Inventor Name
North Brothers Manufacturing Company
Repository
Hagley Museum & Library
Manuscripts & Archives Department
P.O. Box 3630
Wilmington, DE 19807-0630
302-658-2400
https://www.hagley.org/research
Physical Description
2.4 linear ft.
Summary
North Brothers Manufacturing Company was incorporated ca. 1888 as the successor to the partnership of North Brothers. It operated an iron and brass foundry and a tinning and galvanizing business in Philadelphia until April 30, 1946, when it was sold to The Stanley Works, makers of Stanley tools. The business was first established by Selden G. North, a machinist, in 1878. His brother, Ralph H. North, joined him about two years later under the style of North Brothers. A third brother, Frank H. North, joined the firm in 1886. The firm operated a foundry at 23rd and Race Streets in Philadelphia, but soon moved to larger quarters at Lehigh and American Streets in North Philadelphia. The company soon came to specialize in the manufacture of metal appliances, such as ice cream makers, egg beaters and meat cutters. The records consist of a sample preserved at the time of the transfer to The Stanley Works. The bulk of the records concern the manufacture of appliances, particularly the assignment and registration of patents and trademarks under which they were manufactured and sold. These include trademark registrations in many foreign countries, including Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, India and the Philippines. Also included are contracts and agreements for electric and gas lighting, additions to the plant, and with the Frankford Arsenal for iron castings. There are shipping records and notebooks covering the shipments of ice cream freezers and other appliances (1879-1909). Another group of papers describes the company's relations with the Iron Molders' Union (1890-1918), including union constitutions, grievances, bargaining papers, and notes and newsclippings on a strike in 1899. Notes: Foreign trademark registrations in Spanish, German, Portuguese and Japanese