1. New Britain Industrial Museum

Not Just Boring Machines
New Britain
(Google Maps Location)
October 6, 2006

(With contribution from EdHill)

mq2b.jpgThe New Britain Industrial Museum was, to me, the perfect place for me to begin MuseumQuest. You see, for the last several months of picking up my son at my in-law’s house, I would sit and wait at a traffic light staring at this sign. Hoang assured me several times that all New Britain elementary school students visit to the Youth Museum and that it’s pretty good. And the town’s art museum is somewhat acclaimed. But… what was this “Industrial Museum?” No one had ever heard of it – not even native New Britskies.

Day after day I stared at that sign becoming more and more bemused by the idea of a quirky museum in a decidedly gruff post-industrial town. “How big is it?” I wondered. And, “Who maintains it?” More importantly, “Who visits it?” A few months went by and then the whole Museum Quest idea hit me. And, being friends with EdHill, I knew I’d have a partner in nerddom. (Oh yes, Hoang and Damian will be involved to a lesser extent, I’m sure.)

Once Ed agreed to the idea [Update - shortly before moving to Washington DC], I set to work on the massive list of museums. I never expected to find over 600 museums in our small state – the third smallest state in the whole country if you didn’t know. Wow… Imagine how annoying I will be at future cocktail parties? Or rather, imagine how much more annoying I will be once we know everything there is to know about our state? “Hello, I’m Steve and this is my wife, Hoang. Nice to meet you. Where are we from? I’m from Delaware originally but Hoang grew up in New Britain. Yes, New Britain – you know… The city whose companies were granted more patents between 1812 and 1820 than any other city in the US. And that includes Menlo Park, NJ at it’s height if you can believe that!”

I hate me already.

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Yes, I purposely wore my “industrial” Dickies workshirt to fit in.

We agreed that the NBIM would be our first true museum visit as it fit some very important criteria: It was open, it was centrally located between our workplaces, it was decidedly odd, and, well, as I said above it was the one which piqued my interest in visiting Connecticut’s museums in the very first place. If only we knew how awesome it was – we wouldn’t have waited until October!

EdHill and I met up in front of the building on Main Street at 4:30, giving ourselves a mere 30 minutes to peruse what we thought would be dusty collection of precision machine parts and old tools. Looking back, I suppose that would be enough time for an average nerd like myself to walk around the large one-room (partitioned) space by myself. But upon arrival, we were warmly greeted by an elderly gentleman who appeared to have been sitting there waiting for us. He begged us to sign the visitor’s log and immediately handed out gifts – small, red, highly reflective stickers from some local company called Reflexite. I dropped a few bucks in their donation jar and the next thing I knew, we were getting a personal tour from the guy.

mq2c.jpgI immediately knew that this is what MuseumQuest was all about. This was exactly how I’d hoped these small little-visited museum visits would play out. For Warren Kingsbury (the guy), the NBIM was a labor of love. For him, the history of New Britain’s rich industrial past was something to be proud of and something to share. I immediately knew that he pined away at night yearning for the bustling city of 1918 rather than the drug-ridden shell of a city it had become. It was impossible not to get excited about this stuff – even though the large majority of the collection was, well, rather mundane.

Warren excitedly led us to the museum’s newest acquisition – a really old pistol made by some guy named Simeon North (1765-1852). Ok, I don’t care about old pistols and I’d never heard of Simeon North, but it was hard not to get excited when Warren was practically fondling the thing. Ed listened while I wandered a bit. The museum consists of several display cases and lots of wall space chock-full of old… Old… Old “stuff.” The evolution of the belt sander. The evolution of the vacuum cleaner. The evolution of the meat grinder. The evolution of the coffee pot – one particular model had the following warning imprinted on the base:

“Do not put in water.” After receiving hundreds of telegrams and Pony Express deliveries (or whatever), the company changed the wording to, “Do not immerse in water.” That, my friends is good stuff. Despite the fact that Warren has probably told that story 500 times, it still gave him a good belly laugh.

