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Jacob Bromwell, Inc.
[edit]thumb|left|alt=Company Logo.|Company Logo
History
[edit]Founder
[edit]Jacob Bromwell moved from Baltimore to Cincinnati in 1819 via the Ohio River on a flatboat. He brought a few wire looms with him to use in his company. He became the first wire manufacturer in the west when he founded the Bromwell Brush and Wire Goods Company, Inc.[1] He opened up his company in a six story house in downtown Cincinannati, at 181 Walnut Street. At the time, the company catalogue contained over 1000 products, many of which won awards.[2]
Brush and Wire Goods Company
[edit]In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Bromwell Brush and Wire Goods Company had upwards of 1000 employees in multiple states and was the largest business of its kind in the United States. Much of the company's manufacturing was done through convict labor at several prison workhouses where Bromwell Brush and Wire Goods Company rented space and employed the prisoners at wages averaging about 35 cents per day. [3]
Company Split
[edit]The Bromwell Brush and Wire Goods Company was split in 1923. Half of the company was purchased by the Gerwe family, who opened a fireplace store in Cincinnati that is still open today. It is now owned by the McClorey family and has been since 2005.[4] The other portion of the company, owned by Jacob Bromwell's descendants, was then based out of Michigan City, Indiana.[5]
Notable Products
[edit]Jacob Bromwell, Inc., manufactures several historically-significant products including the Original Popcorn Popper, Classic Tin Cup, Wonder Shredders, Authentic Potato Baker and All-American Flour Sifter.[6] The Original Popcorn Popper is the company's oldest and best-selling items, and is made with the original equipment and dies since the late 1800s, when the company acquired the patent from William Wood, its inventor. They were originally sold at a wholesale price of $3.50 for a gross.[7] The All-American Flour Sifter was patented in 1930 by a descendent of Jacob Bromwell's, Thomas G. Melish.[8]
Current Activities
[edit]Bromwell Housewares was renamed Jacob Bromwell, Inc., in 2010. Jacob Bromwell, Inc., is currently based in Tempe, Arizona, and has been privately held for the past 26 years. In 2011, the company opened an additional office in Los Angeles, California.[9] The company operates its own retail website, www.jacobbromwell.com, and the product line is also available in catalogs and brick-and-mortar stores throughout the United States, as well as several other e-commerce stores. The company manufactures all its products in the United States and sells many of the same products as its founder did, including the Original Popcorn Popper.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "1895 - William Bromwell Melish". The Grand Lodge of Ohio. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ Kenny, Daniel J. (1875). Illustrated Cincinnati. Robert Clarke & Co. p. 207.
- ^ Cigar Makers' Official Journal, Volumes 33-36. Chicago: Cigar Maker's International Union of America. 1908. p. 14.
- ^ "Bromwell's History". Bromwell's. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
- ^ Manny, Jr., Carter H. (2003). A Boyhood Revisited. C. H. Manny. p. 7.
- ^ "Gift Ideas". Jacob Bromwell, Inc. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
- ^ Smith, Andrew (1999). Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. p. 29. ISBN 1570033005.
- ^ US patent 1753995, Melish, Thomas G. & Cox, Rogers M., "Flour Sifter", issued 1930-04-08, assigned to Bromwell Wire Goods Company
- ^ "Sean Bandawat". USC Delta Sigma Pi. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ "Original Popcorn Popper". Jacob Bromwell, Inc. Retrieved 14 November 2011.