American Sciss ors and Shears An Antique and Vintage Collectors’ Guide

Philip R. Pankiewicz

Universal-Publishers Boca Raton AMERICAN AND SHEARS: AN ANTIQUE AND VINTAGE COLLECTORS’ GUIDE

Copyright © 2013 Philip R. Pankiewicz All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitt ed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without writt en permission from the publisher CIP Data Available from the Library of Congress.

Universal-Publishers Boca Raton, Florida USA • 2013

Cover design by Kit Oliynyk

ISBN-10: 1-61233-251-X ISBN-13: 978-1-61233-251-2

www.universal-publishers.com

Pankiewicz, Philip R., 1943- American scissors and shears : an antique and vintage collectors' guide / Philip R. Pankiewicz. pages cm ISBN 978-1-61233-251-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 1-61233-251-X (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Scissors and shears--Collectors and collecting--United States--Catalogs. I. Title. TS381.P36 2013 621.9'3--dc23 2013007453 INTRODUCTION

American Scissors Shears

An Antique & Vintage Collectors’ Guide

he manufacture of scissors and shears in shop here. Established in the mid-1800’s, Heinisch scis- American was started primarily by Eng- sors quickly gained an excellent reputation through- lish and German immigrants who had out the New World. His efforts were followed shortly worked in the cutlery shops of Solingen, thereafter by Jacob Wiss who built a virtual scissors Germany and Sheffi eld, England. Upon empire and made Wiss scissors commonplace in homes their arrival on the Eastern coast, they tended to gravitate throughout America and beyond. toward cities and areas where work was readily available. For a number of reasons, the Naugatuck Valley in Con- Fremont, Ohio, strangely enough, became the largest necticut and the cities of Newark, New Jersey and Fre- center for scissor and shear in the United mont, Ohio became the major centers of scissor and shear States. Th is was the result of the off er of free natural gas to manufacturing in the United States. any that would move there. Th is off er led to the establishment and development of the Henkel Company Th e Naugatuck Valley was the site of a goodly supply of and the Clauss Shear Company, two independent fi rms, water power to help run the cutlery and ‘shear shops’ that they eventually merged to form the largest scissors and would soon dot the countryside. Some of these cutleries shear manufactory in the world. made and straight razors exclusively; others includ- ed scissors and shears in their repertoire. Th ose that were American Scissors and Shears, presents countless pho- tabbed ‘shear shops’, like the Lenox Shear Company of tographic examples of antique and vintage scissors and Brookfi eld, Connecticut , limited their production exclu- shears made in the United States circa 1850-1930 to- sively to scissors and shears. Th e workers in these shops gether with information on more than the one hundred were primarily immigrants from Sheffi eld, England. companies and individuals who made them. Th e deci- sions to exclude surgical scissors, scissors produced by In Newark, it was German immigrants who dominated silverware companies, and shears such as pruning, sheep the burgeoning cutlery industry. They were attracted and grass shears were made to help limit the size of the to the city of Newark because it offered amenities such text. Th e many scissor patents granted to individuals were as a good seaport, a sound rail system, and a well-de- also omitt ed for the same reason. Individuals seeking in- veloped infrastructure. Rochus Heinisch was among formation on these products can fi nd them via internet the first German immigrants to establish a major shear researches and at: www.google.com/patents. TABLE OF CONTENTS

