New England Butt Company Records

The New England Butt Company of Providence, RI was formed in 1842 by partners N.A. Fenner, Augustus Rathbone, and Charles Brown, and was later incorporated under Rhode Island laws in 1853. The company was initially opened to produce cast iron butt hinges, making the New England Butt Company the sole domestic manufacturer of the particular hardware item at the time. Business grew quickly allowing the company to expand production to include a full line of builders' hardware. In 1855 the New England Butt Company began to manufacture braiding machinery and would eventually develop an array of machinery for the manufacture of insulated wire. These machines were used to produce the cotton braid used to cover such things as crinoline wire, electrical wire, shoelaces, candlewick, and clotheslines. The selling of braiding machinery proved so successful that the company decided to cease all hardware production in 1905 to focus on the manufacturing of stranding and braiding machinery.

Between 1912 and 1915, the New England Butt Company worked with Frank Gilbreth, a prominent industrial engineer and believer in the "scientific management" method. With the encouragement of then vice president and general manager of New England Butt, John G. Aldrich, Gilbreth used the site to conduct his time and motion studies, which were designed to increase the productivity of clerical and production workers. During his stay at New England Butt, Gilbreth utilized many of Taylor's and his own innovative devices and techniques including speed and belt slide rules, the use of "tickler cards" (a type of reminder file card for inspection and overhauling, and to record job activities), and a "betterment room" (a workroom for skill improvement). He used a clock of his own invention called the "Gilbreth Clock" to measure the time taken to perform an action on motion picture film. He reorganized tool rooms, assembly rooms, and workstations, and held typing exams for clerical workers. Both Henry Gantt and Carl Barth, also associated with "scientific management," appear to have visited Gilbreth at New England Butt.

In 1949, the Chace family bought the New England Butt Company, and in 1955 the New England Butt Company was bought by the Wanskuck Company, but continued to operate as a division. In 1982, both the New England Butt Company and the Wanskuck Company were reorganized under the name Mossberg Industries. Mossberg Industries located in Garrett, IN and Ontario, CA, and Mossberg Reels of Cumberland, RI, all of which manufacture of reels, are currently operational descendants of the original Mossberg Industries. The Wanskuck Company was started in 1862 by Jesse Metcalf, Stephen T. Olney, and Henry J. Steere. The company was formed out of the necessity for woolen army uniforms and blankets for Civil War soldiers. After the war, the Wanskuck Company began producing worsted wool cloth for suits, and in 1870 was the first company in this country to ship an order of American-made worsted wool material. Operations expanded and Wanskuck began to operate two more mills in Providence; the Steere Mill (1884) and the Geneva Mill (1896), later expanding beyond Providence with the Mohegan and Oakland Mills in Nasonville and Oakland, RI. Both towns were part of a post-village called Burrillville in Providence County. After World War II and during the demise of the textile industry in the northeast, the demand for woolen goods had dwindled so significantly that the Metcalf family sold their stock in the company to the Chace family. The Wanskuck Company was then reorganized as the Wanskuck Corporation. In a move to diversify, the New England Butt Company was purchased in 1955. The Wanskuck Company, having sold the Wanskuck, Steere, and Oakland Mills, ceased all textile manufacturing operations by 1957. It continued to function as a business in other industries under the name of Wanskuck until it reorganized as Mossberg Industries in 1982.