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<p>[QUOTE="SBSVC, post: 596604, member: 136"]Asian Fever, the current situation of <b>all</b> of those brands is sad for those of us who love silver! "What was" is no longer "what is"...</p><p><br /></p><p>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.)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>FRANK M. WHITING</b></p><p>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.</p><p>His company became "Frank M. Whiting <i>& Company</i>" in 1896, some 4 years after Frank M. died.</p><p>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.</p><p>Ellmore shut down ca.1960, and as far as I know, there was no successor.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>STIEFF SILVER</b></p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>In 1967, Stieff bought another Baltimore silversmith, The Schofield Company, although by 1977, the Schofield's patterns had all been discontinued.</p><p>In the 1970's, pewter sales started to overtake sterling silver sales, and Stieff expanded its facilities to accommodate more pewter production.</p><p>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.</p><p>In 1979, the Stieff Company bought fellow Baltimore manufacturer, S. Kirk & Son, creating the firm known as Kirk-Stieff.</p><p>The Stieff family sold Kirk-Stieff in 1990 to Lenox. </p><p>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.)</p><p>The silver is now made in Puerto Rico, but only as s<i>terling flatware (unchased)</i>. Of the <u>Stieff</u> patterns, only the pattern <i>Stieff Rose</i> is still made, and that is by "special order" and can take up to a year for delivery. Several of the <u>Kirk</u> patterns are still being made by Lifetime Brands.</p><p>There is an interesting website about Stieff at: <a href="http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/INTRODUCTION.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/INTRODUCTION.html" rel="nofollow">http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/INTRODUCTION.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>DOMINICK AND HAFF</b></p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Dominick & Haff was sold to Reed & Barton in 1928, and consolidated within that firm.</p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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:</p><p><a href="https://www.antiquers.com/file:///C:/Users/CMHibbard/Downloads/Nova_Thesis_2010_05_03__FINAL.pdf" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.antiquers.com/file:///C:/Users/CMHibbard/Downloads/Nova_Thesis_2010_05_03__FINAL.pdf">file:///C:/Users/CMHibbard/Downloads/Nova_Thesis_2010_05_03__FINAL.pdf</a></p><p><a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/1998/10/26/story5.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/1998/10/26/story5.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/1998/10/26/story5.html</a></p><p><a href="http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/INTRODUCTION.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/INTRODUCTION.html" rel="nofollow">http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/INTRODUCTION.html</a></p><p><a href="https://nasvete.com/dominick-and-haff-sterling-silver-art/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://nasvete.com/dominick-and-haff-sterling-silver-art/" rel="nofollow">https://nasvete.com/dominick-and-haff-sterling-silver-art/</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="SBSVC, post: 596604, member: 136"]Asian Fever, the current situation of [B]all[/B] 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.) [B]FRANK M. WHITING[/B] 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 [I]& Company[/I]" 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. [B]STIEFF SILVER[/B] 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 s[I]terling flatware (unchased)[/I]. Of the [U]Stieff[/U] patterns, only the pattern [I]Stieff Rose[/I] is still made, and that is by "special order" and can take up to a year for delivery. Several of the [U]Kirk[/U] patterns are still being made by Lifetime Brands. There is an interesting website about Stieff at: [URL]http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/INTRODUCTION.html[/URL] [B]DOMINICK AND HAFF[/B] 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: [URL='https://www.antiquers.com/file:///C:/Users/CMHibbard/Downloads/Nova_Thesis_2010_05_03__FINAL.pdf']file:///C:/Users/CMHibbard/Downloads/Nova_Thesis_2010_05_03__FINAL.pdf[/URL] [URL]https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/1998/10/26/story5.html[/URL] [URL]http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_Company/INTRODUCTION.html[/URL] [URL]https://nasvete.com/dominick-and-haff-sterling-silver-art/[/URL][/QUOTE]
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