Revere Copper Products history

By October 24, 1802 at the latest, Paul Revere, at 67 years of age, rolled his first copper sheets for supply to the United States government.

Revere’s copper mill also supplied the copper sheets when USS Constitution was re-coppered for the first time in 1803.

Beginning in 1807, the Revere mill began supplying heavy copper sheets used by Robert Fulton of New York City for the boilers in many of his steamboats.

With a merger in 1828, the name had become Revere Copper Company.

Revere Ware Corporation began as a division of Revere Copper & Brass, a metal company based in New York. It had manufactured tea kettles and other housewares since 1892.

Another merger in 1900 created the Taunton-New Bedford Copper Company, located in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Paul Revere’s original mill property in Canton was sold by 1909.

One of the six firms in the 1928 merger traced its roots back to the famed American revolutionary and silversmith Paul Revere.

By 1938, James M. Kennedy, an employee, had invented copper-clad cookware, which went into production and is now known as Revere Ware.

Revere Ware was introduced to the public at the 1939 Chicago Housewares Show and was an immediate success.

The company had made copper and brass articles such as water pipes for plumbing, but in 1942 began making cartridge and rocket cases and smoke bombs.

The first shipment of Revere Ware from Clinton to customers was made on December 14, 1950.

Portions of this historical compilation were taken from previously published and anecdotal information in the following): Marcosson, I. F.; The Story of Revere Copper and Brass Inc. , (1955), 254 pages.

Revere then entered into an association with Wilkinson, Inc., and began manufacturing aluminum foil pans.- Patriot Ware, (1957). – Copper Maid Cookware, (1957). – Penneys by Revere, (J.C. Penneys in 1957).

A Bauxite mine (the raw material from which aluminum is produced) in Jamaica was purchased, and a smelter (to refine the bauxite into aluminum) and rolling mill were built in Scottsboro, AL. In 1963, the Oneonta utensil plant was opened, producing the first Revere Teflon® coated products.

Profits in 1966 were $22 million on sales of just over $350 million; 10 years later sales reached almost $500 million, but profits were a miniscule $2.2 million.

The changes allowed Revere to lower retail prices, leading to a rebound in sales through the mid 1970’s.

Net income fell sharply in 1971, when copper prices tumbled and coal and copper strikes hurt the company.

Revere posted a loss in 1972, in part because the company wrote off huge debts due to its Maggotty plant.

In 1973 copper scrap was selling for between 60 and 68 cents a pound in the United States, and for more than 95 cents a pound on the London Metal Exchange.

To add to the company's difficulties, in 1974 the Jamaican government raised its levy on bauxite ore mined in its country, hiking the cost of Revere's Maggotty alumina plant considerably.

By August 1975, Maggotty had become too expensive to run, and the plant shut down.

In 1976 Revere stopped paying its bauxite tax, and filed a court claim asking to be freed of further dues.

But the sale to Alcan, which was accepted in July 1977, was blocked in federal court for anti-trust reasons, and by December, the sale was off.

E. I. DuPont introduced the second generation of non-stick coatings – a three-coat fluoropolymer system, marketed as SilverStone™. Significant durability improvements over the original Teflon™, backed by strong television advertising prompted its rapid acceptance by cookware manufacturers.1978

Revere sold a portion of its aluminum building products unit in 1980, getting $10 million for it from Norandex, a Cleveland company.

Revere had a loss of $21.3 million in the first half of 1981, on sales of close to $320 million.

But it was still unable to sell Scottsboro, which it eventually shut down in 1982.

In 1983 Asarco, the huge metals conglomerate which had owned 33 percent of Revere, sold its share to Bear, Stearns & Co., a New York investment firm, for $17 million.

In 1985 Revere Copper & Brass announced that it would sell its housewares division, and asked $100 million for it.

In 1986 Revere consolidated its housewares unit with two related units, Revere Foil & Containers, Inc. and Revere Ware Courtesy Stores, Inc., into one subsidiary company, called Revere Ware, Inc.

The sale to Corning was finalized in April 1988.

By 1994, Revere Ware had about equal penetration in upscale department stores and in mass markets.

The company continued to spend money on print advertising, and to bring out new cookware sets aimed at specific consumer groups. For example in 1995 Revere brought out a set of stainless steel cookware that was relatively low-priced--under $100--but designed for sale in department stores.

Print advertising for this new line alone was estimated at over $5 million in 1996, and the line was also supported with in-store demonstrations, literature, and training programs.

Small Town Loses Revere Ware, March 8, 1999 Note: Much of the later historical detail was contributed by Skene Moody and Don Hemming.

Revere Ware, Inc. headquarters was then moved to Indonesia, with production plants located in China and Korea.-Chef’s Supreme and Culinary Classic.(January, 2002)

On May 19th, 2008 the developer has filed demolition requests with the Town of Canton to destroy the final two buildings on the property.