Industrial and Manufacturing History of New Britain ~ Stanley Works ~ Aerial View ~ 1946 and 1843. Photo courtesy of New Britain, Connecticut Commemorative Centennial Book, 1850-1950. Historical narrative courtesy of International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 20. St. James Press, 1998. Info Link: fundinguniverse/company-histories/the-stanley-works-history/ Stanley Brothers Founded Company in Mid-19th Century The company was founded in 1843 by Frederick T. Stanley, a 41-year-old merchant and manufacturer whose previous work experience included stints as a clerk on a Connecticut River steamboat and as an itinerant peddler in the South. In 1831, Stanley, in partnership with his younger brother William Stanley, had opened a small facility in New Britain, Connecticut, for the manufacture of house trimmings and door locks. Though the business failed to survive the Panic of 1837, it seemed to have served as theprototype for a second manufacturing venture in New Britain--Stanleys Bolt Manufactory--which Frederick Stanley, again in concert with his brother, established in 1843. The establishment of this manufactory marks the official beginning of the Stanley story. The companys present name was adopted in 1852, when the Stanley brothers--along with five neighbors--were granted a charter of incorporation by the state of Connecticut for a newly organized firm, The Stanley Works. This corporation, initially capitalized at $30,000, was to be directed by Frederick T. Stanley, who was named its first president. During its early years Stanley was one of hundreds of similar companies in antebellum America producing hardware and builders goods. Frederick Stanley was not unique in perceiving an entrepreneurial opening for such goods in a nation growing and industrializing as rapidly as the United States. There were scores of shops similar to his in Connecticut alone. If Frederick Stanley had an early competitive advantage, at least locally, it may have been in his manufactorys power source, a single-cylinder high-pressure steam engine, which he had purchased from the firm of William Burdon of Brooklyn. This relatively sophisticated engine enabled Stanleys Bolt Manufactory and, later, The Stanley Works, to produce goods--whether bolts, T-hinges, or wrought-iron straps--in a more capital-intensive and efficient way than was the case in less automated shops in the area. Nevertheless, the firms early growth was not exceptionally rapid. Total sales were $7,328 in 1853 and $21,371 in 1854, and rose to about $53,000 in 1860, on the eve of the Civil War. Only after that conflict ended would the dramatic rise of The Stanley Works begin. To say that the firms rise postdated the Civil War is not to imply that the war itself was directly or fundamentally responsible. More significant than any war-induced demand for Stanleys products were deep-seated economic forces related to industrialization and increased market size and integration. Productivity gains made possible through mechanization and the creation, via the railroad, of an embryonic national market transformed the U.S. business environment in the late 19th century, presenting new opportunities to--and posing new problems for--most U.S. manufacturers. Alfred D. Chandler describes this transformation in his The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business. To read more about the history of Stanley Works, click on this Info Link: fundinguniverse/company-histories/the-stanley-works-history/
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 18:09:45 +0000
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