H. Boker & Company ...... 104 Valley Forge Cutlery ...... 109 Schnefel Brothers ...... 112 Jacob Wiss & Sons ...... 117 Bontgen & Storsberg ...... 128 W.H. Compton Shear Company ...... 129 INTRODUCTION ...... 1 Anvil Cutlery Corporation ...... 138 TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... 2 Friedman & Lauterjung ...... 139 C.S. Osborne Company ...... 140 CONNECTICUT SCISSORS Peter Bauer ...... 142 AND SHEARS ...... 4 Atlas Shear Company ...... 6 Acme Shear Company ...... 7 MICHIGAN SCISSORS Joseph Mallinson & Company ...... 14 AND SHEARS ...... 144 Th e American Engineering Company ...... 16 Berridge Shear Company ...... 146 Butler And Sugden Shear Factory ...... 17 E.E. Morris Manufacturing Company ...... 150 Union Shear Company ...... 18 Michigan Cutlery Company ...... 151 Renz Shear Shop ...... 19 Hatch Cutlery Company ...... 152 William Schollhorn Company ...... 23 Clayton Brothers Company ...... 30 Lenox Shear Shop ...... 32 NEW YORK SCISSORS John Ahlbin & Sons ...... 33 AND SHEARS ...... 156 Connecticut Cutlery Company ...... 37 Schatt & Morgan Cutlery Company ...... 158 United States Steel Shear Company ...... 40 Th e Pinking Shear Corporation ...... 159 Northfi eld Company ...... 41 Hardened Copper Cutlery Incorporated ...163 Florian Manufacturing Company ...... 44 Henry Seymour & Company ...... 164 James Frary & Son ...... 48 Robeson Cutlery Company ...... 171 Doolitt le Manufacturing Company ...... 51 Fabyan Cutlery Company ...... 172 Barnard, Son & Company ...... 53 Herman Wendt ...... 173 Niagara Shear Company ...... 57 Geneva Shear Company ...... 176 Empire Knife Company ...... 58 Marx Manufacturing Company ...... 177 Holley Manufacturing Company ...... 61 Adolph Kastor & Brothers ...... 179 Waterville Cutlery Company ...... 64 Bmc Manufacturing Company ...... 180 American Shear And Knife Company ...... 67 Judson Cutlery Company ...... 185 Tutt le & Whitt emore ...... 69 Breeden & Nelke ...... 186 Concannon Shear Company...... 70 Graef & Schmidt ...... 187 Remington Arms Company ...... 72 C. Klauberg & Bros...... 188 Winchester Arms Company ...... 76 Cling Cutlery Company ...... 189 John J. Conway Company ...... 79 John Rowe ...... 191 Landers, Frary & Clark ...... 86 August Eickhoff ...... 192 Catt araugus Cutlery Company ...... 193 Davies Automatic Shear Company ...... 198 NEW JERSEY SCISSORS Griff on Cutlery Works ...... 200 AND SHEARS ...... 90 Twix Manufacturing Company ...... 204 Transomatic Corporation Of America ...... 92 William Johnson ...... 93 Sayre Scissors And Shear Company ...... 94 PENNSYLVANIA SCISSORS Charles Felder ...... 95 AND SHEARS ...... 206 Rochus Heinisch & Sons ...... 96 National Cutlery Company ...... 208

