posted 08-12-2003 08:56 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by JBree:
Hi, Anyone with any info on New England Silverplate? I've found only one mention of it, on an auction list with no further info. Tx, Jim

---

Rainwater and Redfield show a listing for New England Silverplate Co., showing them as being from New Haven, CT. They reference also Alephi Silverplate Co., American Silver Co. adn Bristol Brass & Clock Co. for this company. The only reference they give is an ad listed from 1878, copyrighted in 1877. They also list a New England Silver Plate Co. in Bridgeport, CT with no other references, except that the company was organized in 1895, and that it was not the same company as the one above. Obviously not much was known about either.

posted 08-13-2003 08:36 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dale:
In Rosemary ice tea spoons seem particularly plentiful.

---

Dale, I have yet to see an iced tea spoon in the 1919 Rosemary pattern. Every piece I've come across has been a teaspoon - I've got 7 of them in stock!

posted 09-13-2003 02:15 PM            

quote:

---

Stephen C. Osborne:

....Mr. Osborne was now twenty-five years of age, experienced in commercial affairs. The question of entering business for himself he seriously considered, and made the resolution to devote his energies and capabilities, whatever they were, in some line which he could himself control. He began by opening an office for rent collecting, insurance and real estate at his present location, No. 651 State street, Bridgeport, and has followed it ever since. He branched out a little in 1889, and started a shoe store. The same year he purchased what is now known as the West End Livery Stable, retaining possession of the former six months and of the latter two and one-half years. Becoming impressed in the fall of 1890 with the idea that there was a market for cheap plated silverware, he established with Smith P. Glover, of Newtown, and William H. Ohara, of Bridgeport, the firm of S.C. Osborne & Co. They started a jobbing business in silverware. The two remaining partners, in July, 1892, purchased the interest of Mr. Glover. Trade flourished, and goods could not be procured to fill orders. To supply the demand, a plant employing one hundred hands was erected by the firm in Wallingford, New Haven Co., Conn., in the spring of 1894. This was disposed of later when an advantageous offer was made, the firm agreeing to take most of the output. The firm, S.C. Osborne & Co., was dissolved January 3, 1896, and since then Mr. Osborne has been sole owner of the business. In September, 1895, the New England Silver Plate Company was organized under the laws of Connecticut for the purpose of jobbing silverware, with principal offices at Bridgeport. Mr. Osborne is president and treasurer. In business he has been very successful, and his prosperous career is all the more notable because of the comparative youth at which it was realized.

---