Snippets of Information Regarding the Gorham Company

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PROVIDENCE

Alfred Fisk Burgess, for nearly half a century in the employ of the Gorham Mfg. Co., died at his home at Eden Park Friday morning after an illness of about two months. Death was due to a complication of diseases which necessitated his giving up work about that time. He was a native of this city and received his education in the public schools and at Schofield’s Commercial College. He entered the Gorham company’s employ in 1865 and spent the rest of his life with that concern. He was, at the time of his death, the foreman of the photography department, and on account of his long identification with Gorham’s he was well known to silversmiths all over the country. He is survived by a widow and one son.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 11th January 1911

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STERLING - PAT. 1897

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The Gorham Company - New York - 1925

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Bruce Bonney who has been in charge of the Gorham Mfg. Co.’s World’s Fair exhibition left Monday evening for his home in New York.

Ned Midlen who has been here during the entire Exposition season with the Gorham Mfg. Co.’s exhibit, returned to New York last Wednesday night.

The last of the Gorham Mfg. Co.’s exhibit was shipped to New York Wednesday last.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular and Horological Review - 22nd November 1893

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A man who said he was Frank W. Eastman on July 7 bought of the Gorham Mfg, Co., 23 Maiden Lane, a set of silver carvers worth $41 50. He gave in payment a $50 draft on Eastman Bros. & Bancroft, Portland, Me. The draft was subsequently found to be worthless, and after a search the police arrested Eastman. When the case came up in the Tombs Police Court Monday, there were six other firms not in the jewelry business represented from whom Eastman had obtained goods in a similar manner. He was held for the Grand Jury.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular and Horological Review - 10th August 1892

See also: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=39068&p=120116&hilit=eastman#p120116

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There is on exhibition at the Maiden Lane store of the Gorham Co. the sterling silver service for the battle ship Florida. It will be presented to the ship by the people of Florida at Pensacola, Fla., Dec. 18. The service was made by the Gorham Co., and was furnished through the Greenleaf & Crosby Co., Jacksonville, Fla.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 22nd November 1911

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Fred B. Lawton, superintendent of the Gorham Mfg. Co., has been elected chairman of the committee on boys’ work of the “Men and Religion Forward Movement.”

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 22nd November 1911

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Frank L. Barrows, with the Gorham Mfg. Co., is chairman of the Washington Birthday ladies’ night committee of the First Light Infantry Regiment.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 11th February 1925

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The Gorham Company - New York - 1918

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Charles T. Evans, from the New York office of the Gorham Co., spent two days with the Chicago office last week, leaving on Thursday night for Cincinnati.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 22nd May 1918

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PROVIDENCE

Arthur E. Hebard, vice-president of the Gorham Mfg. Co., is a member of the entertainment and program committee for the Foreign Trade Conference that is to be held in this city next week, Wednesday and Thursday, April 29 and 30, under the auspices of the Providence Chamber of Commerce.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 22nd April 1925

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Gorham - New York - 1925

'VANITY FAIR'

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Unusual Exhibit of Silver at Evanston’s “County Fair” for Charities

At the “County Fair” given recently by the women of Evanston, Ill., to aid several charities, the Gorham Co. had a booth arranged as a dining room with 17th Century tapestries on the walls, buffet, serving and side tables of rare old mahogany and a central table completely and correctly set with a handsome silver dinner service. A center-pole of shaded larkspur and other old-fashioned garden flowers, in a silver basket, gave the necessary touch of color to complete the artistic arrangement.

Instead of roping off the enclosure, as is usually the case with such a display, the space was left open so that visitors might walk right in, as they would go into a neighbor’s home, to admire the silver and chat with the hostess, who answered questions and told something of the history of the various designs, of silverware and discussed the proper setting of the table—much to the delight of various housewives who seemed uncertain about the correct use of such silver as appears only on state occasions in most families.

This booth of Gorham silverware was one of the most popular exhibits at the fair and aroused an astonishing amount of interest. Several told the hostess that some friend had urged them to be sure and see it and a great many women expressed their delight in being able to examine the silver and at the same time see how it would actually look in a home.

As upwards of 20,000 visitors came to the fair from Chicago’s rich and fashionable North Shore suburbs, this opportunity of stimulating the interest of potential silver buyers was a most unusual one. The exhibit was engineered by Miss Marguerite Walker Jordan and by Miss Gertrude Mayo of the Gorham staff.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 29th June 1921

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The “G. G.,” Gorham Girls, composed of the women employes of the Gorham Mfg. Co., their friends and guests in large numbers danced last Friday evening at the Gorham Casino for the benefit of the “Our Boys in France Tobacco Fund.” Miss Mabel Long was floor director, and her aides were the Misses Dessie Bennett, Mary Davis, Sadie Hart, Ruth Jerome, Florence Johnson, Mary Marra, Lillian Whalan and Josephine Zimmer. The Casino was donated by the Gorham company and the affair netted a very substantial sum. The dance orders contained a report calling attention to the work that has been accomplished by the “G. G.” who have been organized only six months. The officers are as follows: President, Miss Olive M. Foye; treasurer, Miss Louise Lang; secretary, Miss Mabel Long.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 24th April 1918

