The Springfield Blanket Company had weathered many storms, including the death of its founder, foreign competition, and several destructive fires. The 20th century brought forth more success and yet more challenges, leading to the 1930s.
Various reports indicated that the management of Springfield Blanket Company was benevolent and caring for its workers. The company voluntarily raised wages and reduced the number of work hours for its employees without a loss of pay.
The company's generosity extended overseas when, in 1914, it sent 300 blankets for the Belgian relief effort.
In 1915, Emily Wilkinson, the widow of Warren H. Wilkinson, died. The Wilkinsons had lived on a majestic farm in the southernmost area of Holyoke, adjacent to West Springfield. Back in October of 1892, Mr. Wilkinson had sold the farm to the Catholic Bishop Beaven for $41,000. The property was known as the Brightside property. Two years later, a small hospital was dedicated on the property. Several additional buildings were added over the years.
In 1917, the company provided 50 blankets free of charge and another 100 at cost to the city of Holyoke. The Holyoke Gas & Electric delivered 150 blankets for use by soldiers at Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts.
275 employees were working at the plant in 1918.
In 1919, the company was again incorporated with a capital stock of $400,000. This was one of the more successful businesses in Holyoke.
In January 1929, William Welsh, the company's Vice-President and Superintendent, testified in front of a Congressional House Ways and Means committee seeking more tariff protection on imports of finer yarns and cloths. He indicated that this would assist American cloth manufacturers in competition with foreign suppliers.
In June 1929, Mr. Welsh, representing the blanket producers throughout the United States, testified in front of the cotton sub-committee of the Senate Finance Committee seeking a 90% ad valorem tariff on cheap blankets sent to the United States. The more expensive blankets were adequately protected by tariffs. The committee heard from 1,000 witnesses and had 18,000 pages of testimony. The committee was unreceptive to the case brought before it, limiting the tariff to agricultural production only. This outcome foreshadowed the company's future.
One of the problems facing American cotton blanket manufacturers was that German producers were dumping blankets in the U.S. at low prices. German workers were working 60-hour workweeks for under $5.00 wages. U.S. manufacturers struggled to compete with the lower prices offered by foreign manufacturers.
In April of 1930, the Senate voted to increase the House's proposed tariff up to 14.5¢ per pound, which was considered a victory for the producers of coarse blankets.
Springfield Blanket was able to increase hours and production. However, the relief provided by the tariff proved to be too late, as the company had been operating at partial capacity for some time. It was also the time of the Great Depression. The factory shut down in 1931.
In April 1934, the company was purchased by the William B. Dunn Company of Providence, Rhode Island. Although there was no formal announcement of a planned reopening, it was known that the Dunn company had purchased and liquidated the equipment of many struggling textile factories throughout New England.
In November 1936, Mr. Dunn arranged for a public auction sale scheduled for December 8, 1936. Up for auction were the real estate, water rights, and an assortment of textile machinery.
Over 200 textile people attended the auction to bid on the 430 lots of machinery and equipment. The sole bidder for the 90,000 square feet of real estate and four mill powers was A. H. Barashnik, proprietor of Acme Quilting Company of Brooklyn, New York. He stated he would move his factory to Holyoke and employ 500 workers.
This began a 14-year saga relating to the disposition of the real estate. At the auction, Mr. Barashnik bid $1,000, but failed to pay the back real estate taxes and water power rents. The real estate taxes alone were just under $7,500. The city was compelled to bid in at the tax taking to protect its interests.
In 1937, the tax title was sold to Holyoke Realty Company. By law, there was a two-year redemption period during which Springfield Blanket Company, Inc. could pay off the taxes and retain ownership of the property.
In June of 1939, the city again acquired the property by tax title when no bidders appeared for the sale. So, Holyoke Realty Company, owned by Samuel Epstein, had two years to pay the back taxes, which now amount to over $12,000.
In 1941, Goodstein Wreckers proposed to pay $1,500 for the real estate if the city would permit it to rent the land for two years with an option to purchase. Wrecking companies earned money by selling the bricks from razed structures. This proposal was not realized.
Meanwhile, vandalism and fires continued in the abandoned building. Windows were used for target shooting practice. In 1944, an entire brick wall caved in, further demonstrating the structure's fragile condition.
In May 1944, the city invited prospective companies to bid on razing the structure. In late June 1944, the New England Wreckers of Springfield was awarded the contract, and work was to start immediately. The city would be responsible for filling in the land.
New England Wreckers began advertising the sale of reclaimed building components such as timbers, planks, and bricks in August 1944. By this time, the tax arrearage had grown to over $70,000, including interest and fees.
On July 27, 1945, the city offered the cleared and filled property for sale. Although it took some time, the neighboring Newton Paper Company successfully bid $5,500 for the land in late 1950.
On July 17, 1961, Newton Paper sold the former Springfield Blanket Company parcels to Sonoco Products Company, which continues to own the properties in 2025.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Holyoke, Massachusetts, Assessors' Office
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