posted 08-19-2002 11:49 AM            

Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 27 / 28 September 2002

Program

Friday 27 September, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Tours available of:

1. the Gorham Archives, John Hay Library;
   
2. Gorham silver at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum;
   
3. Gorham tools and machinery;
   
4. the Gorham Archives exhibit at the John Hay Library.

Saturday 28 September

10:00 AM - noon, tours offered as above
noon, lunch
1:00, Speakers:

1. D. Albert Soeffing, New York City. Scholar of American
   silver manufacture.
   
2. Larry Pristo, Phoenix. Author of Martelé, Gorham's Nouveau
   Art Silver.
   
3. Peter DiCristofaro, Providence. Founder, Providence Jewelry
   Museum.
   
4. Ubaldo Vitale, Maplewood, New Jersey. Master silversmith.

Contributions for deferring expenses of the program will be greatly
appreciated.
Contact Sam Hough directly by e-mail: Owlbridge@cox.net

We can assist in finding lodging and meals.

Exhibition: The Gorham Archives at Brown University will open 15 September and extend through 15 November.

The 15-minute 1950 Gorham film "Gracious Heritage" will be shown on a monitor throughout the exhibition.

The CD-ROMs of the Gorham catalogs will be on display.

The Archives of the Gorham Manufacturing Company, a leading American maker of silver wares, bronze statuary, and other products, with its factory in Providence, Rhode Island, were given to Brown University by Textron in 1988. This archive is one of the largest surviving industrial archives and
reflects the firm's rich artistic heritage. The Gorham Archive at Brown University is complemented by the excellent collection of Gorham wares in the Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design just one block away.

The exhibition "The Gorham Archives" is intended to reveal the enormous resource that lies in these records. The conference "The Gorham Archives and the Study of Nineteenth Century Silver" is intended to draw a wide audience to explore how the Gorham Archives make possible the study of American silver in a scholarly, documented manner.

The event's moderator will be Samuel J. Hough of Cranston. Formerly Assistant Librarian at the John Carter Brown Library, he now runs a book and research service called The Owl at the Bridge. He organized the Gorham Archives, and he has published many articles and co-authored a book on Gorham silver.

D. Albert Soeffing, of Manhattan and Philadelphia, teaches a course on silver at New York University. He has published a book, Silver Medallion Flatware, and numerous articles on 19th-century American silver companies.

Larry Pristo has a doctorate in psychology and an active practice in Arizona. He has spent many days, weeks, months conducting the research for his book, Martelé: Gorham's Nouveau Art Silver.

Peter DiCristofaro, founder of the Providence Jewelry Museum, has collected machinery and artifacts of jewelry and silver manufacturers. When Gorham closed its Elmwood factory, Di Cristofaro was able to obtain hundreds of rolls, dies, and other objects< beautiful works of art in themselves, and distinctive for silver manufacturers because the skill and cost required to make such objects was beyond the possibilities of any small shop.

Ubaldo Vitale's roots are in Rome, where five generations of his family have been silversmiths. Now working in the United States, Vitale brings consummate skill as a craftsman, extensive knowledge of the history of science, how that applies to the history of technology, and how that, in turn, influenced silver making. He has used the Gorham Archives while
seeking answers to the question, How did America's silversmiths transform from marginal, provincial, not important players in 1850 to become the most advanced silver industry in the world by 1880?

posted 06-05-2012 11:49 AM            

I am not sure if this is new information or not, but the 1950s (or 1940s?) Gorham film mentioned above "This Gracious Heritage" is now available on youtube. Some company that deals with old industrial films posted a truncated version of it. I took the time to copy the film into an mpeg file as I think it is an incredible look at the company.

posted 06-05-2012 09:48 PM            

1. When I started reading it, I began planning a trip to Providence Sept 27 & 28 and was really excited until it finally caught my eye that the post was originally posted in 2002! Bummer!

2. The film on youtube is great. Get it if you can. I have watched it trying to see if I can spot what patterns can be seen. The "Silver Ballet" near the end is wonderful!

PS - Anyone know of other films out there from Gorham or other manufacturers?

posted 06-06-2012 09:25 AM            

If anyone is interested in the mpeg I made of the video, acquire my contact information from Scott. I would have no problem sharing it. The file is too big for an email, but I'd be happy to put it on a disc and send it to anyone that really wanted a copy of it.

posted 06-09-2012 02:31 PM            

Scott ~ Thank you for posting a direct link to the video.

Robert ~ I personally haven't found any other videos as long as this one. The only other thing I could find on youtube is an undated International Silver commercial that looks like it could be from anywhere from the late 1940's to the mid-1960's. Let me know if you go looking for it and have trouble finding it and I will post a link to that as well.

posted 06-10-2012 07:22 PM            

I found a video of a 1941 sales training film for International Silver on youtube but no undated commercial. If you can post a link I would appreciate it.

Thanks

posted 06-10-2012 08:19 PM            

Thank you so much for bringing the training video to my attention. Somehow I missed that one. I just found it and am in the process of making an mpeg out of it. This really makes me wonder how many silver related videos there are on youtube that are just waiting to be found. I will have to be more thorough with my searches.

Anyway, here is the link to the commercial I mentioned above:
International Sterling commercial

Let me know if you stumble across any others that I missed.

Thank you!

David

posted 06-10-2012 10:38 PM            

That was a pretty good one too. I like how she lost her raincoat!

Since it ended with the address with a zip code, it had to be 1963 or after. I am going to try to see if I can identify some of the patterns to help narrow it down some more.

posted 06-24-2012 09:25 PM            

Robert's question still stands - does anyone know of any other old silver videos like the Gorham film mentioned above? I'd be fascinated to find more like it.