Working papers are intended to make results of my ongoing research available to others and to encourage further discussion on the topic. Comments and clarification are welcome.
This paper discusses the post-War trajectory of Beckwith Manufacturing Co., focusing on creation of Beckwith-Arden Inc., closure of Victory Plastics Co., and Beckwith-Arden’s final years. It is neither an exhaustive history of Beckwith Manufacturing Co. nor their production of plastic scabbards, both of which have been well-documented by author/researcher, Gary Cunningham. Gary’s research can be found in his books and on Frank Trzaska’s great site, http://www.usmilitaryknives.com. Out of necessity, the article briefly delves into background of the Beckwith Companies to enable readers to understand their extent and where scabbards fit into the overall business enterprise.
The Beckwith Companies
An inventor with a dozen patents to his name, Harry H. Beckwith primarily manufactured material, components, and machinery used in shoe production. The parent company that we know as Beckwith Manufacturing Co. was founded in 1904 as Beckwith Box Toe Co. As shown in Figure 1, below, Beckwith’s business would grow to include the parent company, plus seven wholly-owned subsidiaries in the U.S. and Canada. Their focus initially involved innovative manufacturing around cork and felt, but grew to include rubber and plastics.[1]
Beckwith also owned a historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire coastal resort hotel and golf course, Wentworth-by-the-Sea, for 26 years before selling it in 1946.[2] The Wentworth was established in 1872 and became famous as the site where Russian and Japanese negotiators drafted the Treaty of Portsmouth ending the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05.[3] Designated a Historic Hotel of America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Wentworth is today operated by Marriott.[4]
Beckwith was a major player in the shoe manufacturing industry for nearly 70 years. As bayonet collectors, we place an outsized emphasis on Beckwith’s involvement in scabbard manufacture. In reality, scabbard manufacture played a modest role in the broader Beckwith business enterprise.
Beckwith’s son, Edwin L. Beckwith, graduated from Harvard in 1929, joined the Felt Process Co. subsidiary in 1930,[5] becoming president ca. 1938.[6] Edwin and Felt Process Co. chemist, Charles P. MacIver, developed the Beckwith scabbard designs and produced examples at Felt Process Co. for testing.[7] Beckwith and MacIver patented their design, assigning the patent to Beckwith Manufacturing Co.[8]
In 1941, Harry Beckwith founded the Victory Plastics Co. subsidiary in Hudson, MA, to manufacture scabbards that Beckwith Manufacturing Co. contracted to produce, naming Edwin as president.[9] (Edwin served concurrently as Felt Process Co. president through 1944.[10]) An inventor with some 27 patents to his name, including 8 scabbard patents, Edwin led Victory Plastics during its entire 23-year existence. All of the Beckwith Manufacturing Co. and Victory Plastics Co. scabbards appear to have been manufactured in Hudson, MA.
Figure 1: Beckwith Manufacturing Co. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries just prior to creation of Beckwith-Arden Inc.
Beckwith-Arden Inc.
Beckwith-Arden resulted from an engineering study that examined efficiency in the Beckwith Companies’ production of shoe products. Beckwith-Arden Inc. was created in 1955 by a merger of Beckwith Manufacturing Co. and two wholly-owned subsidiaries: Arden-Rayshine Co. and Felt Process Co. The other Beckwith subsidiaries continued operating under their own names, including Victory Plastics Co. [11] Harry H. Beckwith became Beckwith-Arden president and chairman of the board; as well as a director at Victory Plastics Co. His son, Edwin L. Beckwith, was a director at Beckwith-Arden, in addition to remaining president of Victory Plastics Co.[12]
The engineering study also recommended closure of the Dover, NH, shoe products factory. The Dover plant closed effective July 1, 1955.[13] The Dover plant had no discernable involvement with scabbard production.
The substitution of “V. P. Co.” for “B. M. Co.” on scabbards beginning with the 1953 scabbard contract foreshadowed the Beckwith-Arden merger, which effectively terminated Beckwith Manufacturing Co. as a business entity.
Victory Plastics Co. Closure
Post-War, Victory Plastics Co. engaged in extensive research and development of plastics and consumer products, widely advertised its services in industry trade journals, but struggled to find a sustainable market. As a result, they remained primarily reliant on government contracting. Closure of the Hudson, MA, Victory Plastics plant appears to have occurred in 1964. Factory machinery was auctioned in May 1965[14] and the building sold in July.[15] Liquidation of Victory Plastics Co. appears prompted by the convergence of two events:
- Victory Plastics ran out of government contract work in late 1963 or early 1964, as they completed their M1917 scabbard contract (DA-19-058-AMC-462). They had lost out in two successive M8A1 scabbard procurements: to Viz Manufacturing Co. in August 1962 (contract DA-11-199-ORD-728) and Wilson-Duggar Co. in July 1963;[16] and, had no immediate prospect of more government work.
- The October 1964 death of Harry H. Beckwith, aged 91, unexpectedly thrust Victory Plastics Co. President, Edwin L. Beckwith, into responsibility over Beckwith-Arden Inc. and the four remaining subsidiaries.[17] In describing Harry H. Beckwith, U.S. Tax Court Judge, C. Moxley Featherston, wrote: “Harry had a forceful and dynamic personality, and he remained active in daily operations of Beckwith-Arden until the date of his death.”[18]
Once Edwin ascended to responsibility over the entire Beckwith business enterprise, he was faced with the decision of whether to maintain Victory Plastics Co. as a stand-alone subsidiary. In the absence of another scabbard contract, maintaining the Hudson, MA, plant represented a substantial expense. Closing the plant proved a sound decision, as it was two years before another scabbard contract materialized.
