Recently my wife Patricia and I have been making an effort to discard “stuff” once thought needed. “Stuff” has been discarded from the garage, attic, and most recently from our six bookcases. It gave us a nice feeling to donate them to a non-profit bookseller we know.
About a few days following our second donation, a book showed up that I had no idea we owned. Its title is YANKEE DREAMERS And DOERS authored by Ellsworth S. Grant. It’s a 337 page book on the history of Connecticut Manufacturing.
Believe me, we “Nutmeggers” can be exceptionally proud of what our state “Yankees” have contributed to not only war equipment but also many items to enhance our way of life. Lets have a look at some of the more recognizable accomplishments and those who were responsible for them. In armament there is Samuel Colt for weapons: Colt Manufacturing. The first paper mill in Norwich by Christopher Leffingwell with power supplied by the Yantic River. Gun Powder made in the north central part of the state that earned the town the name of Hazardville.
Soon we wrere recognized for clocks, with Terryvile known as Clock Town; Meriden for the Britannia Silverware Company, textiles for certain, and even a carpet company. And lets not overlook Naval accomplishments such as the submarine and the effort at Civil War time to get behind the push for iron ships such as the USS Monitor.
The city of New Britain became known as the hardware city of the world with the Stanley Company, Russwin Cabinet and Locks, and the biggest ball bearing factory, Fafnir Bearing. New Haven was popular for carriage making and surprise we even had an automobile manufacturer and aircraft. My Navy service was with an Anti Submarine Scouting Squadron, VS 62. Our planes were the Sikorsky OS 2u with a Pratt & Whitney engine. Growing up in New Britain I remember I had several family members that worked for some of these companies. I had a part time job with Fafnir after school until graduation when I enlisted.
Getting back to the book, What I found interesting is these founders actually designed and made machinery that would increase productivity, making products at less cost to end users, and also better quality long before Chinese imports.