Woodward & Lothrop Sterling Tray

Wonder if the department store had their own silversmiths or they commissioned other makers. Also, any idea when they stopped selling sterling pieces?
Thanks

 

I suspect that they always acquired their sterling items from regular manufacturers and did not manufacture themselves. Neither Rainwater nor either of the online sites I checked include their trademark as a manufacturer. Sterlingflatwarefashions lists them only as a retailer. Bankrupt in 1994 and out of business in 1995. Hard to say whether they stopped selling sterling any earlier than that.

 

How about generally? Do American makers still produce sterling plates, pitchers etc. Or at some point they started doing only silverplate?

 

That's an interesting question. So many of the better-known names belong to bigger conglomerates (like Lifetime Brands) now. I now that a lot of stainless is made elsewhere (like Korea) and silverplate has been moving abroad for a couple decades (Spain and Italy started it, but it may have moved to Asia now.) As sterling and silverplate both started to go out of fashion in favor of materials that require less picky maintenance, it wouldn't surprise me that some gave up sterling altogether. I have no specific details though.

 

Lifetime Sterling (Wallace) and Reed & Barton (Lenox) are still produced in the USA - or were a very short time ago (I researched it for someone). I think there were one or two other manufacturers, but they escape me at the moment

 

Checked the Lifetime Brands website which seems to imply that Wallace, Towle and International have sterling flatware, but only the Wallace page specifically mentions sterling hollowware. The "Giftware" sections don't say anything about materials.

 

Wasn't International being produced in Canada - or am I having another ancient (as opposed to senior) moment??????

 

Could be - the website doesn't say where anything is made, just what they do.

 

I'm positive that on some Lifetime Brands website I read that their sterling (maybe only flatware?) is produced in the USA - I'll see if I can find it.........

 

Just checked Rainwater (Fifth Revised ed.) There was a separate International Silver Company of Canada, Ltd. It was sold to Heritage Silversmiths in 1972. Maybe that's what you remembered?

 

I didn't read the whole website.

 

Quoted from a link on a Wallace website:


About Lifetime Sterling

Lifetime Sterling is your resource for the finest selection of luxury silver flatware, serveware, gifts, and collectibles from preeminent brands including Wallace®, Gorham®, Towle® Silversmiths, International® Silver, Kirk Stieff®, and Tuttle®.
When you purchase your sterling from Lifetime Sterling, you are purchasing directly from the manufacturer. All our products are carefully crafted by highly skilled silversmiths who follow time-honored methods with uncompromising attention to detail.

We are the proud guardians of America's silver heritage. Collectively, our brands represent more than a thousand of years of the finest in American artisanship:

• 
  
  
  • Wallace Silversmiths, Inc.: founded in Connecticut in 1835
  • Gorham Manufacturing Company: founded in Rhode Island in 1831
  • Towle Silversmiths: founded in Massachusetts in 1690
  • International Silver Company: founded in Connecticut in 1898
  • Kirk Stieff: founded in 1980 in Maryland when Samuel Kirk & Son (founded 1817) merged with The Stieff Company (founded 1892)
  • Tuttle Silver Company: founded in Massachusetts in 1890

All of our products represent the highest quality of American artisanship. Each piece of sterling silver flatware is made in the USA in our own company-owned facilities, and shipped directly to you. We guarantee every product we sell, each of which is backed by our unconditional Warranty.

and I got my answer to my International question - NO! It is NOT made in Canada...............dummkopf


oops! posted after you answered the Canada question - thank you!

 

Ah! That information is not on the Lifetime website at all, although they do place a lot of emphasis on craftsmanship and quality in their brief descriptions of each of the brands of flatware.

 

I googled where is Wallace sterling manufactured and at the bottom of the Wallace site there is an About Us link that took me to the Lifetime site from which I pinched that quote.

as usual, nothing simple for Mansons..........go the long way about to get back to where you started...............

 

But you actually found the answer and I didn't, did I.

 

Ah, but NOW that I have actually read the entire quote, I do note that they specify that the flatware is US made - nothing on the hollowware or giftware

 

They're calling it "Serveware" now and some pieces do specify made of sterling in the USA. But those were all from "Empire Silver." The pieces branded by Towle (for an example) do not actually say what material they're made of, but I am skeptical that they're sterling since they all say "safe of oven warming and freezer use."

 

I see that there's still a Towle Building in Newburyport, but are Towle items no longer made there?

 

Oh Lord, not for years!! They weren't even there already when I left in 1982.

 

Rainwater writes that headquarters were moved to Boston (although I think it was actually Revere, but Boston sounded better) in 1978 after the purchase of Leonard Silver. Leonard Florence (who came with the deal) took over and things went to h**l in a handbasket quality wise.