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Orrin Benedict & Co.
| Firmenname | Orrin Benedict & Co. |
| Ortssitz | Bethel (Conn.) |
| Art des Unternehmens | Hutfabrik |
| Anmerkungen | Lager: New York, 257 Canal Street, später verlegt nach 510 Broadway. |
| Quellenangaben | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 508] |
| Zeit |
Ereignis |
| 1845 |
Errichtung des Unternehmens |
| 1865 |
Der erste und einzige Partner, Win. H. Barnum, wird in die Firma genommen. |
| 1865 |
Eröffnung des ersten Geschäfts in New York an der Canal Street 257 (später zum Broadway 510 verlegt) |
| 10.1866 |
Vollständige Zerstörung durch eine Feuersbrunst |
| 04.1867 |
Das neue Gebäude (nach dem Brand von 1866) wird in Betrieb genommen. |
| ZEIT | 1868 |
| THEMA | Firmenbeschreibung |
| TEXT | Have been selected as a representative of the firms engaged exclusively in the manufacture of Fur Hats. Their factory is situated on the main thoroughfare from Danbury to Bethel, Connecticut, hardly more than quarter of a mile from the latter place. The present principal, Orrin Benedict, Esq., established the business in 1845, in a building of insignificant size and capacity, with a force of twenty workmen. The bodies were not made on the spot, but purchased from "forming" establishments. No machinery was employed, and even up to as late a date as 1866, every detail of the work was performed by hand - with how great excellence the extraordinary growth of the firm and the popularity of its wares, furnish ample demonstration. Year by year, stimulated by his success, Mr. Benedict made additions to his factory and labor-roll, till the premises at last became an extensive, though incongruous and rambling mass of buildings. In 1865, his first and only partner in the business, Mr. Win. H. Barnum, who, for several years previous, had been attached to the establishment, was taken into the firm. The amount of Mr. Benedict's production, in 1845, did not exceed thirty thousand dollars; in 1867, it exceeded six hundred thousand dollars. A conflagration, in October, 1866, which made a complete wreck of the factory, wrought a change in the operations of the firm, altogether radical. Out of the ashes of the old establishment, rose speedily, a structure which, in capacity of mechanical means, general adaptedness for quick and economical production, and propriety of design, cannot well be surpassed. The new factory of Benedict & Co., completed and in operation in April, 1867, is a well built wooden edifice, four stories in height, comprising a main building one hundred and seventy-six feet long by thirty-eight feet in breadth, with an L one hundred and thirty-six feet in length. That portion of the building containing the boilers and engines, is constructed of brick, with unusual solidity and strength. Two engines, of peculiar simplicity of design, of Earle's patent, having each some seventy-five horse power, with three enormous boilers, in all costing some $15.000, now furnish the motive force of the establishment. The firm no longer restricts its operations to "finishing", but turns out its work from the raw material. To effect this, the enterprise of the partners, at an expenditure exceeding 100.000, has filled the new factory with the very finest specimens of all the improved machinery at present in use. Among the latest improvements adopted in this establishment, a new process for "sizing" promises to be of especial value, though further experiment will still more develop its importance. At present, it has been used in but one other factory. A material economy of labor is anticipated from its perfect working; but the principal result regards rather the quality than the quantity produced. As suggested above, Benedict & Co. manufacture Fur Hats exclusively. Their production is mainly of the fancy styles, several of which have originated with them. In April, 1865, the firm first opened a store in New York, at 257 Canal Street, since removed to 510 Broadway, a move which soon resulted in a manifest increase of their business. Selling principally to the trade of the large cities, it has been and is their especial aim to sustain the character of excellence in their goods, that has won for them a reputation so merited. To this, end very particular attention is given to the material consumed in the manufacture, none but the finest skins of the imported Hare and Cony being worked up. The number of hands now employed in the operations of the firm, is never less than two hundred, and occasionally as high as three hundred. The new establishment, with its perfect organization, is capable of producing 1.000.000 worth of Hats per annum. |
| QUELLE | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 508] |
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