Whitall Tatum Glass Company, Millville, NJ--a weird little history lesson (Camden: home, buy)

[Tracysherm]

A couple years ago, after my grandmother died, we cleaned out her house. I found a little pin, not gold or anything; maybe brass. It says:

W. T. Co. Honors Dilligence...Accuracy
then the number 40
and a picture of a wheel with wings

So I tossed it into a box of thing I was taking, deciding to research it later. I figured it was an award to an employee of some company for 40 years of service. I knew it wasn't either of my grandparents, since I knew the places where they had worked over the years.

I searched around a little online and figured out its from the Whitall Tatum Company, a glassworks based in Millville, that operated from 1806-1938. They made bottles, jars, and electrical insulators (those bell-shaped glass things that were on telegraph lines in the old days, that some antique collectors still collect today). They had two locations in Millville: the Upper Glassworks, called "Glasstown" on Buck Street, and the Lower Glassworks, called Schetterville, on the south end of Millville.

Does anyone remember this place? Did you or an older relative work there?

Here's the wikipedia entry on them:
[SIZE=3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitall_Tatum_Company[/SIZE]

Here's an online history book with an article and pictures:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/nj2/chap5.htm

There were also some art glass pieces, like paperweights, made by employees in their spare time:
http://www.ettc.net/njarts/details.cfm?ID=911

Here's a mention of the company on a site discussing electrical insulators:
http://www.myinsulators.com/glass-factories/whitalltatum.html

Here's a little lesson on NJ "company stores" in "company towns," specifically Whitall Tatum::
http://www.state.nj.us/counties/cumberland/0610/schools/resources/sec/bicentennial/text/05_co_store.html

I always knew South Jersey had a long history of glass making, but I'd never heard of this company before. I just wanted to share this little history lesson I got, when trying to solve the mystery of an odd little pin in a drawer in my grandparents' house. I still don't know whose it was. Maybe I'll find someone with a connection to the company, or an electrical insulator or bottle collector who will want this pin?
Anyway, it was a fun little local history lesson.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by TracySam

A couple years ago, after my grandmother died, we cleaned out her house. I found a little pin, not gold or anything; maybe brass. It says:

W. T. Co. Honors Dilligence...Accuracy
then the number 40
and a picture of a wheel with wings

So I tossed it into a box of thing I was taking, deciding to research it later. I figured it was an award to an employee of some company for 40 years of service. I knew it wasn't either of my grandparents, since I knew the places where they had worked over the years.

I searched around a little online and figured out its from the Whitall Tatum Company, a glassworks based in Millville, that operated from 1806-1938. They made bottles, jars, and electrical insulators (those bell-shaped glass things that were on telegraph lines in the old days, that some antique collectors still collect today). They had two locations in Millville: the Upper Glassworks, called "Glasstown" on Buck Street, and the Lower Glassworks, called Schetterville, on the south end of Millville.

Does anyone remember this place? Did you or an older relative work there?

Here's the wikipedia entry on them:
[SIZE=3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitall_Tatum_Company[/SIZE]

Here's an online history book with an article and pictures:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/nj2/chap5.htm

There were also some art glass pieces, like paperweights, made by employees in their spare time:
http://www.ettc.net/njarts/details.cfm?ID=911

Here's a mention of the company on a site discussing electrical insulators:
http://www.myinsulators.com/glass-factories/whitalltatum.html

Here's a little lesson on NJ "company stores" in "company towns," specifically Whitall Tatum::
http://www.state.nj.us/counties/cumberland/0610/schools/resources/sec/bicentennial/text/05_co_store.html

I always knew South Jersey had a long history of glass making, but I'd never heard of this company before. I just wanted to share this little history lesson I got, when trying to solve the mystery of an odd little pin in a drawer in my grandparents' house. I still don't know whose it was. Maybe I'll find someone with a connection to the company, or an electrical insulator or bottle collector who will want this pin?
Anyway, it was a fun little local history lesson.

You might want to check the glass museum at Wheaton Village. WheatonArts - WheatonArts

It sounds like that's a pin for service to me, too. I'd suggest that you try tracing back in your families. If your library has Heritage Quest you can check at home as long as you have a library card. You can also go to the regional branch of the National Archives in Philly. National Archives Mid Atlantic Region

[Tracysherm]

I have been doing a lot of ancestry research, and no one was in Millville or close enough to Millville to work there between 1806 and 1938. My ancestors were in south Jersey, but up in Camden County, and the parts of Camden County that used to be Gloucester County. Nowadays, it would be common to commute as far as Millville, but back then, no one would have commuted to work that far.

Since my grandparents used to browse antique shows, and my grandfather collected glass bottles and insulators, it's possible the pin came in a lot with some of those, since Whitall Tatum is well known to collectors of those things.

Yes, I'm very familiar with Wheaton Village.

[Cherylgordon]

This pin is a typist pin for accuracy. 40 words per minute my mother had one too! She was from PA. Was your grandmother a secretary or typist?

[Tracysherm]

Wow! Yes. she did secretarial work, but she only worked for her father's car dealership from high school to her 20s. Then after having her kids, she worked for 1st Peoples Bank until she retired in the 1970s. She never worked at Whitall Tatum. But thanks for the info about the typing accuracy; that makes total sense.


I still think my grandparents picked it up when they would buy boxes of stuff at antique shows or flea markets.

[NJBoy3]

Wow! Thanks for sharing. I live in Millville. Lots of glass history here. I watched them tear down WT thru the years, sad. If you ever get to Millville on a Sunday afternoon stop by the Millville Historical society and ask for Bob Francois. Bob will spend some time telling you about WT. He also has lots of pictures.

[Daykris]

I found the same little pin, exactly as you describe in a drawer from an old treadle sewing machine cabinet that I picked up in Inver Grove Heights, MN. The family lived there, on the banks of the river, since before the Depression. The guy''s dad worked w the civil engineering service (I thought CCC) during the really tough times. The mom sewed everything for the family. The machine is a Regent-- looks like one made by the White Sewing machine company (or copied from them), which is why I got curious about this little pin.