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS

C.Platt s & Sons Cutlery Company ...... 209 Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Company ....264 W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company ...... 210 Rudolph Sevic ...... 266 Clarenbach & Herder...... 213 W.C. Hocking & Company ...... 269 Queen Cutlery Company ...... 217 Sheer Cutlery Company ...... 270 ...... 218 Frederick C. Leypoldt ...... 220 MISSOURI SCISSORS AND SHEARS ...... 272 OHIO SCISSORS Simmons-Keen Kutt er-Shapleigh AND SHEARS ...... 222 Hardware ...... 274 Maher & Grosh Company ...... 224 Macon Shear Company ...... 277 Ohio Cooperative Shear Company ...... 225 Philip Emrich ...... 226 Ridgeley Trimmer Company ...... 228 IOWA SCISSORS Clauss Shear Company ...... 229 AND SHEARS ...... 280 Henkel Corporation ...... 233 Davenport Cutlery Company ...... 282 Jackson Shear Company ...... 234 Th omas Manufacturing Company ...... 236 ARKANSAS SCISSORS AND SHEARS ...... 284 INDIANA SCISSORS Solid Steel Scissors Company ...... 286 AND SHEARS ...... 238 Haynes International Inc...... 240 Schimkat Cutlery Company ...... 241 WISCONSIN SCISSORS AND SHEARS ...... 288 American Metal Products MASSACHUSETTS SCISSORS Company (Ampco) ...... 290 AND SHEARS ...... 242 I.P. Hyde Manufacturing Company ...... 244 Martin Bradford & Company ...... 247 NEBRASKA SCISSORS AND SHEARS ...... 292 Paxton & Gallagher ...... 294 SCISSORS AND SHEARS ...... 248 Walcott Brothers ...... 250 COLORADO SCISSORS AND SHEARS ...... 296 Western States Cutlery KENTUCKY SCISSORS And Manufacturing Company ...... 298 AND SHEARS ...... 252 W.C. Heimerdinger Cutlery ...... 254 BALL BEARING / Belknap Hardware & Manufacturing Company ...257 FOLDING SCISSORS ...... 300 FOLDING SCISSORS ...... 301 PINKING SHEARS/WICK ILLINOIS SCISSORS SCISSORS ...... 302 AND SHEARS ...... 258 MYSTERY SCISSORS (CANDIDATES Chicago Mail Order Company ...... 260 FOR FURTHER RESEARCH) ...... 303 Henry Sears & Son ...... 261 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... 304 W.L.W. Grinding ...... 262 And Manufacturing Company ...... 263

3

E C T I N I C N U O T

C THE ATLAS SHEAR COMPANY

itt le is known about this company that was located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. One clue is the March 1906 advertise- ment in the Hardware Dealers’ Maga- zine that displayed one of the company’s shears with the patent date of January 9, 1900. Th at pat- ent 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 ‘em- body all the essential features required in a good run- ning shear, with an exceptionally fine cutting edge’ and that a catalog was avail- able for their cast shears, scissors and tin snips. The RT PO 1911 advertisement pro- GE BRI claimed Atlas shears to be ‘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 ‘operat- ing 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, paper- hangers’ and bankers’ shears.

6 THE ACME SHEAR COMPANY

RT he Acme Shear Company traces its roots In a subsequent meeting on PO GE back to 1867 when Leo Renz set up the November 5, 1885, it was not- BRID Renz Shear Shop in Naugatuck, Con- ed that ' the corporation will necticut to produce cast iron scissors and purchase of Mrs. May, … at a shears. Aft er his death in 1878 Mitchell sum not to exceed eight hun- Renz took control of the company and moved operations dred dollars, the lot of ground to Fairfi eld, Connecticut. Two years later (c1880) the situated on the southeast company was incorporated as the Acme Shear Company. corner of Hicks and Knowl- Th e hand-writt en 'Articles of Association' contain the fol- ton Streets and that Dwight lowing excerpts. Wheeler will be the agent of this corporation to execute all 'We the undersigned hereby associate ourselves in a joint contracts in pursuant thereof'. stock corporation under the statute laws of this state'... 'our On December 10, 1885, the new plant was begun and the name will be the Acme Shear Company and its stated pur- fi rst meeting held in the new location (Knowlton & Hicks pose is to manufacture, buy, sell, own and deal in shears, Streets, Bridgeport, Connecticut) was on April 5, 1886. scissors, cutlery, and hardware.' What occurred in the following years (up to the year Th e amount of its capital was $5,000 divided into 200 1970) was made available from a 22 page fi le titled 'Th e shares valued at $25 each and the original stockholders Acme History'. Th e following is a condensed version of were Lizzie Renz (100 shares), C. Andrew Morehouse (50 some signifi cant events: shares) Stephen Maney (25 shares) and Adorno Whitman (25 shares). 1888 Th e Company added to its factory by purchasing 'the spoon plant' from the estate of E.C. Maltby. Th e fi rst stockholders’ meeting was held September 10, 1883. Dwight Wheeler was elected President; David C. 1891 Plans were developed to explore the foreign ex- Wheeler, Secretary and Treasurer, and it was voted to 'hire port market and to add steel scissors and shears. the 2nd fl oor of a factory at 275 Barnum Street together Th ese were to be purchased initially from the with engine, boiler, petroleum engine and steam pipes for (Lenox?)Shear Co. with the possibility of manu- one year'. facturing their own in the future

