New England Butt Company Graphics
Collection Number: 6805 G
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
New England Butt Company Graphics
Collection Number:
6805 G
Creator:
New England Butt
Company
Quantity:
0.2 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Graphics .
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
A collection of pattern drawings, mechanical drawings, gear
assemblies and machinery sketches.
Language:
Collection material in English
The New England Butt Company of Providence, R.I. was formed in 1842 by partners N.A.
Fenner, Augustus Rathbone, and Charles Brown, and was later incorporated under Rhode
Island laws in 1853. The company was initially opened to produce cast iron butt
hinges, making the New England Butt Company the sole domestic manufacturer of the
particular hardware item at the time. Business grew quickly allowing the company to
expand production to include a full line of builders' hardware. In 1855 the New
England Butt Company began to manufacture braiding machinery and would eventually
develop an array of machinery for the manufacture of insulated wire. These machines
were used to produce the cotton braid used to cover such things as crinoline wire,
electrical wire, shoelaces, candlewick, and clotheslines. The selling of braiding
machinery proved so successful that the company decided to cease all hardware
production in 1905 to focus on the manufacturing of stranding and braiding
machinery.
Between 1912 and 1915, the New England Butt Company worked with Frank Gilbreth, a
prominent industrial engineer and believer in the "scientific management" method.
With the encouragement of then vice president and general manager of New England
Butt, John G. Aldrich, Gilbreth used the site to conduct his time and motion
studies, which were designed to increase the productivity of clerical and production
workers. During his stay at New England Butt, Gilbreth utilized many of Taylor's and
his own innovative devices and techniques including speed and belt slide rules, the
use of "tickler cards" (a type of reminder file card for inspection and overhauling,
and to record job activities), and a "betterment room" (a workroom for skill
improvement). He used a clock of his own invention called the "Gilbreth Clock" to
measure the time taken to perform an action on motion picture film. He reorganized
tool rooms, assembly rooms, and workstations, and held typing exams for clerical
workers. Both Henry Gantt and Carl Barth, also associated with "scientific
management," appear to have visited Gilbreth at New England Butt.
In 1949, the Chace family bought the New England Butt Company, and in 1955 the New
England Butt Company was bought by the Wanskuck Company, but continued to operate as
a division. In 1982, both the New England Butt Company and the Wanskuck Company were
reorganized under the name Mossberg Industries. Mossberg Industries located in
Garrett, I.N. and Ontario, C.A. and Mossberg Reels of Cumberland, R.I., all of which
manufacture of reels, are currently operational descendants of the original Mossberg
Industries.
The Wanskuck Company was started in 1862 by Jesse Metcalf, Stephen T. Olney, and
Henry J. Steere. The company was formed out of the necessity for woolen army
uniforms and blankets for Civil War soldiers. After the war, the Wanskuck Company
began producing worsted wool cloth for suits, and in 1870 was the first company in
this country to ship an order of American-made worsted wool material. Operations
expanded and Wanskuck began to operate two more mills in Providence; the Steere Mill
(1884) and the Geneva Mill (1896), later expanding beyond Providence with the
Mohegan and Oakland Mills in Nasonville and Oakland, R.I. Both towns were part of a
post-village called Burrillville in Providence County. After World War II and during
the demise of the textile industry in the northeast, the demand for woolen goods had
dwindled so significantly that the Metcalf family sold their stock in the company to
the Chace family. The Wanskuck Company was then reorganized as the Wanskuck
Corporation. In a move to diversify, the New England Butt Company was purchased in
1955. The Wanskuck Company, having sold the Wanskuck, Steere, and Oakland Mills,
ceased all textile manufacturing operations by 1957. It continued to function as a
business in other industries under the name of Wanskuck until it reorganized as
Mossberg Industries in 1982.
Incorporated in 1823 by a group of investors that sought a site for larger operations
than those at the Boston Manufacturing Company in Waltham, MA, the Merrimack
Manufacturing Company was one of the "Big Eleven" textile mills that allowed for the
establishment of Lowell as a town in Massachusetts. The Merrimack Manufacturing
Company was the first mill in the country able to weave and print calico cloth. By
1845 it ran 5 cotton mills, 155 boarding houses, and a print house. As a result of
competing mills starting production of cheaper calicos, the Merrimack Manufacturing
Company began to produce high-end cut velvet cloth in impressive hues. There seems
to have been some type of agreement or connection with the Wanskuck Company at some
point, it is possible that the Wanskuck Company owned the Merrimack Manufacturing
Company. Toward the end of operations, the Merrimack Manufacturing Company worked in
corduroys and velveteens, perhaps dyeing and finishing them. The Merrimack
Manufacturing Company shut down in 1958 and the building was demolished in 1960.
The Oakland Worsted Company of Oakland, R.I. was formed and incorporated in 1892 as a
manufacturer of clay worsted fabrics. The Oakland Worsted Company was acquired by
the Wanskuck Company in 1952, and was closed in 1957.
Metcalf Brothers and Company was the selling agent used by Wanskuck and Oakland
Mills.
The Burrillville Realty Company seems to have been involved with the sale of mill
properties, including the 1949 sale of Mohegan Mill. The company seems to have been
dissolved in 1956.
The New England Butt Company is a historic factory building at 304 Pearl Street in
Providence, Rhode Island. It is a 3-1/2 story brick structure with a monitor roof,
built in 1865 to designs by Spencer P. Read. The building was added to the National
Register of Historic Places in 1980.
American Textile History Museum Collection, gift of Edward O. Bartlett.
Names:
New England Butt Company
Form and Genre Terms:
Graphics
Access Restrictions:
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a
reference archivist for access to these materials.
Restrictions on Use:
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet
and Procedures for Document Use.
Cite As:
New England Butt Company Graphics #6805 G. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections:
6805: New England Butt Company Records
6805 GPN: New England Butt Company Glass Plate Negatives
6805 P: New England Butt Company Photographs
6805: New England Butt Company Records
6805 GPN: New England Butt Company Glass Plate Negatives
6805 P: New England Butt Company Photographs
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