school and office products owner acme united corporation website westcott home the history of school and office products brand westcott dates back to 1872 when henry westcott together with his two sons charles and frank westcott started manufacturing wooden furniture used by printers and trellis units in seneca falls new york . 1 the company expanded rapidly and became one of the largest manufacturers of desk and school rulers in the world . throughout its history it remained in westcott family hands until it was purchased by acme shear co. 2 which later changed its name to acme united corporation . 3 because westcott was such a strong brand acme united started selling dozens of other school and office items like scissors pencil sharpeners and paper trimmers under the westcott name . 4 nowadays westcott sells 60 to 80 million scissors and 15 to 18 million rulers worldwide annually . 5 contents 1 history 1.1 1808 1871 1.2 1872 1893 1.3 1894 1920 1.4 1921 1968 1.5 1969 present 2 main products today 2.1 scissors 2.2 ipoint pencil sharpener 2.3 rulers 2.4 other 3 competitors 4 references 5 external links history edit 1808 1871 edit henry westcott was born in newport rhode island in 1808 6 where he learned the sash and blind makers trade . later he started his own company together with his brother edwin and an associate called hiram miller to manufacture sash doors and blinds . after retiring from this business he moved to seneca falls in 1847 to embark in the manufacture of an improved churn and butter pail on which he had secured patents . also this business proved to be a success mainly because henry westcott invented and built machinery to make the wooden products he sold while competitors were still making them by hand . in 1868 at the age of 60 he sold his interest in this company . 7 1872 1893 edit in 1872 henry along with his two sons charles and frank established the firm westcott brothers to manufacture a variety of wood specialties . 8 while charles concentrated on operating the factory and frank on selling the products 9 here too henry s experience and inventive genius were responsible for the company s growth . when henry retired in 1890 the company was renamed to westcott bros. co. and expanded into numerous products like toy blocks and other games . 10 1894 1920 edit the westcott jewell factory . only showing the main building . when c. e. and m. r. jewell joined the business in 1894 it was renamed to westcott jewell company . 11 at first the company continued to manufacture a wide variety of products like bicycle holders stands and hangers 12 but they quickly started concentrating on rulers made in all sizes and finishes both for office use and for advertising purposes . 13 this marked the start of a flourishing period for the company . at the beginning of the 20th century the westcott jewell co. employed about a hundred people and its plant was one of the largest of its kind in the united states with a total floor space of 45 000 square feet 4 200 m2 . by that time their products were shipped to all parts of the united states and exported to many different countries . 14 in february 1907 disaster struck as a big fire destroyed part of the factory . although the building was equipped with a for those days modern sprinkler system damages ran up to 10 000 . luckily the loss on building and stock was covered by insurance . 15 in 1920 the company again changed its name from westcott jewell company to westcott rule company . 16 1921 1968 edit during and after world war ii the company continued to produce thousands of rulers and other measuring instruments . after remaining in family hands for 96 years the westcott rule co. was sold in 1968 to acme shear company of bridgeport connecticut which was a manufacturer of shears and medical equipment . the company s 55 employees could hold their job 17 and the products continued to be sold under the westcott brand . 1969 present edit acme shear changed its name to acme united corporation in 1971 to better reflect its diversified product mix . 18 when hard times fell upon acme united during the mid 1990s the company decided to sell the old westcott factory 19 and move its production to the lower cost and more efficient facility in north carolina . 20 but that wasn t the end for westcott . it had become such a well known brand that acme united started using the name on a wide variety of school and office products such as trimmers pencil sharpeners erasers math tools craft tools etc. after acme united acquired c thru ruler company in 2012 its products were integrated into the westcott products family . so the identity of c thru in many cases has become westcott . the westcott scissors and rulers business continues to prosper . in 2015 for example office depot consolidated its entire scissors business in north america to one supplier and westcott won that contract . 