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After getting a good idea of what was ahead of us, and after finding a little out-of-the-way display of a model of a machine with Star Trek The Next Generation’s Chief Engineer Miles O’Brien manning the controls – seriously, check it out – Warren pulled me back in with a detailed description of the North and Judd company’s fascinating “Horse and Mule jewelry” collection and their “Hook flex fastener” invention (the thing on all of our pants if they’re not button or snap). As I now know, Simeon North is, “The father of New Britain industry.” And I’ll never forget it.

Before moving on to the Landers, Frary, and Clack section (coffee pots and heating elements), Warren blurted out that one of the metal farm animal implements was indeed a calf weaner. Aha! The first double-entendre of MuseumQuest! I wanted to know more about the weaner, but the sign was slightly obscured; the mystery of which only left me thirsty for more weaners.

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A nice weaner

We wandered the back section a bit and I noted that Warren conspicuously completely skipped the silliest display of all. But I won’t – the Tuttle and Bailey company had a lovely display of air vents and heat registers. I was mesmerized by the complete lameness of the display. But I guess the company has a winning formula – They’re still in business selling the same products. I suppose they found their niche.

From there we learned about Raymond Engineering’s history and their early “black boxes” and missile guidance systems. Good stuff. Up next was the Corbin Company display. Corbin was a major player in early New Britain and made everything from locking mechanisms to door mechanisms to mail slots to cars. If it was metal, they made it. In fact, next time you are in an oldish administrative building or church, note the copper colored thing that eases the door closed. Chances are it’s a Corbin!

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This sign cracked us up

A subsidiary of Corbin (Berlin Steel) made all the bolts and metal joiners for both Connecticut casinos. But it was Warren’s admission after I sarcastically said to Ed upon seeing the small antique lock and key display that struck me more. I said, “Boy Ed, just wait til we get to the Lock Museum in Terryville!” Warren looked me in the eye, inhaled deeply, and intoned, “I am jealous as hell of the Lock Museum!”

Aren’t we all, Warren, aren’t we all. Turns out, those elitist snobs over there at the Lock Museum got 3 million bucks from the lock industry so they outbid the NBIM every time a New Britain company’s historical locks are on eBay or at some obscure auction somewhere. Not only that, they got to build their own building to house their collection in while the NBIM still must rent a 2nd floor room from CCSU’s downtown building. I promised to treat those uppity lock jerks accordingly when we get out there. No one upsets my man Warren.

*Update: I visited the Lock Museum 3.5 years later. But didn’t give anyone the business. Three million bucks? Don’t think so.

The Corbin car company operated for 10 years back when Henry Ford was perfecting the Model T and the assembly line. They only produced 600 and only a few exist today. But get this – the first driver’s license issued to a female was in New Britain to some girl who fell off a horse and needed to get around. And she got around in a Corbin. Like I said, we’re gonna be big hits on the party circuit next year!

mq2o.jpgAfter a quick jaunt through the history of food grinders (“This one was to smush up tomatoes exclusively!”), some sabers that General Patton had a patent on, and the first paper cup AND first wax-coated paper cup, we moved on to the Stanley exhibit. Stanley Tools IS New Britain. Or, rather, Stanley Tools WAS New Britain. EdHill’s Grandpa worked there. My father-in-law did a stint. Unfortunately they now do all of their manufacturing in China – save the tape measures that are still produced in New Britain. They are still headquartered here as well – but only after a well-publicized attempt to move off-shore for tax-saving purposes. Punks.

The Stanley collection is the star of the show. Each antique tool is worth hundreds of dollars – in fact, one teeny tiny little folding ruler about the size of my pinky was said to be worth $600. At this point I realized it was past 5 and Warren was keeping the joint open just for us (unbelievably, there were no other visitors during our time there). We apologized and he acted as though we were crazy for doing so. We still had to get to the tape measure, saw, and router displays! (EdHill got excited for a second at the mention of routers until he realized there were no computers involved.) After that, it was over to the back wall and a real boring machine.

