It was the 1940s, and Holyoke industry continued to transition. The city was reeling from the closing of the Farr-Alpaca factory, which employed several thousand. However, vacant spaces meant opportunities for businesses to either start up or move into Holyoke from outside the area. The latter was the case with the Pal Blade Company, the subject of today's story.
Pal Blade was a major producer of razor blades with factories in Plattsburg, NY, Montreal, Canada, South America, and Newfoundland. It also maintained a cutlery factory in Bridgeport, CT.
In 1941, Pal Blade acquired the cutlery division of Remington-Dupont Co. of Bridgeport, CT, but needed to relocate. Remington owned the plant and was converting the facility into space to produce munitions for the military during World War II.
Pal Blade sought another location for its cutlery factory and was on the verge of agreeing to a new location when Mayor William Toepfert stepped in and invited the company to visit and consider Holyoke. Company representatives visited Holyoke on February 1, 1941, accepted Holyoke's offer the following day, and signed the paperwork on February 3, 1941. The owners were impressed by the access to rail service, the layout of the factory space, the one-story structure, the sawtooth all-glass roof of the monitor building, and the city.
Pal Blade would take 100,000 square feet of the one-story, rambling Monitor Building on Bigelow Street, which was formerly the A-Shed of Farr-Alpaca Company. It was anticipated that the company would employ 300 within three months of commencing operations. The employment of 450 people, mostly Holyoke residents, was eventually expected.
Abraham Mailman of Montreal and Joseph Mailman of New York were principals of the business.
Five truckloads of equipment began the relocation on February 4, 1941. To introduce the business to the city, the company distributed razor blades to many Holyoke households. By the latter part of March, two-thirds of the cutlery machinery had arrived and was installed in the former Farr factory No. 2 on the west side of Bigelow Street.
The manufactured cutlery included pocket and hunting knives, as well as table knives. Production began in June 1941, and by October, the company produced 600 dozen knives daily. Knives included the 50¢ pocket knife to the $10 pearl-handled pocket knife, as well as other cutlery. The company employed 282 at the time.
In November 1941, Mayor Toepfert hoped to lure the Pal Blade Razor Blade unit to Holyoke.
In June 1942, the workers unionized, affiliating with the American Federation of Labor.
In August, the plant, now 450 workers-strong, was moving employees into the bayonet division. There was an increased demand for weaponry during World War II.
By March 1943, Iron Age magazine noted that Holyoke's Pal Blade was the world's largest cutlery plant and featured the company in a significant article in its March edition.
There were significant business swings in the area of employment ahead. The company ended the third shift in December 1943 and laid off 300 of its 750 workers in February and another 39 in March 1944. Pal Blade was not optimistic about employees having a job to return to. The decrease in demand for bayonets was cited as a reason.
The tide turned a month later, in April 1944, when the company won several defense contracts and needed an additional 300 employees, pushing the total number to around 800 workers.
By 1945, more were laid off, only for the company to seek 150 more employees to bring the workforce back to 800.
In March 1946, there was a three-week strike where 750 employees walked out. The contentious point was a 20¢ per hour raise sought by the union for its members.
In June 1947, the company laid off 300, and there were rumors that the plant would close. The company denied the rumors. At the time, the company had 300 employees remaining, and it was reported that at its peak, 1,400 were employed working three shifts in wartime production.
New contracts were awarded in August 1947, and in January 1948, 200 additional workers would be added to the 225 the plant was employing at the time. Pal Blade was exclusively producing pocket knives.
Key staff continued to either resign or be transferred to other Pal Blade locations. In April 1951, there were credible reports that the plant employing 125 would shut down. In June, a one-year lease was signed to continue in the 175,000 square feet of factory space, with 25 employees. By October 1951, ten years after its arrival, the Holyoke factory had closed for good.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
