Watrous
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Watrous Manufacturing Company was a Connecticut silverware maker based in Wallingford, established as a successor to the earlier firm Maltby, Stevens & Company. When it was incorporated in 1896 the business had been started many years before as Maltby, Stevens & Company, and its principal product was German Silver spoon blanks, which were sold to others to be plated and trademarked for the market. The bulk of that early production went to the William Rogers Manufacturing Company in Hartford before Watrous developed its own branded lines.
In 1898, Watrous became one of the founding members of the newly formed International Silver Company, an enormous consolidation of Connecticut-area silver manufacturers. The International Silver Company was formed in Meriden, Connecticut as a corporation banding together many existing silver companies in the immediate area and beyond, including Meriden Britannia Company, Meriden Silver Plate Co., Middletown Plate Company, C. Rogers & Brother, Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co., Simpson Nickel Company, Watrous Manufacturing Company, and the Wilcox Silver Plate Co. Even after joining this larger conglomerate, Watrous continued to operate under its own name and mark. After 1898 the company added smaller articles and novelties to their lines which were made in Sterling Silver and distributed through regular trade channels, and in 1938 production of many of the articles produced there was transferred to Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co., but still used the Watrous trademark.
Watrous is collectible today largely for the range and quality of its output under the International Silver umbrella. The firm, active in Wallingford from 1896 to 1981, made sterling and silverplated flatware, holloware, and novelties, and was one of the founding companies of International Silver in 1898. Pieces bearing the Watrous crescent-W mark, from flatware patterns to small decorative items like match safes and vanity cases, are prized by collectors of American silver for their Wallingford manufacturing pedigree and their place in the history of one of the country's most significant silverware conglomerates.
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