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Charles H. Greenwood, recently appointed by the Gorham Co., to take charge of its hotel department in Chicago and the middle west territory, returned last week from a visit to New York and Providence, where he visited the factories and display rooms. Mr. Greenwood is one of the best known hotel silverware men in the country.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 21st November 1923

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DEATH OF WILLIAM CODMAN

Former Art Director of the Gorham Mfg. Co. Passes Away at His Home in England in His Eighty-second Year

Providence, R. I., Dec. 8.—Word has been received here of the death in England of William Christmas Codman, for 23 years art director of the Gorham Mfg. Co. in this city. He died Wednesday at his home in Woking, Surrey, where he had lived since his retirement from the Gorham company in 1914. He was in his 82nd year.

Mr. Codman was born in Norfolk, England, on Christmas Day, 1839, and at an early age evinced a special aptitude for drawing and painting and while yet in his early teens was placed with Heaviside, of Norwich, Eng., under whose tuition he remained for several years.

On entering the art world seriously, he turned his attention to church mural painting and was engaged with L’Estrange for three seasons in decorating the nave of Ely Cathedral, a beautiful old structure at the Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire, which was begun by the Normans in 1081, at the time of the restoration of the famous edifice. The communion plate for the See of Liverpool, and the corporation plate at the Manchester, England, Town Hall, are from his designs. At the International Exhibition in 1861 he was awarded a gold medal.

After remaining more than half a century in his native country, Mr. Codman in 1891 came to America to accept the position as art director at the Gorham Mfg. Co.’s new plant at Elmwood, to which the company had removed some 18 months previously, which place he held until 1914, when he retired from active business. During his connection with the Gorham Mfg. Co. some of the most notable productions of that concern were wrought from the designs of Mr. Codman. Included among these were he magnificent massive bronze Ann Man Memorial gates at the Elmwood Ave. entrance to Roger Williams Park, this city; the immense Dewey cup of sterling silver ; the Sir Thomas Lipton gold cup and the silver service for the United States battleship Delaware. The exhibit of the Gorham Mfg. Co. at the St. Louis Exposition was directed and set up by Mr. Codman. Shortly after his retirement from the Gorham Mfg. Co.’s employ, Mr. Codman returned to England, where he had since made his home.

Mr. Codman was a great lover of animals and was considered an authority on dogs of certain breeds and frequently acted as judge at the leading bench shows in this city, Boston, New York and Philadelphia. He was a president of the Bulldog Club of America and second president of the Rhode Island Kennel Club. He became affiliated with the Masonic fraternity in England, while a young man and always retained his allegiance with the craft in that country.

He married Emma Rolle, of Norfolk, England, before coming to this country and is survived by two daughters and three sons, the latter being Frank, now in England, and Edwin E. and William Codman, of this city. Edwin E. Codman is a well- known sculptor and William is the present art director at the plant of the Gorham Mfg. Co.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 12th December 1923

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Frank W. Matteson, director of the Gorham Mfg. Co., with his wife and son, sailed last Saturday from New York on the Majestic to spend the Summer abroad.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 2nd July 1924

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An example of the Gorham date symbol for 1919:



See: https://www.925-1000.com/Gorham_Date_Code.html

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A bowling league has been formed among the several departments at the Gorham Mfg. Co.’s plant at Elmwood and a schedule of games arranged lasting from Sept. 19 to Dec. 26. There are four teams in the league.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 24th September 1913

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John S. Holbrook of the Gorham Manufacturing Company Made President for 1915

The annual election of officers of the Providence Chamber of Commerce was held on Wednesday, December 9th, the polls being open for the greater part of the day that the members might deposit their ballots. This was a distinct innovation from the procedure of the organization, and as successful in its operation as it was satisfactory.

The ballot box, placed in front of the reading table in the large room, was in charge of Clarence C. Gleason, Walter G. Brown and Thomas A. Francis, a check list being used to insure voting by members only. The following ticket was unanimously elected, 461 ballots having been deposited:

President—John S. Holbrook, Gorham Manufacturing Company; First Vice President—Howard J. Greene, Oliver Johnson & Co.; Second Vice President—Arthur L. Aldred, Gladding Dry Goods Company; Treasurer—Albert R. Plant, Blackstone Canal National Bank; Directors (for two years)—Harold B. Andrews, J. P. Rhodes Company; Wilbur B. Ayer, Belcher & Loomis Hardware Company; Henry A. Carpenter, General Fire Extinguisher Company; John P. Farnsworth, Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company; James H. Hurley, G. L. & H. J. Gross; Frank D. Simmons, Eastern Coal Company.

The directors who hold over for another year are: Henry A. Barker, Rhode Island Electric Protective Company; John Hutchins Cady, architect; Richard B. Comstock, Comstock & Canning; George L. Crooker, Crooker Company; Edward R. Davenport, Narragansett Electric Lighting Company; William A. Viall, Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company.

Source: Providence Magazine - December 1914

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