The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
TOURING HISTORY
Sherrill Manufacturing: Oneida Community Mansion House walks visitors through history of silverware in the Silver City
SHERRILL, N.Y.>> The relationship between the Silver City and silverware is undeniable.
From 1914 - two years before Sherrill was recognized as a city by the State of New York - to 2017, flatware has been a staple of the industrial sector in New York’s smallest city, first taking root when descendants of the Oneida Community relocated their flatware production from Niagara Falls to Central New York.
On Saturday, nearly 60 people joined the Oneida Community Mansion House on a tour that spanned from the 1800s to the 1900s and into modern times as the Mansion House teamed with Sherrill Manufacturing to take visitors on a tour of the indus- try that put the area on the map.
The history of the Oneida Community - which began in 1848 and continued until disbanding due to social pressure against the utopian society in 1880 - and its role in the industrial world did not actually begin with flatware. Rather, it began with the production of carpet bags and canning fruits, the first way the Community made its money, according to Com- munity Curator of Education Molly Jessup. The education curator went on to explain that the Community was unique in the fact that men and women were equally involved in production, deeming the entire collective of people as “industrialists.” Unlike farming neighbors whose workplace was on the homestead, members of the Community kept work separate fromthe home life.
“The economy of this Community was largely based on industry rather than agriculture,”
Jessup said.
This preference toward industry was also marked by the Community’s involvement in the manufacturing and sale of steel traps, particularly Newhouse Genuine steel traps for small game. From the 1850s to the 1920s, traps dominated the Community’s industrial output. During the early 1860s, the Oneida Community was producing approximately 200,000 traps a year, creating a demand for a factory to increase production. This demand led to the construction of the Oneida Community plant in 1864, Jessup said. During its heyday, the plant was the largest such trap manufacturing site in the country, churning out some 400,000 items a year. Revenue from the trap making largely helped fund construction and additions to the Mansion House.
While the Community disbanded in 1880 as a result of their “controversial religious practices,” the descendants and former members continued to concentrate on their industrial output.
In the late 1890s, leadership at Oneida Community, Limited decided the collective’s best chance at profit lay in the flatware industry and moved to cease their trap and silk production. In 1914, flatware production-machinery from Niagara was brought to the area as the Community focused its efforts on silverware. All the while, leadership maintained the belief that “everyone involved in production should benefit.” As a result, the Community Activity Center and nation’s first corporate golf course was created to benefit workers.
In 1935, the Oneida Community, Limited, was rebranded Oneida Limited and the workforce descendants and remnants of the utopian society were joined by citizens outside of the Community as the workforce swelled to almost 2,600. Oneida Limited produced surgical implements for the government and military during World War II as well as taking on other contracted ventures, all the while remaining true to their renowned flatware products.
Following the presentation on the history of the Oneida Community, its role in the Industrial Revolution and the tradition of flatware production in the 1900s by Jessup, the group of roughly sixty formed a caravan and made their way to Sherrill Manufacturing where co-owner Greg Owens took the lead.
After Oneida Ltd. ceased on-site operations in 2005, former employees Greg Owens and Matt Roberts bought Oneida’s factory and equipment, starting their own production right after the Sherrill giant closed its doors.
Though machines were not operating on Saturday, Owens took the group on a tour of the Sherrill Manufacturing facility, detailing the process that results in the only American-made silverware in the country. From rolled steel to razor sharp rough outlines of utensils to finished, gleaming flatware, Owens took the group on a comprehen- sive factory tour, fielding questions from the audience throughout.
When Roberts and Owens first started Sherrill Manufacturing, Owens said they “tried to compete for a couple of years with China,” but because of labor laws in the U.S., it was not feasible.
“We had to reinvent ourselves,” Owens said, explaining how he and Roberts decided to shift their strategy to creating the only American-made flatware in the world. As a result, Sherrill Manufacturing’s Liberty Tabletop line was born. Now, more than 10 years after Sherrill Manufacturing opened its doors, the company completes contracts for the government, selling products online on the GSA website. From a modest beginning of potentially 3 to five orders a day, Sherrill Manufacturing filled 143 orders this past Christmas Day, and now offers a total of 24 flatware patterns. Additionally, the company was contracted out locally by the Hotel Syracuse for flatware to stock its restaurant when the landmark hotel reopened under new ownership in 2016 and has products for sale locally at the White Begonia. Owens also said he’d like to see Sherrill Manufacturing echo the property-sharing odes of their predecessors and grow the family-like atmosphere he and Roberts strive to maintain.
With a workforce of 36 employees, Sherrill Manufacturing operates in 10 hour shifts, four days a week. Fromthe steel used to create the individual pieces of flatware to the packaging used to ship their products, Sherrill Manufacturing utilizes materials and services found in the U.S. The packaging materials are from a local Earlville company and the steel is brought in Pittsburgh and Alabama. Even the buffing compounds and machinery parts are acquired locally from US destinations.
The effort to create a completely American-made product was not lost on members of the tour group.
Anthony Kowanes, of Sherrill, spent 16 and a half years as an employee at Oneida Ltd., and was impressed with the dozens of people who joined him on the tour.
“It shows you maybe America is turning back to its roots,” he said, adding that the tour “brings you back.”
Kowanes spent his 16plus years doing “everything” in terms of work at the manufacturing plant. Before him, his mother worked at the plant, and as a child, Kowanes remembers downtown Sherrill bustling with activity and looking like a “circus” when all the factory workers finished a shift and made their way home from work.
Like Kowanes, tour attendee Bob Cowlay, of Oneida, revisited the plant where he spent a significant portion of his working career. For 34 years Cowlay worked in the credit department after starting briefly as a factory trainee.
“I’m a survivor, I guess,” Cowlay joked, before taking on a more contemplative tone.
“I’m amazed at the changes,” he said before turning his attention to the large size of the tour. “It’s interesting to see the number of people that turned out.”