On July 14, 1894, the neighboring glass, and metal companies joined under the name of the Pairpoint Manufacturing Company. The new company continued to operate the Britannia silver-plating operation and the Mt. Washington Glass Company. In 1900, the two companies merged under the name The Pairpoint Corporation. The combination of New Bedford-made glass and metal ware proved to be a commercial and artistic success.
The merger was widely publicized. A display advertisement in The New Bedford Mercury declared that The Pairpoint Corporation was operating the Mt. Washington Glass Co., The Pairpoint Mfg. Co., and the New Bedford Paper Co. The new corporation with Andrew G. Pierce, Jr., President; Clarence A. Cook, Treasurer; and Thomas A. Tripp, General Manager had a capital investment of $600,000.00, and operated on 200,000 square feet of floor space in buildings at Howland and Prospect Streets.
This merger set the scene for the manufacture of electric lamps and other goods comprised of metal and glass under the name of Pairpoint. By 1906, The Pairpoint Corporation employed more than 1,100 workers in a variety of trades of blowing and molding glassware and silver plated Britannia metal wares from utilitarian to ornamental presentation pieces – flatware, tea sets, prize and trophy cups, cut glass articles, and an endless variety of table, boudoir, and gentlemen’s goods.
The name Pairpoint on an article was a guarantee of quality. Pairpoint went on to become one of the Country’s largest and most respected manufacturers of plated silverware carrying on a wide-ranging domestic and export trade, with an especially lucrative trade with Australia. The operation had offices in New York, San Francisco, and Montreal.
Every piece of Pairpoint silver plate carries the corporation’s identifying nomenclature impressed with the company logo of a capital letter P with double horizontal lines above and below the letter, all enclosed within a diamond, and the words “quadruple plate”.
A combination of changing taste and the Great Worldwide Depression (1929 – 1936) forced the firm to close in 1937. Successor firms led by former employees, continuing the Pairpoint name and tradition of fine quality goods, have produced utilitarian and novelty glassware in the city of New Bedford and elsewhere into the present day.
Source material for this article includes:
AVILA, George C., The Pairpoint Glass Story, New Bedford, 1968.
CARPENTER, Jr., Charles H., Gorham Silver, Dodd, Mead & Company, NY, 1982,
PADGETT, Leonard E., Pairpoint Glass. Wallace Homestead, 1979.
This essay was originally published February 2006 in the Antiques & Collecting Magazine; all rights are vested in the author.
Richard V. Simpson
Published with permission
The merger was widely publicized. A display advertisement in The New Bedford Mercury declared that The Pairpoint Corporation was operating the Mt. Washington Glass Co., The Pairpoint Mfg. Co., and the New Bedford Paper Co. The new corporation with Andrew G. Pierce, Jr., President; Clarence A. Cook, Treasurer; and Thomas A. Tripp, General Manager had a capital investment of $600,000.00, and operated on 200,000 square feet of floor space in buildings at Howland and Prospect Streets.
This merger set the scene for the manufacture of electric lamps and other goods comprised of metal and glass under the name of Pairpoint. By 1906, The Pairpoint Corporation employed more than 1,100 workers in a variety of trades of blowing and molding glassware and silver plated Britannia metal wares from utilitarian to ornamental presentation pieces – flatware, tea sets, prize and trophy cups, cut glass articles, and an endless variety of table, boudoir, and gentlemen’s goods.
The name Pairpoint on an article was a guarantee of quality. Pairpoint went on to become one of the Country’s largest and most respected manufacturers of plated silverware carrying on a wide-ranging domestic and export trade, with an especially lucrative trade with Australia. The operation had offices in New York, San Francisco, and Montreal.
Every piece of Pairpoint silver plate carries the corporation’s identifying nomenclature impressed with the company logo of a capital letter P with double horizontal lines above and below the letter, all enclosed within a diamond, and the words “quadruple plate”.
A combination of changing taste and the Great Worldwide Depression (1929 – 1936) forced the firm to close in 1937. Successor firms led by former employees, continuing the Pairpoint name and tradition of fine quality goods, have produced utilitarian and novelty glassware in the city of New Bedford and elsewhere into the present day.
Source material for this article includes:
AVILA, George C., The Pairpoint Glass Story, New Bedford, 1968.
CARPENTER, Jr., Charles H., Gorham Silver, Dodd, Mead & Company, NY, 1982,
PADGETT, Leonard E., Pairpoint Glass. Wallace Homestead, 1979.
This essay was originally published February 2006 in the Antiques & Collecting Magazine; all rights are vested in the author.
Richard V. Simpson
Published with permission
RSS Feed