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G. B. Lewis Company
1863, Founding of
The G. B. Lewis Company's
presence in Watertown dates back to 1863 when it started as a two-man shop.
The company was known for many
years as the world's largest manufacturer of beeware.
1903
Watertown Daily Times, 09 08 1903
The G. B. Lewis Co.,
manufacturers of beekeepers' supplies, shipping crates, etc., have let the
contract to Chas. Huenefeld for the addition of another story to their factory
in
1907
Watertown Daily Times, 01 26 1907
The office of the G. B. Lewis has
been a busy scene the past few days, the office force and a large extra force
of young ladies being actively engaged in preparing for mailing 100,000
twenty-page catalogues. Some idea of the
enormity of this annual work is shown in the fact that the postage on these
catalogues alone amounts to between $800 and $1,000. These catalogues are mailed to every part of
the United States and Canada, many of them going to foreign countries. It is a means of advertising, however, for
orders pour in from all sections of this country, Canada and several foreign
countries.
1909 Fire
The firm was originally located
in a five-story building on
As the company evolved throughout
the decades, wood and wire material handling containers, golf ball washers, wooden
Venetian blinds and wooden airplane propellers became the firm's trademark
products.
To remain competitive in the
marketplace, in the late '40s the company began an intensive research program
using fiberglass reinforced plastic as a material for industrial handling
containers. In 1949 G.B. Lewis became the first company to produce a fiberglass
tote pan.
1909
426 S Montgomery
Watertown Gazette, 07 30 1909
G. B. Lewis Co Rebuilding
New Beeware Plant to be One of the Very Finest in the Country
The G. B Lewis Go,, manufacturers
of all kinds of beeware, shipping crates, cheese boxes, etc., have let the
contract for the erection of their new plant to take the place of the one
recently destroyed by fire, to the Lynn B. Millikan Co. of Indianapolis,
Indiana, and on Tuesday under the supervision of J. N. Millikan, the work was
begun and in 60 days it is expected the main building will be completed.
The site of the new plant is the
John Burns property in the Third ward south of Montgomery Street and just north
of the C M & St Paul Ry., which the Lewis Co has recently purchased.
This is one of the most desirable
factory sites in the city, as all goods received and shipped can be unloaded
right at the factory. The main building
will be as fire proof as it is possible to erect it. It will be solid brick and concrete with
steel roof, 209 feet by 80 feet, one story high. The building will be equipped with electric
power and all the very latest modern machinery.
The main warehouse will be solid brick 200 by 80 feet, and the lumber
shed 600 feet long. The power plant will
be of solid brick, concrete and steel and will be separated from the other
buildings, as will be the fire-proof brick office.
The new plant will occupy an area
of five acres and its equipment will be such as to ensure a most excellent
product at the least possible expense, and the Lewis Co. will be able to
truthfully claim the best equipped and finest factory of its kind in the
world.
The old site in Water Street will
be abandoned entirely and disposed of by the company.
_____________________________________________________
1921
Watertown High School Orbit
The woven wood and wire
construction of the Lewis Box places it in a class by itself and makes it
distinctive. It is used principally by bakers for the shipment of bread by
express. It is the first box of its kind that was ever manufactured over twenty
years ago. By virtue of the fact that it is light but very strong and durable,
as well as yielding the proper ventilation for its contents, there has been an
ever increasing demand for it. These boxes are furnished, painted, and lettered
in attractive designs and color combinations, and are used by the baker for
advertising purposes as well as for carriers. You see them at the express
depots everywhere. Lewis Boxes can be shipped knock down, which saves
considerable in freight. They are sent to all parts of the United States from
Florida to Canada, and from Boston to San Francisco. Watertown is widely known
throughout the country among the baking trade as the home of the Lewis Box.
There are four departments
concerned with the manufacture of the bread box. The sawing, the planing, the
weaving, the painting, and the assembling department.
The entire Lewis plant employs
about 130 persons in the manufacturing department and thirty persons in the
office force. In addition to the home plant there are several large branch
houses located in various parts of the country.
OFFICERS
G.
B. Lewis .... President and Treasurer
L.
L. Parks .... Secretary
L.
W. Parks ... Work Manager
G.
Bacon ....... Sales Manager
1955, Menasha Corp
The G. B. Lewis Company operated
as an independent firm under the ownership of the Flater family until it became
affiliated with Menasha Corp. in 1955. Once Menasha purchased 100 percent of
the business in 1974, the company split into two divisions.
Arthur W. Kehl, 1400 North Second
Street, today announced plans (09 29 1955) for the opening of an office and
sales room here for Lewis-Dadant supplying a full and complete line of bee
hives and bee ware, once the product of the G. B. Lewis Company. The Lewis
Company, which was sold some time ago to the Menasha Wooden Ware Corporation,
is still turning out the wooden portions of the bee-ware products and will
continue to do so until around Dec. 1 when the machinery for that product will
be moved to Burlington.
Arthur W. Kehl, 1400 North Second
Street, today announced plans for the opening of an office and sales room here
for Lewis-Dadant
The G B Lewis presence in
Watertown dates back to 1863. After a
fire destroyed the original five-story building on S Water St along the Rock
River at the location of the present lower dam, the company moved its
headquarters to S Montgomery St.