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“Boooooooooooring,” I said. Warren smiled and said, “You bet it is son, check this out!” He showed off how the gear ratio made it even more boring. Warren, for his part, was immune to the irony. Either that or I’m only the 873rd visitor to make that lame joke and his 6 minute discussion of the boring qualities of the boring machine was his secret way of getting jokers like me back. At this point it was almost 5:30 so we decided to skip the Fafnir company’s display of ball-bearings and engine parts. I’ll be sure to hit that corner first next time I go – and you can be assured there will be a next time. My pops would get much more out of the museum than I did – his father owned probably half of this stuff and what’s more, my dad knows how to use all those tools. I only know how to watch my dad use all those tools.

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Totally boring machine

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See?

Just before leaving, a really old guy (a Mr. Van Dorn) ambled out of the office to thank us for coming. He was curious where we were from, seeing as though we took more pictures of the place than probably anyone in its history. I spoke the truth and he was genuinely excited for us and eager to see what you are reading now. I promised that I’d send the link and hook him up with the book when it comes out. No offense, but something tells me that’s one less free book that we’ll have to give away. I’m just sayin’… My man could have been on display if you know what I mean.

The two volunteers were both lovely men and left us with such a good feeling about knowledge and history and learning (and cool free Stanley keychain screwdriver head tchotchkes to boot). It was great to meet them and get a personal tour of the museum; If 10% of our visits go this well, I’d consider MuseumQuest a resounding success. Especially if, as a last gesture of goodwill before leaving, each museum sets up such an easy joke as this:

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Mr. Kingsbury enjoying a calf weaner on his face

EdHill says:

Where can you go to one museum that has displays on missile guidance systems, surgical drill bits and a bunch of toasters? Why The New Britain Industrial Museum of course! Stop being so stupid. Seriously, you’re an idiot for not knowing that.

mq2j.jpgI found myself having a bit more of nostalgia for this museum than Steve did, for my mother grew up in New Britain and my grandfather worked at Stanley Works. Growing up I was so used to seeing all sorts of Stanley tools, Stanley tape measures, Stanley everything, at my grandparents house and at their beach house (Back then you could work at Stanley works in New Britain and afford a summer home. Go figure). And here was all the same stuff behind glass in exhibits. Funny hearing Warren Kingsbury go on and on about the rarity of the tool box collection preserved in a glass case and me thinking “gee, didn’t I used to play with this thing at Grampa’s house?” Family legend in my house, Grandpa was on his way to work and getting off the bus he landed wrong and broke his ankle, but since the hospital was a longer walk than Stanley, he just went to work. My gramps was a badass. And to go off point even more, you can see him and my other grandpa in a picture over the bar at Mayor Mike’s restaurant In Hartford, getting served drinks by Mayor Mike’s dad at my moms wedding. He’s the short one. But I digress, again.

The museum had a large birds eye view of the huge Stanley works building in its prime. It was quite impressive and interesting since I never knew what the palce looked like and now I have a picture in my head to match the family history. But like everything else in Hartford, if it was historical and interesting, it probably got destroyed to make room for a highway. All that was left was the plaque from the main entrance sitting right below the picture, in a second floor museum in downtown New Britain. Sad.

mq2n.jpgThis wasn’t as you might think one of those quirky odd museums like say the Skitch Henderson Living Museum (Can’t wait for that one) since if you know anything about New Britain is that it was THE industrial city for a good number of years. Consequently it had an interesting story to tell (As well as a number of smaller, boring ones. I mean, the history of the belt sander? Yikes). One of my favorite exhibits was the row of toasters. I liked it because it was like seeing the famous “evolution of man” drawing only in toaster form. Lets just say the early toasters were somewhat primitive. Red hot coils with a wire mesh in front of it. I would’ve just gone the extra mile and had the whole thing start with a small fire. I mean, that’s how prehistoric man made their toast so its only fitting.

The whole experience was a lot more interesting than I expected, especially given we had our own personal tour from the curator. Next time I’ll come more prepared to take notes and such. I mean, what if I don’t pay attention and miss an important tidbit about the Windham Textile museum? Will our readers forgive us? And one of the best things I took home from this museum? My first museum tchotchky! I plan on having an extensive collection by the time were done.