7 THE ACME SHEAR COMPANY

1902 Th e Company considers the purchase of Lenox Shear Company but without results

1906 It was resolved to 'proceed at once to construct an addition to the factory'

1907 In February the company hit a new high in monthly sales

1908 Acme starts acquiring additional property at a great rate

1909 A new steel and brick building was completed and more property purchased

1910 Acme completes an addition to the foundry. Daily production of 175 gross of shears

1912 Th e introduction of electricity to power the machinery

1913 Th e Company purchases the scissor and shear division of the Bridgeport Hardware Company

8 THE ACME SHEAR COMPANY

1917 Company purchases $100,000 worth of Liberty Bonds for the War Effort

1918 Unfulfi lled orders amount to over 14,000 gross of shears and scissors and Victor shears

1928 Th e death of President Dwight Wheeler is noted. He had served as an offi cer since 1883. David C. Wheeler is elected President

1936 Th e Company was now doing under four diff erent names: Acme Shear Co., Atlas Shear Company, Th e Bridgeport Shear Co., and the Eversharp Shear Company

1942 Acme converts to war work. At least a dozen employees enlist or are draft ed. A nursery is established to att ract mothers into

1943 'Th e Clipper', an in-house monthly publication is initiated

9 THE ACME SHEAR COMPANY

1949 A slow year for business, except for heavy demand for the new Pinking Shears

1950 Slow business, but many improvements and refurbishing done

1953 408 workers on the payroll

1958 Continued improvements made to the plant and offi ce

1960 Acme acquires interest in Surmanco, Ltd., of Sheffi eld, England, mfrs of scissors, clippers, etc.

1963 Acme purchases the Seneca Novelty Company of Seneca Falls, NY. Company now in the wooden ruler and yardstick business

1966 The Company has 416 employ- ees. Purchases Waterbury plant & enters 'fastener' business.

1968 Fastener business sold due to lack of sales

10 THE ACME SHEAR COMPANY

1967 Acme closes out the year with 495 employees. Second shift added to the foundry

1970 Acme acquires of Sen- eca Falls, NY

1971 Acme Shear Company renamed

1980 Loss of business from American Hospital Supply

1990 Acquisition of Emil Schlemper G.m.b.H., leading West German maker of scissors, shears etc.

1991 Acquisition of Peter Altenbach & Sons, Germany’s third largest maker of knives & scissors

1992 Problems with Altenbach acquisition

1993 Stock price plummets

1995 Walter C. Johnson, age 44, replaces Dwight Wheeler as CEO. Westcott plant closed

11 THE ACME SHEAR COMPANY

1997 Acquisition of Rotex Division of Esselte Canada. Offi ce products business expands

2004 Acme acquires Clauss Cutlery, once the largest scissors manufac- turer in the world

• School scissors were always in demand. Acme had their ‘Kleencut’ Acme marketed this tool for lift ing and handling hot cans

• Acme’s ‘Lucky Grip’ trimmers that presumably made cutt ing easier

12 THE ACME SHEAR COMPANY

• Acme’s fi ft y cent ‘Litt le Giant’ nutcracker

• A two-penny postcard with Acme lett erhead

• Early Acme ad for • An early Acme advertise- ‘Diamond’ and ‘Victor’ ment (date unknown) shears et al

13 J. MALLINSON & CO.

oseph Mallinson, born on Dec. 7, 1831 in Yorkshire, England He emigrated from West Melton, Yorkshire to Cornwall, Con- necticut in 1856, leaving his wife (nee: Sarah Jane Fieldsend) and child (Walter) who came over two years. He first lived on Cream Hill and began manufacturing shears in a small shop near Stoddard's satinet factory. A few years later, with John , he bought a mill with water privilege at West Cornwall, in a larger factory that he called J. Mallinson & Company.