1974, LEWISystems, Orbis Division
One division remained with
Menasha as LEWISystems and later became known as Orbis Division of Menasha
Corp. The other was the Molded Products division which was sold in 1997. Because of rapid growth, LEWISystems was
moved at the end of 1984 to a new building at 128 Hospital Drive. By the fall
of 1996, it had outgrown the Hospital Drive facility and moved to the
Oconomowoc industrial park.
1981
10 26 1981
The Menasha Corporation “Year
Club” celebrated its 25th meeting with dinner for members and guests at
Lindberg's By the River. Boyd Flater, a
guest of honor, retired after 24 years of service. Flater began working when the firm was known
as the G. B. Lewis Company and Container Equipment Corporation. He has held many positions throughout the
years, including office manager, secretary-treasurer, sales manager and
executive vice president, and at the time of his retirement was general manager
of Menasha Corporation-Molded Products Group.
Flater received a movie projector for his years of service.
1983
04 23 1983
A sure sign of spring is beekeepers
picking up honey bees from Dadant and Sons Inc
1996, Orbis Division
Orbis is the name of the new
division within Menasha Corporation that will bring four separate operations
under one management structure. The new Orbis division will operate within the
company's existing Materials Handling operations, including two in Watertown.
Those two are Convoy Plastic Pallets and LEWISystems. The others include
DuraPAK of Cincinnati, Ohio, and WOLPAC, Inc., of Michigan Heights, Mich., a
firm which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Menasha last month.
1997, Applied Molded Products
The Molded Products division was
sold in 1997 to Universal Partners, a private investment group based in
Memphis, Tenn. That group renamed the facility to what was known as Applied
Molded Products.
2001, Applied Molded Products closed
Nearly 100 Applied Molded
Products employees were given a permanent notice of layoffs in January 2001
because of a downturn in business. The entire operation was shut down in April
later that year.
The company was a custom
manufacturer of sheet molded composites. The parts were sold to original
manufacturers for use in applications such as lawn and garden tractors,
personal water crafts, parts for buses and basketball backboards.
2005, Auction of property
The 426 S Montgomery location of
one of Watertown's oldest industries went on the auction block in 2005. The former Applied Molded Products property
was just under two acres.
Image Portfolio
Click to enlarge
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Bldg on left, Water St location Globe Mill Dam |
Lewis Fire 1909 |
Lewis Fire 1909 |
Lewis Fire 1909 |
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Alex Hardie drawing of fire 1909 |
1910 |
1911 |
1913 |
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The Romance of
"Beeware"
1921, Watertown
High School Orbit
Once upon a time, when southern
Wisconsin was covered with forests of linden and those who had ventured to
settle in Jefferson County had found this to be a beekeeping paradise, two
Watertown men grasped the opportunity of attaining a standing in the world of
honey production.
Beginning with the making of a
few items of equipment for the accommodation of their beekeeper neighbors, the
demand for this line of goods gradually increased, until it became the most
important part of their business. From
an accommodation to beekeeper neighbors, it reached the proportions of an
accommodation to better beekeepers everywhere. The demands for
"BEEWARE" became so heavy that a great factory was erected to be
devoted entirely to supplying the wants of the honey producing industry.
The quality and workmanship of
the goods made in this plant came to stand for a definite necessity among honey
producers, and to give it a distinction, the words "bee" and
"ware" were coined into "BEEWARE" and this registered
trademark has come to mean to beekeepers every- where--something better.
During the past winter several
thousand beekeepers have looked at exhibits of "BEEWARE" at their
meetings. Thousands learned what this trademark stands for, through the
exhibits at many state fairs. In many foreign countries, on several continents,
the word stands for a definite ware, even where the language of America is not
spoken. To warrant this confidence among honey producers, the quality of the
goods is not enough. Through literature and personal representation in fields
afar, the principles of better beekeeping are being taught by representatives
of the G. B. Lewis Company, for we cannot hope to succeed unless our customers
succeed too.
Those who are in touch with this
world-wide interest in "BEEWARE" feel that "Once upon a
time" is a suitable way to begin a resumé of the growth of this company
during its forty-six years of existence. Honey production has grown in that
time from an unknown industry to one which replaced sugar for foreign troops
during the war, to one which increased the resources of Uncle Sam through the
cross pollination of fruiting plants and the conservation of a natural sweet.
Mail and telegraph bring news of
changes in the industry from England and Japan, from Egypt and from Sweden. In
our effort to keep abreast of the little field in which we stand pre-eminent,
we in turn supply to Watertown a portion of its wealth, gleaned in fields afar
and exchanged for labor here. Therefore, there can be a romance even in so
staid a product as LEWIS "BEEWARE."
Cross References:
Patrick
Rogan came to Watertown in 1837. Six
or seven years later he erected a saw mill where George B. Lewis’ factory was
located; carried on the mill until 1858.
Lewis
home, 408 S Washington.
Milton
Frater, patented stack 'n nest containers; reinforcing plastic with
fiberglass.
Gerard
Yenser, Manager, 2008 obit
