Fremont businesses stayed ‘razor’ sharp in early 1900s
It sometimes seems amazing that Fremont was once considered the cutlery capital of the world.
But it’s true.
There were in the neighborhood of 50 brands of shears and 30 brands of safety razors manufactured in the city in the late 19th century.
The dozens of firms ranged from garage shops to giants such as the Clauss company, which employed hundreds of workers.
It is said that the skilled German immigrants played a huge role in the boom of the cutlery industry in this area, which also was rich in natural resources — lumber and the river.
But while the Europeans were key to the success of the industry here, the European craftsmen also played a role in troubles that helped bring the industry down.
In the wake of each of the world wars, U.S. government policies that allowed cheaper European blades to compete made life difficult for local manufacturers.
But make no mistake about it, there was plenty of evidence that Fremont was a big player in the cutlery world even when government policies made life difficult.
Take this interesting and entertaining example from The Fremont Daily News of Oct. 20, 1928:
“How many Fremonters know that 90 per cent of the surgeon’s knives used in this country are manufactured in Fremont by the Crescent Manufacturing Co.?
“Yes, sir, chances are, nine out of ten, that if you are minus an appendix, or a set of tonsils, it was a knife made here in Fremont that did the deed.
“The Crescent Co. manufactures something like 18,000 surgeon’s knives and 15,000 razor blades, daily. In addition, the busy factory on Ohio Avenue has an output of about 50,000 pedicure knives a month.”
Later, the newspaper added: “The surgeon knives manufactured by the Crescent Co. are detachable from the handles. The blades are used only once.”
Personally, I think that’s probably a good thing, but it might have been unusual in 1928, I don’t know.
A week later, The Daily News published a story about Henkel-Clauss with another homespun message.
“If you have ever purchased a box of Cutex preparations, the nail file you found in it was made in Fremont by the Henkel-Clauss Co. The Fremont company makes all the files used by these manufacturers, and supplies this one company alone with 7,500 gross of nail files yearly.”
A few other numbers from the same story: “The principal products: 125,000 dozen shears; 20,000 gross of nail files, 5,000 dozen manicure sets, 10,000 gross of tweezers, 30,000 dozen tinner’s snips” yearly at Henkel-Clauss in the 1920s despite the European competition.
Roy Wilhelm started a 40-year career at The News-Messenger in 1965, as a reporter. Now retired, he is writing about the history of some Sandusky County businesses.