Scovill Manufacturing Company Collection

Collection

Identifier: 1993-0078

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

The records consist of design plans for machine tools and equipment, typewritten histories about the company, photographs, product catalogs, and employee pins. Bound volumes of the compahy's corporate transactions were donated in April 2019.

Note that the UConn Archives does not hold the Scovill Company Records.

Dates

undated, 1918, 1930-1984

Access

The collection is open and available for research.

Restrictions on Use and Copyright Information

Permission to publish from this Collection must be obtained in writing from both the University of Connecticut Libraries and the owner(s) of the copyright.

History

Founded originally under the name Abel Porter & Co. in 1802, the Scovill Manufacturing Company was officially formed in 1850 when owners James and William H. Scovill consolidated the successful button operation and created a joint stock corporation. Located in Waterbury, Connecticut, the company produced metal plates for daguerreotype photographs, brass lamps, artillery munitions, and coin blanks for the United States Mint, in addition to the brass buttons that they were known for.

By the turn of the 20th century the company began to diversify its productions, looking to gain entrance into the consumer market. In 1923 the company acquired Hamilton Beach, and began producing electrical housewares. In 1924 Scovill bought the Oakville Company and continued to produce the safety pins that the company had been making since 1882. Six years later the company bought out the Schrader Company and began producing pneumatic tire valves for the automobile industry. Through the acquisition of these different companies, the Scovill Manufacturing Company also aquired numerous oversees plants. By the 1960s Scovill operated plants in Canada, England, West Germany, Mexico and Japan, and had become the world leader in the production of snap fasteners.

Extent

12 Linear Feet (Nine boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Scovill Manufacturing Company manufactured a variety of metal products from the early nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century in Waterbury, Connecticut. The collection consists of design plans for various machine tools and equipment as well as typewritten histories about the company, photographs, product catalogs, and employee pins.

Provenance and Acquisition

It is unknown how the majority of the materials found their way to Archives & Special Collections of the University of Connecticut Library. The 1918 photograph of the Scovill Engineering Department was donated in March 2015 by Cheryl Cleveland Hutchinson of Carroll Valley, Pennsylvania.

The items in the 2019 accession were transferred to Archives & Special Collections from The Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut. The volumes were donated to The Mattatuck from Mr. Steward Hudnut of Glenview, Illinois, gathered when he worked as a lawyer for the company from 1965 to 1987.

Related Material

Archives & Special Collections has a substantial collection of Connecticut business records. For detailed information on these collections please contact the curator or ask at the Reading Room desk.

Subjects

Blueprints (reprographic copies). Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Brass industry and trade Subject Source: Fast
Buttons (information artifacts) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Connecticut (state) Subject Source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
Photocopies Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
manuscripts (document genre) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus