Newer businesses were starting out after World War II to meet current demand or replenish goods that were generally unavailable during wartime. One of these companies was Edge International Inc. of Holyoke, the topic of today's story.
William J. Lane, formerly of Dartmouth Street, who moved on to New York City, was a distributor of cutlery and other products. The new plant, which started in November 1946, employed 13 men and 2 women who worked in the production of three designs of pocket knives. Many of those employed were over 50 years old and highly skilled and experienced knife makers. There was an excellent demand for pocket knives in Europe, and the company hoped to capitalize on sales there.
One of the workers was Sidney Swaim, who, at age 70, had 50 years of knife-making experience at different businesses from Maine to Wisconsin. In 1904, while working for the Scrode Cutlery Co. of Walden, N.Y., he worked on the first folding pocket knife produced in this country.
George Alderman of Jefferson Street was the Plant Superintendent at the 34R Martin Street plant. He was the grandson of the acclaimed Holyoke architect George P. B. Alderman, who designed many edifices, including churches, banks, schools, tenement buildings, social clubs, and downtown Holyoke buildings. The story of his accomplishments will be the subject of a future episode.
The brick two-story commercial building where the business operated had 7,000 square feet of space. The original 1929 building permit allowed for constructing a one-story commercial building. A second story was added by 1946, when Edge International Inc. occupied the space.
From the late 1920s into the 1940s, this was the business location of P. M. Taft Asbestos Inc., an asbestos pipe covering company owned by Patrick Taft. The commercial building was situated behind the Taft family residence.
The problem with the location was that it was embedded in a residential neighborhood. There could not be a second shift of operations, nor would there be additional plant expansion opportunities.
Producing a pocket knife with two blades required 150 operations. When additional accessories were added to the knife, such as a bottle opener, many more operations took place. Most of the pocket knives were covered with fabricated bone.
In June 1948, barely one and a half years into the business, a public auction sale of the company's assets was advertised in the newspaper. During that month, the state of Massachusetts alleged in a suit that the company failed to pay over funds due to the Division of Employment Security.
A second notice was published on December 17, 1948, for the auction of all business assets to occur on December 29, 1948.
Several businesses operated at 34R Martin Street after Edge International Inc., including General Bookbinding Co., Holyoke Canvas Products, and Rex Records.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations include Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram, and Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican, with publication dates and pages shown.
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