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Cost: Free (Donations Accepted)
Hours: Tuesday-Friday 2-5 (Wed 12-5)
Food & Drink? Industrial Strength Food: Capital Lunch 1/3 mile north up Main Street.
Children? Maybe boys over 10 who care about tools
You’ll like it if: You’re my dad or just like how stuff works.
You won’t like it if: You’re my mom or a yuppie.
Freebies: 2 Reflexite stickers and two keychain screwdriver heads

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For the Curious

Museum Website
Relfexite
Simeon North, inventor
Chief Engineer Miles O’Brien
The over-funded Lock Museum of America
Stanley Tools tries to move HQ to Bermuda.
More calf weaners!
Much worse than calf weaners

14 responses to “1. New Britain Industrial Museum”

  1. Lillian F.B. says:

    I have a Whirl Wave
    Electric clothes Washer
    Landers, Frary, & Clack
    New Britain, Conn. U.S.A.

    Will visit museum soon.
    Wish to sell the Whirl Wave to the Industrial Museum.

  2. Steve says:

    ^ That is my favorite comment thus far on the entire site.

  3. Dave S. says:

    I was looking for more information on the C.P. Merwin brick company of New Britain and Berlin.

  4. Miles Stray says:

    I have a minature pallet jack including a minature pallet that is maked “THE YALE AND TOWNE MFG. CO PHILADELPHIA, PA. It is most likely a salesman sample as it fits into a carrying case with a handle. I’m not sure of the origin or age but my father worked for, then was the owner and president of, Charles A. Templeton Industrial Supply in Waterbury, CT. Age is uncertain but it’s been in my posession for over 50 years. In cleaning out the house and disposing of various items, I can’t bring myself to throw this out as it may be of value to someone in a museum of industry. If your organization has any interest or can refer me to a source that might be interested in such an item please let me know. I can take didital pictures to send to any interested party.

  5. Courtney Molter says:

    Greetings!

    I would like to take my Engineer boyfriend to the Museum on Friday, January 23rd. What are your hours of operation, if any, on that date? Is there a co-pay and if so, how much? Also, can we have a tour guide?

    Thank you in advance for your response!

    Sincerely,
    Courtney Molter

  6. Steve says:

    Courtney – Click on the NBIM museum’s website.

    http://www.nbim.org/index2.asp

    Thanks for reading.

  7. Brian Anderson says:

    I have an old line shaft milling machine that I don’t use anymore, would you be interested in it for the museum?

  8. Lorraine Stub says:

    I enjoyed your account of visiting The Industrial Museum. Sadly, Warren Kingsbury died January 14, 2010. Warren was a former mayor of Berlin, CT with a passionate love of history and community. He was a dear, sweet gentleman who will be greatly missed.

  9. FloG says:

    I have meat grinder with name UNIVERSAL LE&C NEW BRITIAN, CONN,USA,very heavy and rusty, probably over 70 yrs old. Cleaning out my basement and wondered if it has any value.
    I enjoyed reading this artical.

  10. Steve says:

    FloG,

    I have a very difficult time believing that you enjoyed the article, as you apparently missed the rather glaring fact that this blog has absolutely nothing in the world to do with the New Britain Industrial Museum and therefore cannot advise you on some old rusty piece of junk from your basement.

  11. Lois Blomstrann says:

    I don’t know whether or not Warren’s family have seen your story of your visit to the Industrial Museum but I am going to make sure that they do. Thank you so much. I think a copy of your article should be put on the wall of the museum. I write the Quarterly Newsletter for the Museum and would like to get in touch with you for permission to reproduce.

  12. Rocio Lindboe says:

    Hi, Neat post. There’s a problem with your site in internet explorer, would check this… IE still is the market leader and a big portion of people will miss your excellent writing due to this problem.

  13. Jan says:

    I have a work bench with cast legs and an old 2″thick pc of wood 6ft length legs stamped “The New Great Britian Machine Co, Conn USA
    Patent Nov. 5, 1905″
    any information on this?
    any interest?

  14. EdHill says:

    Jessica still excoriates me for that outfit. Green cable knit sweater and painters jeans. I was just so provincial! Now im a fancy city boy.

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