Th e Tenth U.S. Water-Power Census Report of June 1, 1880 (Vol.16) reported that there was: ‘no water power in use above Cornwall Bridge until we reached West Cornwall, where Mssrs. Mallinson and Wood own a 13 feet fall. Th e privilege is improved by a log crib-work dam fi lled in with stone; the dam averages about 8 feet in height and has a slop- ing face, with an apron-covered LL WA 3-inch planking. Th e race is RN CO WEST several hundred feet long, from 12 to 14 feet wide, and from 6-8 ft . deep. Joseph Mallinson uses power for the manufac- ture of shears and scissors and • Photograph of ‘Old Joe’ for a grist mill, and rents some Mallinson (Courtesy of Mary power for a foundry. He uses a Ehrler) 60 horsepower wheel but does not use more than two-thirds of the power.’

Mr. Wood, from the vicinity of New York, eventually retired and left town and Mallinson took on other part- • Early Mallinson ners. One such person was Adolph Kastor who arrived advertisement (Courtesy of in 1890 but left soon afterward to start the Camillus Mary Ehrler) Cutlery Company in Camillus, NY.

According to the Historical Records of the Town of Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 'the firm made all kinds of shears, some of the finest quality'. The shears were nickel-plated and japanned steel.

‘The buildings were ample, water power permanent and abundant and the business has always been successful’.

In 1900 his son Walter is listed in the Connecticut Reg- ister as being a member of Metal Polishers’ Union No. 96 in West Cornwall, Connecticut.

14 J. MALLINSON & CO.

• Old newspaper clipping fr om the collection of Mary Ehrler

15 THE AMERICAN ENGINEERING COMPANY

ccording to advertisements in ‘The American Cutler’, this company was located at 200 East Main Street in New Britain, Connecticut and sold ‘Solid Steel Hand Forged Scissors and Shears’. The product line included ‘ladies’ scissors, pocket scissors, embroidery scissors, bent and straight trimmers, and barbers’shears. The company changed its corporate title to the Wilsa Manufacturing Compa- ny in 1921. Little else could be found on the company.

AIN IT BR NEW

• Th is circa 1921 ad indicates the company’s name change

16 BUTLER & SUGDEN SHEAR FACTORY

he Butler & Sugden Shear factory was be- gun by William Sage Butler and Robert Sugden in 1854 in the Dividend Brook area of Rocky Hill, Connecticut. Th e company held a patent (No. 21,319) for the process of hardening of iron that was used in the man- ufacture of their shears. Butler claimed that his process of hardening had advantages over commonly used pro- cedures since the shears could be ‘more easily manufac- tured into symmetrical proportions’ and that they could be ‘manufactured at one-eighth the cost of steel plated goods’. ‘

Butler & Sugden also manufactured a single-shot muzzle- loading pistol that they had also patented (No. 16,571). Th ese pistols apparently bring premium prices when found and brought to auction.

An 1860 census reported that Butler & Sugden employed ILL 30 men and four women. As- H KY sets were 50 tons of pig iron, ROC plus coal and molding sand. Th e property was situated on about 10 acres of land and in- cluded a house, sawmill, barn, grist mill and factory build- ings.

Sugden bought out Butler in 1863 and less than two years later, in October of 1865, the foundry, fi nishing shop and outbuildings were destroyed by fi re. Th e damage was estimated at $15,000 and about thirty employees were put out of work. Sugden & Butler formed a new partnership aft er the fi re and rebuilt, but by June 1868, they sold the business for $20,000 to Elisha Stevens and George Brown. Stevens & Brown used the factory to fi nish and paint tin, mechanical toys and domes- tic utensils. Th e products of Stevens & Brown are avidly sought aft er by collectors.