21 main products today edit although westcott manufactures everyday products the brand tries to stay one step ahead by improving the materials it uses such as titanium coated blades 22 or blades with a non stick coating . other products have microban antimicrobial protection to prevent the growth of bacteria on the surface . scissors edit westcott sells a wide assortment of scissors . starting from regular everyday scissors to scissors with titanium coated blades or non stick coated blades to use in areas where lots of glue and paste is used . 23 ipoint pencil sharpener edit a pink westcott ipoint evolution pencil sharpener westcott is also known for its line of ipoint electric pencil sharpeners . the original ipoint the ipoint evolution and the ipoint orbit all won a good design award from the chicago athenaeum museum of architecture and design in the office products category . 24 it s one of acme united s best selling products . in 2013 for example the sharpener s revenues reached about 11 million . rulers edit westcott sells rulers in wood plastic stainless steel and aluminum . next to regular rulers the company also manufactures twist it flexible rulers that can t be broken and rulers with microban an ingredient that inhibits the growth of bacteria . other edit other main westcott products include trimair paper trimmers drafting and measuring tools erasers math tools stencils and vinyl lettering . competitors edit the major competitor in the cutting category is fiskars corporation . the major competitor in the measuring category is helix international ltd. references edit grip s historical souvenir of seneca falls n.y . archive.org . retrieved on september 28 2009 seneca falls plant sold pdf . oswego palladium times . retrieved on september 30 2009 acme united corp 10 k for 12 31 06 . secinfo.com . retrieved on september 29 2009 acme united corp 10 k for 12 31 08 . sec.gov . retrieved on april 4 2010 singular research conference presentation . seekingalpha.com . retrieved on april 3 2010 descendants of stukely westcott . genealogy.com . retrieved on october 1 2009 grip s historical souvenir of seneca falls n.y . archive.org . retrieved on september 28 2009 grip s historical souvenir of seneca falls n.y . archive.org . retrieved on september 28 2009 descendants of stukely westcott . genealogy.com . retrieved on september 28 2009 grip s historical souvenir of seneca falls n.y . archive.org . retrieved on september 28 2009 grip s historical souvenir of seneca falls n.y . archive.org . retrieved on september 28 2009 westcott jewell co. pdf . la84foundation.org . retrieved on october 2 2009 grip s historical souvenir of seneca falls n.y . archive.org . retrieved on september 28 2009 grip s historical souvenir of seneca falls n.y . archive.org . retrieved on september 28 2009 big fire this morning pdf . fultonhistory.com . retrieved on october 4 2009 change of name pdf . nytimes.com . february 14 1920 . retrieved on october 5 2009 seneca falls plant sold pdf . oswego palladium times . retrieved on october 2 2009 acme united corp 10 k for 12 31 06 . secinfo.com . retrieved on september 30 2009 acme united corporation company profile . referenceforbusiness.com . retrieved on september 29 2009 acme united corporation . fundinguniverse.com . retrieved on october 1 2009 acme united s q2 2015 earnings call transcript . seekingalpha.com . retrieved on december 19 2015 . acme united corporation announces new titanium coating patent . businesswire.com . retrieved on october 15 2012 singular research conference transcript . seekingalpha.com . retrieved on april 25 2010 acme united corporation receives good design award . businesswire.com . retrieved on april 25 2010 external links edit acme united corp. company website westcott company website fiskars corporation company website helix international ltd. company website v t e acme united corporation subsidiaries c thru ruler camillus cutlery company clauss cutlery company pac kit first aid kits physicianscare first aid and medications westcott rule company v t e 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tools wright tool historic coes wrench company easco hand tools forest city screwdriver and drill company goodell pratt hinsdale holtzapffel indestro mathieson mckaig hatch new britain machine company norris north brothers manufacturing company h. d. smith & co. utica tools bonney forge herbrand vlchek house brands ace hardware ace tools autozone duralast blain s farm and fleet duracraft canadian tire mastercraft the home depot husky lee valley veritas lowe s kobalt menards masterforce montgomery ward powrkraft sears craftsman retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title westcott scissors and rulers & oldid 740015712 categories cutting toolsmechanical hand toolsoffice supply companies of the united statestool manufacturing companies of the united states navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom 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