Archives Center, National Museum of American History

J. Wiss & Sons Company records

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0172
Creators:
Kraeuter & Company, Inc.
J. Wiss & Sons Company
Dates:
1921-1925; 1948.
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.3 Cubic feet
1 box
Repository:
Records of the J. Wiss and Sons Company, maker of shears and scissors.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Catalog and Salesman's Fact Book, 1921-1925, and "A Story of Shears and Scissors". The book includes a 1925 Wiss Catalog of scissors, snips, and shears and a 1925 catalog of Kraeuter and Company Inc., Newark,manufacturers of pliers, wrenches, chisels, automobile and machinists' tools and ticket punches. Also, numerous price lists and advertisements for the tools, apparently clipped from publications.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
J. Wiss & Sons Company was founded in 1848 by Jacob Wiss, a thirty-one-year-old immigrant from Switzerland who was an experienced cutler and gunsmith. The company, headed by Wiss and his descendants in Newark, N.J., emphasized high quality in its products, which became known world-wide and sold to the U.S. Government in the Civil War and the two World Wars. In 1914, Wiss acquired the manufacturing facilities of a competitor and became the largest producer of fine scissors and shears in the world. Following World War I, Wiss weathered a severe depression in scissors markets, partly caused by dumping of European products. Increased U.S. help remedied this situation. Cooper Industries purchased the company in 1976. After the purchase, the factory remained in Newark for a few years, then was moved south, and finally manufacturing was done overseas. According to a message from Don Wiss (April 22, 2010), Cooper bought the product line and the Wiss name to add to the other names they use in their Hand Tool Group (e.g., Weller, Lufkin, Crescent, Nicholson, etc).

Administration

Author
Don Darroch
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by J. Wiss & Sons Company, Newark, New Jersey, August 15, 1985.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Don Darroch, 1985

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
J. Wiss & Sons Company Records, 1921-1925, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Mechanical engineering and technology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scissors and shears Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newark (N.J.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cutlery trade Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shears Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cutlers -- 1920-1950 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sales catalogs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records -- 1910-1930 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wiss, Jacob Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cooper Industries Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
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