Thunderstorms likely. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..
Thunderstorms likely. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
A 1945 advertisement for toilet seats by the Church Manufacturing Company.
The CF Church building on Flat Street was first constructed in 1920 and remodeled many times to accommodate production increases, equipment modifications, and multiple manufacturing lines. The business closed in 1963.
The CF Church building on Flat Street was first constructed in 1920 and remodeled many times to accommodate production increases, equipment modifications, and multiple manufacturing lines. The business closed in 1963.
A 1945 advertisement for toilet seats by the Church Manufacturing Company.
The CF Church building on Flat Street was first constructed in 1920 and remodeled many times to accommodate production increases, equipment modifications, and multiple manufacturing lines. The business closed in 1963.
The CF Church building on Flat Street was first constructed in 1920 and remodeled many times to accommodate production increases, equipment modifications, and multiple manufacturing lines. The business closed in 1963.
BRATTLEBORO — A local company adopted the slogan “the Best Seat in the House” to promote its most popular product. The business was named after its founder, C.F. Church, and the most popular product of the Church Manufacturing Company was a toilet seat.
Brattleboro history records the first flush toilet in town having been installed in 1831. Ashael Clapp, a well-known builder, constructed a model brick home on Main Street. Mr. Clapp included as many modern features in the building as he could. It was the first home in Brattleboro to have running water, a furnace, and a bathroom. However, across the country indoor plumbing took a century or more to catch on. For instance, the 1940 U.S. Census revealed that more than a third of U.S. households did not have a flush toilet.
The C. F. Church Manufacturing Company came to Flat Street in 1920. The company had perfected an early application of a plastic-like material that adhered to traditional wood products. The company began in Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1896 and originally focused on wooden beds. Soon the company applied its commercially adaptable plastic covering to other wood products.
The product which seemed to attract the most public attention was the bright white toilet seat that was covered with a smooth, easily cleanable plastic-like finish. At the time the most popular toilet seats were highly varnished oak and mahogany seats. By 1917 the Church “closet seat” was the most popular toilet seat in America. In 1920 the Holyoke company was looking to expand manufacturing capacity and purchased land from Holden and Martin Lumber Company on Flat Street in order to build a new factory.
The Brattleboro branch of the company made the wooden core of the toilet seats. The seats were then trucked to Holyoke for finishing. In the beginning the Flat Street company produced 500 seats a day and employed 30 people.
Five years later two building expansions at the factory allowed daily production to increase to over 1,000 toilet seat cores. By 1927 the local C. F. Church Company employed 80 workers who worked 50 hours a week.
The Great Depression had a negative impact on all types of manufacturing, but by 1936 C. F. Church was operating two work shifts and the factory ran 18 hours a day. There were 100 employees and orders for toilet seats were matching pre-Depression numbers. The factory continued to work at capacity until World War II. During World War II the woodworking industry was ordered to increase production and free up workers for other jobs. Local companies that were required to have their employees work a minimum of 48 hours a week were the Templeton Furniture Company, Woodward Lumber Company, Murray Heel Company, Holden and Martin Lumber Company, C.E. Bradley Corporation, Estey Organ Company, A.G. Spalding Company and the C.F. Church Manufacturing Company. Any business with eight or more employees involved in logging or the processing of wood products was required by the United States War Manpower Commission to have their workers put in at least 48 hours a week.
The work at the C.F. Church factory could be dangerous. Periodically reports of injuries made their way into the local newspapers. Injuries occurred when equipment malfunctioned or workers made mistakes. Many workers were paid based upon how many seat cores could be produced during their shift. This caused them to work as quickly as possible with sharp, hot, complicated machinery. Dry kilns were used to prepare the wood stock. Workers used rip saws to create appropriately sized boards. Automatic shapers, sanders and saws were part of the production process. Workers also glued wood stock together to attain the proper shape and strength of the seats. After thorough inspections the toilet seat cores were trucked to Holyoke for the finishing plastic coating and then on to Monson, Massachusetts for assembly with a seat and its cover.
Continuous technological changes and increased competition forced the company to constantly adapt to the changing toilet seat market. In the 1920s and ’30s the cores were made of nearby hardwoods. In the 1940s the cores were made of imported yellow birch. By the 1950s the cores were constructed of wood flour. Wood flour is made of dried wood chips that are pulverized into a fine dust and mixed with a type of hardening glue.
After World War II the company had to adjust. There was a building boom and the demand for toilet seats was great. The workers were not happy with their pay or working conditions. In July 1946, sixty of the workers went on strike. They stayed off the job for a week until the management agreed to allow them to have a union vote. In August 1946 the workers voted to form a union and in September a 5 percent wage increase was negotiated, paid holidays were established and overtime pay was formalized.
For the next 15 years the company worked to capacity. Meanwhile, manufacturing concerns were consolidating production facilities in order to maximize efficiency and remain competitive in a global marketplace. In 1962 the company announced it was going to close the C.F. Church factory on Flat Street. By then the parent company was American Standard and they moved the three step manufacturing process to one of their sites in Monson, Massachusetts. The production facilities in Willimansett, Massachusetts and Brattleboro were closed.
In 1962 there were 85 people employed at the Flat Street factory. They made different types of toilet seat cores and composite school furniture. The three production lines of toilet seats were the last to stop their run at the plant. On January 11, 1963 an era ended and the last “Best Seat in the House” was produced in Brattleboro.
802-258-4957, https://bhs802.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brattleboro.history/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bratthistoricalsoc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brattleborohistoricalsociety/
Brattleboro Fire Department, Golden Cross Ambulance officially begin partnership
Camp is a place to make friends, have fun, and enjoy traditions from a long time ago. At the Green Mountain Girls Camp, on the last night, the groups get to enjoy two special traditions that date back more than 50 years. During the day the campers collect pieces of nature and place them on a…
A crew from Vermont Natural Homes assembles the timber frame that will be the roof for the new pavilion of the new Guilford Community Park on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. The pavilion will be erected sometime in the fall.
People watch as a worker from Plimpton uses an excavator to demolish a building that used to house several businesses, the last being a snowboard shop, on Route 100, in Dover, Vt., as they make room to expand and remodel the Snow Mountain Market on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.
Strawberries, one of the first fruitful harvests of the year in New England, draws people out to the fields to pick their own fruit under the summer sun.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.