Beckwith-Arden’s Final Years
The M8A1 scabbard procurement awarded to the Pennsylvania Working Home for the Blind (Working Home) in July 1965 (ref. contract DO-11-199-S6-00255) was an “intergovernmental-placement” under the Wagner-O' Day Act, by which federal agencies can be mandated to purchase certain items from industries for the blind and disabled.[19] The Working Home’s selection as prime contractor and their relationship with Victory Plastics’ competitor, Viz Manufacturing Co., effectively ensured that there would be no future M8A1 scabbard work for Beckwith-Arden.[20] Figure 2 shows Viz Manufacturing Co. owner, Victor Zelov, was serving on the Working Home's Board of Managers when they were awarded the M8A1 scabbard contract.
Figure 2: Page from 1965 Pennsylvania Working Home Annual Report listing Viz Manufacturing Co. owner, Victor Zelov, on the Board of Managers.
Beckwith-Arden would be awarded three small scabbard contracts in 1966 and 1967 totaling just $81,000.[21] The resulting M7 and M1917 scabbards, marked “B. A. Inc.”, were most likely manufactured in Watertown, MA. Edwin served as Beckwith-Arden president only briefly, retiring July 1, 1967.[22] Shortly after his retirement, Edwin L. Beckwith passed away in April 1968, aged 62.[23] The loss of the Beckwith Companies’ two most prominent and longstanding leaders in less than four years must have left a huge void.
Harry L. Beckwith (son of Edwin L.; grandson of Harry H.) became Beckwith-Arden president following his father’s retirement.[24] In 1973, Beckwith-Arden Inc’s. name was changed to Havelock Corporation (Havelock was Harry H. Beckwith’s middle name).[25] It does not appear that Havelock Corporation was, itself, a manufacturer. It may have simply been a holding company that managed the family’s remaining commercial, real estate, and financial assets.
[1] “Beckwith Manufacturing Co. 1954 Our 50th Anniversary," Leather and Shoes, Vol. 128 No. 16, Oct. 16, 1954, 7–10, https://archive.org/details/sim_leather-and-shoes_1954-10-16_128_16/page/n5/mode/2up
[2] “Wentworth-By-The-Sea, Famed New Castle Hotel, Sold Today to Texas Man”, The Portsmouth Herald (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), Mar. 13, 1946, 1, Newspapers.com.
[3] “Noted Resort Hotel Dates Back to 1872”, The Portsmouth Herald (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), Mar. 13, 1946, 1–2, Newspapers.com.
[4] “Wentworth by the Sea, A Marriott Hotel & Spa,” Marriott, accessed July 18, 2022, https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/psmww-wentworth-by-the-sea-a-marriott-hotel-and-spa/overview/.
[5] “Beckwith Retires," Rubber Age, Vol. 99 No. 10, October 1967, 120, https://archive.org/details/sim_elastomerics_1967-10_99_10/page/120/mode/2up
[6] The Boston Directory, (Boston, MA: Sampson & Murdoch Co., 1938), 491. Ancestry.com.
[7] Gary Cunningham, “Bayonet Points 6,” U.S. Military Knives (March 2003), accessed July 18, 2022, http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/bayo_points_6.htm
[8] Edwin L. Beckwith and Charles P. MacIver, Scabbard, Patent 2,310,204, filed Sep 13, 1940, and issued Feb 9, 1943, https://patents.google.com/patent/US2310204A/en
[9] “Beckwith Retires,” 120.
[10] Polk’s Boston City Directory, Vol. CXL (Boston, MA: R. L. Polk & Co., 1944), 121, Ancestry.com.
[11] “Beckwith Enters Box Toe Merger," Boot and Shoe Recorder, Vol. 149 No. 3, Jan. 1, 1956, 104, https://archive.org/details/sim_boot-and-shoe-recorder_1956-01-01_149_3/page/104/mode/2up
[12] Reports of the U.S. Tax Court, Volume 55, (Washington DC, Govt. Printing Office, 1971), 243, https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/SItpa4wVWT8C?hl=en&gbpv=1
[13] “Changing Shoe Styles Bring Plant Closing”, The Berkshire Evening Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts), May 9, 1955, 24, Newspapers.com.
[14] Classified Advertisement, “$750,000 Valuation Latest Type Plastic Molding Machinery,” The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), Mon. May 10, 1965, 33. Newspapers.com.
[15] “Plastics Firm Sold for $225,000,” The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), Sun. Jul. 18, 1965, 58—A. Newspapers.com.
[16] Government Accounting Office, Procurement Law Division, Bid Protest Decision B-152179, September 24, 1963, https://www.gao.gov/products/b-152179, Accessed June 28, 2021.
[17] “Harry H. Beckwith, 91; Owner of Resort Hotels,” The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), Tue. Oct. 6, 1964, 35. Newspapers.com.
[18] Reports of the U.S. Tax Court, Volume 55, 243.
[19] NARA/AAD, Records of Prime Contracts Awarded by the Military Services and Agencies, created, 7/1/1965–6/30/1975, accessed January 30, 2022, http://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-description.jsp?s=492&cat=SB297&bc=sb,sl
[20] The Working Home was located in Philadelphia, PA, just 9 miles from Viz Manufacturing Co.
[21] NARA/AAD, Records of Prime Contracts ...
[22] “Beckwith Retires,” 120.
[23] “Edwin L. Beckwith, Industrialist; at 62,” The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), Mon. Apr. 29, 1968, 31. Newspapers.com.
[24] “Beckwith Retires,” 120.
[25] Laws of the State of New Hampshire, United States, (Secretary of State of the State of New Hampshire, 1974), 436.
© Ralph E. Cobb 2022 All Rights Reserved
