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MANUFACTURER
- Newton & Thompson
MFG. Co.
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Newton & Thompson Manufacturing
Company was established at Brandon,
Vermont, by Alexander Newton, Edward C.
Thompson and Benoni Howard in 1856. The
original name was Howard, Newton and
Co. The company’s main factory was in
Forestdale (a village in Brandon); the
company also had a plant in Pittsford,
a sawmill in Sudbury, and the Sucker
Brook Mill in Salisbury.
The company was founded on Newton’s uniquely designed auto lathe, the
first such automatic novelty
wood-turning machine. An advertisement
announced that Newton & Thompson
Manufacturing Co. was “the only
manufacturers of Newton’s Patent
Self-Operating Machines, for making
pill boxes, spools, tassel moulds, &c.”
A.S. Newton held Patent No. 18,646,
issued Nov. 17, 1857, for “Turning
Regular Forms.”
Newton’s intent was to produce an
inexpensive pill box, along with
matchboxes and other utilitarian
turnings. The company’s product line
changed as market demands dictated.
They turned to making button forms,
clothespins, shaker boxes for bluing,
and other domestic products. Toy
production played no role at this early
stage of development, but by 1886 they
were listed in the Brandon directory as
both a novelty-turning and toy works
It was not until the 1890s that they began to act as a jobber for New York
toy companies. The company made a
variety of wooden toys and games.
During the 20th century, the company
developed nickel and dime boxes filled
with miniature toys and dolls’ things.
Millions were sold. Some of the major
accounts for the year 1913 included
Milton Bradley Co., Hammascher &
Schlemner, B.J. Toy Manufacturing Co.,
Schoenhut Co., and others.
The company filed for bankruptcy in 1937, and was purchased in 1942 by
Carl D. Gray and Charles B. Malone of
Stamford, Connecticut, at which time
the name changed to Newton & Thompson,
Inc. A succession of other companies
purchased the firm over the subsequent
years, discontinuing the toy lines and
manufacturing various products. Newton
& Thompson finally closed in the 1960s.
There are two 14 inch baseball bats in the collectors market. They were
made for toys or sold as souvenirs.
One, with an oval center brand which
reads from top to bottom: "Big League,
Bat, Newton & Thompson, MF'G. Co.,
Brandon, VT." This bat was dated from a
1927 newspaper article, and two
auctions where a 1936 All-Star Pennant
was tied to it.
The other reads: "Batter Up Mfg. by Newton and Thompson, Brandon, VT. USA"
but there is no information at this
time as to dating, or use.
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Newton & Thompson MF'G.
Co. Baseball Bats |
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KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES
RELATED RESOURCES |
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