W. K. Lewis & Co. pickles

WilliamK.LewiswasborninPortland,Maine,Oct.12,1807.

In1827,hewasapprenticedtoWilliamUnderwood,ofBoston,anEnglishman,andthefirstmanufacturerofpicklesintheUnitedStates.AfterservingwithMr.Underwoodnearlysevenyears,duringwhichtimeheacquaintedhimselfwiththedetailsofthemanufacture,Mr.Lewis,in1833,becameapartnerwithhismaster.Attheendoffouryearsthispartnershipwasdissolved.

AccordingtoareportupontheExhibitionandFairoftheMassachusettsCharitableMechanicAssociationdated18September1837,William&WilliamKLewis(asthecompanywasthenknown)wasawardedasilvermedalforhisinvoiceofwares,“…putupinmuchsuperiorstyle…”.

Lewistookwhathehadlearnedfromhistimewiththe WilliamUnderwoodCompany andimplementedtheproductionofprocessedmeats,preservesandsaucesinabuildingon BroadSt.inBoston – rightnexttohisformeremployer.

In1841,heassociatedhisfatherwithhim,underthefirm-nameofWilliamandWilliamK.Lewis;and,atalaterperiod,brothersCharlesP.,GeorgeF.andEdwinJ.Lewis,becamepartnersintheconcern.Thefatherretiredfrombusinessin1854,anddiedin1859,attheageofeighty-two.ThefirmthenassumedthenameofW.K.LewisandBrothers.

Above- WilliamK.Lewis.ImageCredit– VanSlyckandCompany(1879)

Below– W.K.Lewisreceivedasilvermedalforhiswaresin1837.Imagecredit– MassachusettsCharitableMechanicAssociation(1837)

W.K.Lewis&Bros.TradeCard,ca.1859.ImageCredit– “FriendsofSchoharieCrossing”

Thecompanyexpandedin1842,includingafacilityinPortland,Maine– Lewis’shometown– thatwasproducing“hermeticallysealed meats,soups,fish,vegetables,poultryandmilk.” Theseitemswereinanincreasingdemandaswest-wardexpansionflourished. Mostparticularly,themassmovementofpeopletoCaliforniain1849-1850aspartofthe goldrush broughtprosperitytocanningcompanieslikeW.K.Lewis. Betweentheyears1849and1854thecompanyretainedtheBroadStreetbuildingbutaddedtoitscapacityafactoryonPurchaseStreetaswellasthreeotherbuildingsneartheBroadStreetstorehouse&officesaspartoftheTildenBlock.

In1859,Lewispurchasedtheright,underthepatentof GailBorden,tomanufacturecondensedmilk;forwhichthecompanydevelopedafactoryat ShirleyVillage.

1865sawthebuildingofanothercondensedmilkfactoryat WestBrookfield. Thesefactoriesutilizedwhatwasatthetimethemoststateoftheartmachineryandtechnologytomanufactureandcansuchproducts. Bythelate1870’sthemonthlyproductionoftheWestBrookfieldfactorywasat36,000onepoundcansof condensedmilk,aswellas6,000quartsofwhatwasdubbedas“plaincondensedmilk.”

TheW.K.LewisCompanyaddedafactoryinMaineonthe IsleauHaut,specificallytocanlobsters,in1860. Thisoperationwasenlargedseveraltimesandmorefactorieswereaddedtotheever-growingcompanyholdingsoverthesuccessiveyearswithinNovaScotiaandHalifax– aswellasothertownsalongthe

Thepickleproductionofthecompanywasincreasedin1869whentheyestablishedanotherprocessingfactoryin Lincoln,Massachusetts – a“notedpickleproducingregion.” In1873theBroadStreetfacilitiesmovedtoSomerville(ahopacrosstheCharlesRiver)andemployednearlyonehundredmenwhomproducedovertenmillionpicklesayear.

Thereisaslightindicationthatbythelaterpartofthedecadethepickleenterprisehadn’tworkedoutthatentirelywell–

“Amongthecannedbakedbeans onthemarketwerethoseofW.K.Lewis&Brothers,ofBoston.Theproductspreadquicklytodistantpoints.AnadappearingintheGalveston(Texas)DailyNewsonFeb.23,1878announcedthatthree-poundcansofthebeanswerebeing“SoldbyAllFirst-ClassGrocersinGalveston.”

“HaditnotbeenforLewis,thebakedbean“freak”1 wouldnothaveoccurredinthelate1870s.AGettysburg,Pa.,newspaper,theStarandSentinel,notedonAug.21,1888that“W.K.LewisofBostonreceivedthefirstpatent2 forcanningbeans,in1877.”

1Atthetime,“freak”meant(inthiscontext)“whim”or“fancy”.

2 Thisstatement(the1888“StarandSentinel”,NOTthe2006“MetropolitanNewsCompany”)issomewhatmisleading.Thepatentwasawardedforan“improvement”inthecanningprocessforporkandbeans.GilbertVanCamphadbeenputtingupcannedporkandbeans(andmany otherfooditems)since1861,andwasawardedaU.S.governmentcontracttosupplyCampMorton,Indiana.

ThesheethasfiveproductlabelsforLewisMixedPicklesandGerkins.W.K.Lewismanufacturedpickles,preserves,jams,ketchupsandrichsauces.ImageCredit-HistoricNewEngland

References–

MassachusettsCharitableMechanicAssociation.(1837).“ExhibitionandFairoftheMassachusettsCharitableMechanicAssociationatFaneuilandQuincyHallsintheCityofBoston,September18,1837”.Boston,Massachusetts.DuttonandWentworth.

VanSlyck,J.D.(1879).“NewEnglandManufacturersandManufactories,ThreeHundredandFiftyoftheLeadingManufacturersofNewEngland”.Boston,Massachusetts.VanSlyck andCompany.

HistoricNewEngland.“Gerkins fromW.K.Lewis&Co.,56BroadStreet,Boston,Mass.,”.Retrieved23Nov2017fromhttps://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/capobject/?refd=EP001.01.045.07.01.004

Switzer,RonaldR.(2013).“TheSteamboatBertrandandMissouriRiverCommerce.”Norman,Oklahoma.UniversityofOklahomaPress.376pp.

Switzer,RonaldR.(1974).“TheBertrandBottles:AStudyof19th-CenturyGlassandCeramicContainers.”Washington,D.C.NationalParkService,U.S.DepartmentoftheInterior.112pp.

Brooks,D.(2015).“FriendsofSchoharieCrossing”.Retrieved02Nov2017fromhttp://friendsofschohariecrossing.blogspot.com/2015/10/more-small-details-wk-lewis-brothers.html

McLean,JohnC.(2012).“LewisPickleFactory,Lincoln,Massachusetts”.Retrieved02Nov2017fromhttps://www.scribd.com/document/116631074/History-of-the-Lewis-Pickle-Factory-Lincoln-Massachusetts