Firestone-Apsley Rubber Company

The Firestone-Apsley Rubber Company was a tire company and factory located in Hudson, Massachusetts, United States. It succeeded the rubber clothing companies Apsley Rubber Company and Goodyear Gossamer Company. It operated in its various guises from 1885 to the 1930s. Today the Firestone-Apsley factory building is owned by Hudson Lock, LLC, which produces keys, locks, and related goods.

Firestone-Apsley Rubber Company
IndustryRubber
FateFolded during the Great Depression
PredecessorsGoodyear Gossamer Company
Apsley Rubber Company
SuccessorsVictory Plastics
Hudson Lock, LLC
Founded1885 (1885) in Hudson, Massachusetts, United States
FoundersLewis Dewart Apsley, J. H. Coffin
Defunct1930s
Headquarters
United States of America 
ParentFirestone Tire and Rubber Company

History

The Goodyear Gossamer Company was founded in 1885 in Hudson, Massachusetts, by businessman and later United States congressman Lewis Dewart Apsley and his partner J. H. Coffin of Boston. This company produced rubber or "gossamer" clothing. Within five years, Goodyear Gossamer Company became the largest producer of gossamer garments in the nation.[1]

In 1892 Apsley purchased Coffin's share of Goodyear Gossamer and reincorporated it as the Apsley Rubber Company.[2][3] This company produced rubber clothing and footwear.[3] Apsley expanded the company's brick factory building in 1916.[4] The plant employed between 1200 and 2000 people during its existence, more than half of all people employed in Hudson during that time period.[3]

In 1921 Apsley sold his company and factory buildings to the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.[3] The plant was renamed the Firestone-Apsley Rubber Company and started producing tires. A new 150-foot (46 m) brick smokestack with the word "FIRESTONE" spelled out on it in white-painted bricks was built by the Firestone Company.[3] The factory helped attract immigrants from all over Europe to Hudson. In 1928 at least 19 different languages were spoken by Firestone-Apsley workers.[5] The factory folded in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

From the 1940s through 1960s[3][6] the former Firestone-Apsley factory buildings housed Victory Plastics. This company produced plastic footwear and 18 million plastic scabbards for knives and machetes during World War II.[3] Victory Plastics was recognized with an Army-Navy "E" Award for its contributions to the war effort.[3] Victory continued producing scabbards[6] and other war materiel for use during the Korean War, including plastic-encased land mines designed in collaboration with Dow Chemical Company.[7] The company also added various plastic consumer goods such as thermal cocktail pitchers[8] and condiment sets[9] to their production line.

Since 1963[10] the plant has housed Hudson Lock, LLC, which produces keys, locks, locksmithing tools, and related goods.[11]

The Firestone smokestack still stands. It is quite possibly the tallest structure in the town of Hudson, but is now shorter than its original 150-foot (46 m) height. Sometime in 2017 the smokestack was damaged — or perhaps intentionally lowered for safety reasons — such that it now reads "IRESTONE."

Notes
  1. The Hudson Historical Society 1976
  2. Halprin 2001: 27
  3. Halprin 2008: 28
  4. Halprin 2008: 9
  5. Halprin 2001: 7
  6. Cunningham, Gary (April 2003). "Scabbards by the Millions - Part Two". usmilitaryknives.com. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  7. Fowle, Frank F.; Williams, Melville C.; Handley, Earl L.; Giles, E. Manning; Chadd, Charles M. (17 January 1973). Dart Industries, Inc. v. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Appellant's Brief. The Scheffer Press, Inc. pp. 9–12. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  8. "1952 Vintage ad for Victory Plastics Company~Hudson, Massachusetts/pitcher". eBay.com. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  9. "Vintage 1950s Victory Plastics Hudson Mass Aqua Salt Pepper Mustard Spoon Set". Etsy.com. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  10. "About Us". Hudson Lock, LLC. 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  11. "Hudson Lock Home Page". Hudson Lock, LLC. 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
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References
  • Halprin, Lewis; The Hudson Historical Society (2001) [First published 1999]. Images of America: Hudson. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-0073-9.
  • Halprin, Lewis; The Hudson Historical Society (2008). Postcard History Series: Hudson. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-6284-1.
  • The Hudson Historical Society (1976). Hudson Bicentennial Scrapbook. Hudson, MA: Hudson Historical Society private publication.

See also

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