American Tea Tray Company

According to limited sources, (an anonymous, typed page in a file folder & a few second hand accounts in the local paper) the American Tea Tray Company was started in Albany in 1851 by George L. Jones & brought to Union Village by local investors in December 1859.

The American Tea Tray Co. made, yup, you guessed it, tea trays! They actually made two kinds. One was "japanned ware" made of sheet iron, painted black and guilded. The other was "planish ware" which was white & very durable.

The American Tea Tray Co. was pretty successful, being (some say) the only manufacturer of its kind in the US. However, its fate was linked to the fall of the Washington County Bank in 1878 (more about that in the next installment). So, the American Tea Tray Co. only lasted about 20 years on the banks of the Battenkill, but I have a lasting piece of its history in my office.

American Tea Tray Company "japanned ware" tray



detail of the tea tray in the Town Historian's office

 References:
Hearsay and History: A Column Devoted to Present-Day Interest in Days Long Past. The Greenwich Journal. July 13 & 20, Aug 3,10 & 17 1949.

Miscellaneous

Isn't "miscellaneous" a great word? Consider definition #2 from Google "(of a collection or group) Composed of members or elements of different kinds"*. This blog post will very much be miscellaneous.

First of all, Happy (belated) Susan B. Anthony Day! Yes, "Aunt" Susan turned 192 years young yesterday. 2020 will be a banner year marking both the Centennial of Woman's Suffrage in the U.S.A. and the Bicentennial of Susan B. Anthony's birth! Oh, & the Greenwich Journal and Salem Press reports that there will be another performance of Bob Warren's song cycle about Susan, Only the Message Mattered, this Sunday, February 19, 2012 @ 3:00 p.m. at the Adams (MA) Free Library^.

Secondly, Happy (be-belated) Valentine's Day!

Mailed to Miss M.A. Moriarty 10 Feb 1907

Finally, I arrived at the office this evening to an old book on my desk. In the book, with it's repaired binding broken, and a few pages loose, were a few scattered bits of paper & index cards. One of these was a rather large index card in the very front which read "Borrowed by Paul Hancock of Vermont- a long time ago-". The book is a first edition copy of The History of Washington County from 1878. So, I say "Thank you" to Mr. Hancock, or who ever it was who returned the book home.

The History of Washington County is back

*https://www.google.com
^http://www.susanbanthonybirthplace.com/