who was born July 15, 1858 in Green Farms, Connecticut was both owner and manager of the company. The 1906 advertisement stated that Atlas brands ‘embody all the essential features required in a good running shear, with an exceptionally fine cutting edge’ and that a catalog was available for their cast shears, scissors and tin snips. The T R 1911 advertisement proPO E G claimed Atlas shears to be BRI ‘The Premium That Sells’. Perhaps so, but at some point the company was bought out by Acme Shear Company, a larger firm also operating in Bridgeport. At that time, John Alvord and Frank Karsitz were creating new designs and assigning new patents to Acme. An Acme report in 1936 showed that Acme was ‘operating under four different names’, including Atlas Shear Company. In 1911 the Iron Age Directory listed the Company as producers of ‘shears and scissors, barbers’ shears, paperhangers’ and bankers’ shears.
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THE ACME SHEAR COMPANY
T
OR In a subsequent meeting on EP G November 5, 1885, it was notBRID ed that ' the corporation will purchase of Mrs. May, ‌ at a sum not to exceed eight hundred dollars, the lot of ground situated on the southeast corner of Hicks and Knowlton Streets and that Dwight Wheeler will be the agent of this corporation to execute all contracts in pursuant thereof '. On December 10, 1885, the new plant was begun and the first meeting held in the new location (Knowlton & Hicks Streets, Bridgeport, Connecticut) was on April 5, 1886.
he Acme Shear Company traces its roots back to 1867 when Leo Renz set up the Renz Shear Shop in Naugatuck, Connecticut to produce cast iron scissors and shears. After his death in 1878 Mitchell Renz took control of the company and moved operations to Fairfield, Connecticut. Two years later (c1880) the company was incorporated as the Acme Shear Company. The hand-written 'Articles of Association' contain the following excerpts. 'We the undersigned hereby associate ourselves in a joint stock corporation under the statute laws of this state'... 'our name will be the Acme Shear Company and its stated purpose is to manufacture, buy, sell, own and deal in shears, scissors, cutlery, and hardware.'
What occurred in the following years (up to the year 1970) was made available from a 22 page file titled 'The Acme History'. The following is a condensed version of some significant events:
The amount of its capital was $5,000 divided into 200 shares valued at $25 each and the original stockholders were Lizzie Renz (100 shares), C. Andrew Morehouse (50 shares) Stephen Maney (25 shares) and Adorno Whitman (25 shares).
1888 The Company added to its factory by purchasing 'the spoon plant' from the estate of E.C. Maltby.
The first stockholders’ meeting was held September 10, 1883. Dwight Wheeler was elected President; David C. Wheeler, Secretary and Treasurer, and it was voted to 'hire the 2nd floor of a factory at 275 Barnum Street together with engine, boiler, petroleum engine and steam pipes for one year'.
1891 Plans were developed to explore the foreign export market and to add steel scissors and shears. These were to be purchased initially from the (Lenox?)Shear Co. with the possibility of manufacturing their own in the future
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H. BOKER & COMPANY
• Boker distributed this unique brand of Fisherman Shears with detachable blades and fish scaler
106
H. BOKER & COMPANY
• A Boker stamp and engraving block
• The Boker logo on rounded scissor shanks
• Boker advertisement (Date unknown)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Walter Johnsen Chairman & CEO Acme United Valuable help and materials on the history of Acme United
Mary Ehler for photographs and information regarding Joseph Mallinson
Martin J. Donnelly Antique Tools (mjdtools.com) – for digital photos of Charles N.Cutter, Isaac Jaques, and F.C. Leypoldt buttonhole cutters and shears / See his website for antique tool auctions
Billy D. Higgins Editor: Journal of the Fort Smith Historical Society – for information on the Solid Steel Scissors Company, Fort Smith Arkansas
Robert Brown Vice-President Brookfield Museum & Historical Society-photos of Lenox Shear Company
Mark Zalesky Editor: Knife World – for Clarenbach & Herder information and advertisements
Kit Oliynyk, Mike Pikhota Design, layout and desktop publishing.
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