• William Butler patents for tempering shears and a muzzle-loading pistol

17 UNION SHEAR COMPANY

George C. Beck & George Volmiller and their wives came from Germany about fifty years ago, and to West Cornwall in 1859. These families were somehow related and hence interacted together. The husbands worked for Mr. Gardiner, in his shear shop in West Cornwall, but later purchased the property and continued it under the name of the Union Shear Company.’ (Historical Records of the Town of Cornwall, 1902). An 1887 Company letter head lists George Vollmiller (spelled with two L’s) and George C. Beck, presumably the owners. The fact that Volmiller’s name is crossed out could indicate that he was no lon- ger with the company.

A photograph of the company building on Main Street is housed in the Cornwall Historical Society Collection. At some point ‘the factory burned nearly destroying the nearby Mansion House LL WA and Ransom Smith’s store.’ RN CO WEST (Cornwall in Pictures, Corn- wall Historical Society).

The company letterhead stated that the Union Shear Company was ‘manufactur- ers of all kinds of shears and scissors, with nickel plated and japanned handles’.

• Th is early map of Cornwall CT shows the Union Shear Shop to the readers’ right, about halfway down the page

• An 1887 lett erhead fr om the Union Shear Company

18 RENZ SHEAR SHOP

he Renz Shear shop began circa 1867 when Leo Renz, who had emigrated from Prussia c. 1853, bought an old grist mill by the Bea- con Hill Brook in Naugatuck, Connecticut and set it up to make cast iron scissors and shears. Th e old grist mill had been built by the Collins family and previously used by Edward Benham to man- ufacture plumbago (History of New Haven County, Con-

CK TU GA NAU

necticut). Renz, who had four sons, grew the business for many years. Th e build- ing burned in 1875 and Leo Renz died shortly thereaft er in 1878. Aft er his death the heirs moved operations to Fairfi eld, Connecticut in 1880. Initially the company may have been called the Renz Hardware Company, but two years later was incor- porated as the Acme Shear Company.

• Patents issued to Mitchell and Robert Renz

19 RENZ SHEAR SHOP

‘the name will be the Acme Shear Company and its stated purpose is to manu- facture, buy, sell, own and deal in shears, scissors, cut- lery, and hardware.’ (Acme Corporation fi les)

‘Th e amount of its capital was $5,000 divided into 200 shares valued at $200 each. Th e original stock- holders were Lizzie Renz, 100 of the shares, C. An- drew Morehouse, 50, Ste- phen Maney 25 and Ador- no Whitman 25. Th e fi rst elected directors (1882) were Morehouse, Maney & Whitman. Th e fi rst stock- holders meeting took place on September 27, 1882 at which time it was voted to ‘hire the 2nd fl oor of a fac- tory at 275 Barnum Street together with engine, boil- er, a petroleum engine and steam pipes for one year at $400 per year to be paid in twelve monthly payments. At that same meeting the following offi cers were elected: Dwight Wheeler, President, David C. Wheel- er, Secretary and Treasurer. Mitchell Renz was named a Director.’

On November 2, 1885 the corporation decided to pur- chase property on the cor- ner of Hicks and Knowlton Streets and on December

• Mitchell Renz left Connecticut for Florida where he established his own real estate business. (Lett er courtesy of Acme United Archives)

20 RENZ SHEAR SHOP

10th, Dwight Wheeler was empowered to begin plans for building a manufactur- ing plant.

Robert Renz was a issued patent No. 124,975 on march 26, 1872 for shears. He and his brother Andrew received a previous pat- ent (No. 116,868) on July 11,1871. Brother Mitch- ell was granted patent No. 10,101 on July 17, 1877. Th omas M. Grilley held patent No. 233,091 for a pocket-knife that was as- signed to Mitchell Renz of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

• Th is patented shearing by Robert Renz probably never went into production(?)

21