E. Remington & Sons

E. Remington & Sons (1816–1888) was a manufacturer of firearms and typewriters. Founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington II in Ilion, New York, on March 1, 1873, it became known for manufacturing the first commercial typewriter.

History

Early years

thumb|left|upright|[[Eliphalet Remington II]]

thumb|left|upright|[[Philo Remington]]

thumb|left|upright|[[Samuel Remington]]

thumb|left|upright|[[Eliphalet Remington III]]

There are two versions of the origin story of the first Remington rifle barrel. One holds that the younger Remington wanted to purchase a rifle and lacked the money to buy one, so he made his own. The other states that he forged a barrel from wrought iron to see if he could build a better rifle than he could buy. Both versions have him taking the barrel to a gunsmith to have it rifled.

Eliphalet II forged his first rifle barrel as a young blacksmith in 1816 and finished second place in a local shooting match with it. Despite not winning the match, he proceeded to make barrels to meet the growing demand for flintlock rifles in the Mohawk Valley. With the completion of the Erie Canal, connecting Buffalo with Albany, commerce in the Mohawk Valley expanded remarkably, as did the demand for rifle barrels.

To meet the increased demand for rifle barrels, in 1828 the Remingtons moved their forge and foundry from its rural setting to of land they had purchased astride the canal and abutting the Mohawk River near a town then called Morgan's Landing (later Ilion), New York. The move coincided with the elder Eliphalet's death, and Eliphalet II assumed control of the business.

In 1839 Eliphalet was joined by his oldest son, Philo Remington (to make the business "E. Remington & Son"); in 1845, his second son, Samuel, also joined the company, afterward called "E. Remington & Sons".

In 1841, Eliphalet Remington negotiated his first firearms contract, being commissioned by the United States Army Ordinanace Department to manufacture 5,000 Model 1841 Mississippi rifles. Several months after this, he received a contract from the United States government to manufacture 1,000 Jenks breech loading carbines, the first complete guns to be manufactured by his company. By 1847, Remington Arms Company supplied the United States Navy with its first-ever breech-loading rifle.

In 1848, the company purchased gun-making machinery from the Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts and took over a contract for Jenks breechloading percussion carbines for the U.S. Navy. Remington supplied the U.S. Navy with its first breech-loading rifle. Remington supplied the U.S. Army with rifles in the Mexican–American War (1846 to 1848). Shortly after, Remington took over a defaulted contract (by John Griffith of Cincinnati) for 5,000 U.S. Model 1841 Percussion Mississippi rifles. Based on the success of filling these orders, subsequent contracts followed in the 1850s.

The company patented a design for a cane gun (a gun disguised as a walking cane) in 1859.

During the Civil War, Remington enjoyed Union military contracts for rifles, carbines, .36 caliber revolvers, and .44 caliber revolvers. One of the rifles that the company manufactured was the Model 1863 Percussion Contract Rifle, commonly known as the "Zouave". This caused its revenue to dissipate considerably. To compensate for decreased firearms sales, the company branched into the manufacture of additional products, including agricultural tools, typewriters, and sewing machines.

Soon after the Civil War, the company began production of the New Model Pocket Revolver, designed by inventor Joseph Rider, in aims of replacing military sales with civilian sales. This was ultimately the final model of percussion revolver that the company would produce. The company utilized this design on both military and civilian single-shot rifles. Additionally, a breechloading system designed by Lewis L. Hepburn was added to Remington’s line of firearms for high quality target rifles.

In the 1866, the company began manufacturing the Model 95, a derringer offered in several models and variations. These were marketed to city-dwelling consumers.

thumb|120px|Sholes & Glidden Typewriter, 1876

On June 23, 1868, a patent was granted to Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and Samuel W. Soule for a "Type-Writer" which was eventually developed into the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first device that allowed an operator to type substantially faster than a person could write by hand. The patent (U.S. 79,265) was sold for $12,000 to Densmore and Yost, who agreed with E. Remington and Sons (then famous as a manufacturer of sewing machines) to commercialize what was known as the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer. Remington started production of their first typewriter on March 1, 1873, in Ilion, New York.

The Type-Writer introduced the QWERTY, designed by Sholes, and the success of the follow-up Remington No. 2 of 1878 – the first typewriter to include both upper and lower case letters via a shift key – led to the popularity of the QWERTY layout.

Remington continued to fulfill new orders by the United States Army, and expanded its business reach overseas. and entered receivership.

By 1888, the company was facing fiscal ruin, and was acquired jointly by a group led by Marcellus Hartley (a partner in Schuyler, Hartley and Graham; and owner of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company),

Successor companies

Remington Arms

thumb|120px|Remington-Rider

thumb|120px|Remington .46 Conversion display

On March 7, 1888, ownership of E. Remington & Sons left possession of the Remington family, with the company being sold to new owners Marcellus Hartley of New York, New York, and the Winchester Repeating Arms Company of New Haven, Connecticut. After this purchase, the business's name was formally changed to the Remington Arms Company.

Remington, in addition, was one of the most successful gun manufacturers in the world arms trade between 1867 and 1900, specifically through the export of the Remington Rolling Block action rifle. This single-shot, large-caliber black-powder cartridge rifle was exported in the millions all over the world, including shipments to France, Egypt, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Argentina, Mexico, and the Papal States. It was a critical gun supplier of small arms used by the United States government in World War I (U.S. involvement 1917 to 1918) and World War II (U.S. involvement 1941 to 1945)

Remington Typewriter Company

thumb|120px|1909 advertisement for the Remington No. 10 and 11

In 1886, E. Remington and Sons sold its typewriter business to the Standard Typewriter Manufacturing Company, Inc. Included were the rights to use the Remington name. The buyers were William O. Wyckoff, Harry H. Benedict, and Clarence Seamans, all of whom worked for Remington.

The Standard Typewriter Manufacturing Company merged with the Rand Kardex Corporation in 1927 to form Remington-Rand. The company continued to manufacture office equipment, and later became a major computer company, as well as manufacturing electric razors.

References

Notes

Bibliography

Beeching, Wilfred A. (1974). Century of the Typewriter. New York: St. Martin's Press.