This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website
Washington Cutlery Co
Village Blacksmith
201 Frederick
Washington Cutlery Co
W. C.
Co. stands for "Washington Cutlery Co.," which became Village
Blacksmith, a firm that made cutlery, farm knives and tools from the early
1900s through the 1960s in Watertown. The firm went out of business and most of
the manufacturing departments became what is today Fischer-Barton.
1906
03 20 1906
Monday,
representatives of the Washington Cutlery Company were here and a conference
held with the executive committee of the advancement association consisting of
Mayor Wertheimer, Fred Keck, Eugene Meyer, Henry Mulberger,
W. H. Woodard, S. A. Hoffman and Ferd. Schmutzler.
The
committee agreed that in case the company moved its factory from Milwaukee to
this city to raise as a bonus the sum of $3000 which was satisfactory, and work
will be begun at an early day. On Milwaukee street, will be erected a building,
50 x 150 feet, part of which will be one story high and part two stories high.
The
company at the present time employs 30 men and will increase its force when its
new building is ready for occupancy. Twenty of the employees are expert workmen
who will move to this city with their families who will need homes in which to
live and every available home will be taken.
1906
05 23 1906
The news comes
from Milwaukee that the gentlemen behind the Washington-Cutlery Company, which
is soon to be removed to Watertown, are actively engaged in drawing plans for
their new factory building on
1906
12 06 1906
The wheels of
another industry in Watertown will begin their activity today and contribute to
the industrial progress that has been the slogan in this city for the past few
years.
Reference is made
to the new plant of the Washington Cutlery company, the building for which was
recently completed and which is now equipped with the necessary machinery for
carrying on the manufacturing business.
A representative of the Leader
paid a visit to the plant yesterday and was agreeably surprised as a result of
his observations and believes that there is a great future in store for the
concern ... a trial run of the machinery will be made today and the factory
will start in a small way, increasing throughout the week and it is expected
that by the first of [next] week, everything will be running full blast. By tonight five of the ten grinding stones
will be ready for action and . . . four tripp-hammers
ready to pound away . . .
1917
Jefferson County WI
and its People
Prominent among
the industrial concerns of Watertown is the Washington Cutlery Company, which
was incorporated in 1906 with a capital of thirteen thousand.
The company
manufactures the "Village
Blacksmith" brand of butcher knives, cleavers, tools, corn knives,
sickles, cold chisels, screw drivers, punches, etc., and their products are
sold principally in the United States.
They furnish
employment to from fifty to sixty hands, fifty per cent of whom are skilled
workmen. Their plant has a floor space of sixteen thousand square feet and is
supplied with the latest equipment, being remodeled, enlarged and new machinery
being installed in 1917.
The equipment now
includes automatic grinding machines, forges burning fuel oil, oil tempering machines,
punch presses and trip hammers, all of the latest design and the best to be
found in the market.
The business has
grown rapidly and the plant is now behind in its orders.
The officers of
the company are Gustave H. Lehrkind,
president and sales manager; Charles Richenbaum, vice
president; and Hugo E. Volckmann, secretary,
treasurer and manager. They are all men of long experience in metal
manufacturing and their plant is one of Watertown's prized assets.
________________________________________________________
1921
Watertown High School Orbit
Village
Blacksmith
The
Village Blacksmith Folks have been established over twenty-five years and up to
twelve years ago were located at Milwaukee. The shops were removed to Watertown
because of the superior advantages of this city, and the energetic solicitation
of the Watertown Advancement Association.
From time to time additions have been built, and it is planned to
develop the plant still farther, when normal and stabilized business conditions
warrant it.
Since
its establishment, no changes have taken place in the ownership or officers of
this company, who are: G. H. Lehrkind, President; H.
E. Volkmann, Secretary and Treasurer, and Charles Reichenbaum,
Vice-President.
In the
early years, only a limited line of Household Knives was made. The output at
this time was only ten to fifteen dozen per day. The knives were sold to the
retail stores in Wisconsin.
The
product now consists of: Knives, Cleavers, Grass Hooks, Corn and Hedge Knives,
Screw Drivers, Chisels, Punches, Draw Shaves, and other tools. All of these are
high quality goods, and the production reaches some 700,000 pieces annually,
which are sold in more than 3,000 hardware stores, as well as in Restaurant and
Butcher Supply, Auto Supply, and in Seed and Implement Houses throughout the
United States.
Jobbers
take care of the major portion of the distribution under the trademark: “The
Village Blacksmith Folks.”
The
goods which are listed and illustrated in a large number of catalogues are
estimated as follows:
120,000
in Hardware Lines.
10,000 in Butcher and Restaurant Supply
Lines.
25,000 in Auto Supply Lines.
200,000
in Seed and Implement Supply Lines.
The
company maintains a western selling and distributing branch at
1954
Watertown
Daily Times, 12 16 1954
Officers
and delegates were elected this week in Watertown by Machinists Local No. 1367
of the International Association of Machinists, AFL, it was announced today.
The local represents the Parts Engineering Co., the Village Blacksmith Co., the
Otto Biefeld Co., the Syncromatic
Corp., the Kusel Dairy Equipment Co., and the Brandt
Automatic Cashier Co., all of this city. The following officers were
re-elected: Kurt Rex, president; Eric Loeffler, vice
president; George Havlicek, treasurer; Fred Harder,
financial secretary; Roland Schauer, recording
secretary; and Melvin Gruenewald, sentinel.
1956
Watertown
Daily Times, 03 17 1956
The
Village Blacksmith Company this year is observing the 50th anniversary of
operation in Watertown, Henry Winogrond, head of the
firm, told the Rotary Club at its noonday luncheon. The firm actually was
established 62 years ago, he said. It was founded in Milwaukee as the
Washington Cutlery Company. The plant moved its operations to Watertown 50
years ago. Mr. Winogrond commented on the changes in
buying habits and living standards of the American people which has resulted in
changes in items manufactured by the firm since World War II. Professional
cutlery has become an important item at the plant. This line of knives and
other cutting equipment is sold to meat packing houses, hotels and restaurants,
and in recent years this phase of the business has become more and more
important. More people eating out, he said, is to a large extent responsible
for the growth of this phase of the business.
1958
09 26 Display showing of Village
Blacksmith's new line of “Galaxy Letter Boxes.”. WDT
Cross-References:
Prior
to the 1940s the Village Blacksmith name was incised or stamped directly into
the blades of cleavers. Afterwards it
was stamped on the handles (WFJ)
