Questions about several silverware brands

Discussion in 'Silver' started by Asian Fever, May 2, 2019.

  1. Asian Fever

    Asian Fever Well-Known Member

    Is there anyone who know about the Frank. M. Whiting, Stieff, Dominican&Haff ? Which companies now own brands and who is operating them right now? Thank you.

    I would like to know some details about the current situation of these brands. Thank you all.
     
    Christmasjoy likes this.
  2. SBSVC

    SBSVC Well-Known Member

    Asian Fever, the current situation of all of those brands is sad for those of us who love silver! "What was" is no longer "what is"...

    I'm going to attempt to give a bit of info about the current state of each of the companies you mention. (As for the prospect of obtaining information from ANY of them now about products from the past, I doubt you would have much success.)

    FRANK M. WHITING
    Frank Mortimer Whiting, the son of William Dean Whiting of "the Whiting Manufacturing Company" was the named founder in 1878 of "F.M. Whiting Co." In the beginning, he actually used his father's manufacturing plant.
    His company became "Frank M. Whiting & Company" in 1896, some 4 years after Frank M. died.
    Silver was manufactured under the "Frank M. Whiting & Company" name until the firm was acquired by the Ellmore Silver Co. of Meriden CT around 1940.
    Ellmore shut down ca.1960, and as far as I know, there was no successor.

    STIEFF SILVER
    Charles Clinton Stieff, who was NOT a silversmith, but rather a wholesale/retail store owner, was a creditor of a Baltimore, MD silver company, which he eventually took over in receivership.
    The Baltimore Sterling Silver Manufacturing Company of West Fayette St, whose name was ultimately shortened to the Baltimore Sterling Silver Company (ca.1895,) became the Steiff Company ca.1904.
    Starting in 1910, several large and extensive catalogs were produced by Stieff. Major catalogs were published in 1910, 1920, 1926, 1928, 1937 and 1939, showing over 1000 different items made by Stieff.
    In 1967, Stieff bought another Baltimore silversmith, The Schofield Company, although by 1977, the Schofield's patterns had all been discontinued.
    In the 1970's, pewter sales started to overtake sterling silver sales, and Stieff expanded its facilities to accommodate more pewter production.
    Sterling Silver hollow ware was still made at Stieff until 1999, but pewter was really the focus of the company thru the 1970s and 1980s.
    In 1979, the Stieff Company bought fellow Baltimore manufacturer, S. Kirk & Son, creating the firm known as Kirk-Stieff.
    The Stieff family sold Kirk-Stieff in 1990 to Lenox.
    Today the company name survives as a brand of Lifetime Brands Inc. (Lifetime bought Kirk-Stieff and other silver brands from Lenox in July 2007.)
    The silver is now made in Puerto Rico, but only as sterling flatware (unchased). Of the Stieff patterns, only the pattern Stieff Rose is still made, and that is by "special order" and can take up to a year for delivery. Several of the Kirk patterns are still being made by Lifetime Brands.
    There is an interesting website about Stieff at: http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/INTRODUCTION.html

    DOMINICK AND HAFF
    The company's original partners were Henry Blanchard Dominick and Leroy B. Haff, who had first entered the silversmith business in 1867. The company was established in 1872 and incorporated in 1889.
    In their early days, Dominick and Haff devoted themselves to the manufacture of relatively small pieces and were renowned for the quality of their vinaigrettes, chatelaines, and other fancy articles. The firm sold its wares to establishments such as Bailey, Banks and Biddle and the like.
    Dominick & Haff was sold to Reed & Barton in 1928, and consolidated within that firm.
    Over the years, when silver began losing popularity, and silver prices soared, then plummeted, Reed & Barton diversified into areas other than silver production. By the 1990's, they ceased manufacturing silver in the US and began outsourcing to Asia. They still offer some sterling silver products, but sterling production is a much smaller part of the company's product line than it ever was in the past.

    Just for the record, I used a number of sources in putting together this little synopsis, including some of the "well-known" (here, at least) silver sites, plus:
    file:///C:/Users/CMHibbard/Downloads/Nova_Thesis_2010_05_03__FINAL.pdf
    https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/1998/10/26/story5.html
    http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/INTRODUCTION.html
    https://nasvete.com/dominick-and-haff-sterling-silver-art/
     
  3. Figtree3

    Figtree3 What would you do if you weren't afraid?

    Wow, @SBSVC , all of that research looks great!

    BTW, your first source link won't work for us since it comes from the C: drive on your computer. Can you link from a pdf on the web for that one?
     
    SBSVC, i need help and anundverkaufen like this.
  4. silverthwait

    silverthwait Well-Known Member

    SB - Wow! And also - :( And - :jawdrop:
     
    SBSVC and i need help like this.
  5. SBSVC

    SBSVC Well-Known Member

    Well, duh, Fig! (I knew that...) I wasn't paying attention!

    Hopefully, this should do it. It's an interesting read, but I can't believe it's someone's Master's thesis!

    https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/16351
     
    Figtree3 and i need help like this.
  6. Asian Fever

    Asian Fever Well-Known Member

    I
    It seems the link cannot be opened.
     
  7. Figtree3

    Figtree3 What would you do if you weren't afraid?

    I was able to open the new link.
     
  8. Bakersgma

    Bakersgma Well-Known Member

    I could too. Perhaps it has to do with Asian Fever's location?
     
  9. Figtree3

    Figtree3 What would you do if you weren't afraid?

    I was wondering about that, too. I wouldn't have thought that the Smithsonian would restrict access to other countries but it might have something to do with copyright or the author's wishes?

    On the other hand it may have nothing to do with that and may be a technical glitch.
     
  10. Asian Fever

    Asian Fever Well-Known Member

    I am in US.... :hungover::hungover::hungover:

    Perhaps because of my awful laptop.
     
    Figtree3 likes this.
  11. Figtree3

    Figtree3 What would you do if you weren't afraid?

    Oh, I forgot you are in Texas! Then probably it is a technological problem.
     
    Fid likes this.
  12. Asian Fever

    Asian Fever Well-Known Member

    Great information, Thank you SBSVC.
     
    SBSVC likes this.
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