The Winter Brothers.

[woody 73]

Try as I might late into the night I was unable to locate any death records for the Winter Brothers Murray and his brother John E. Winter. We do know that they worked for the S. W. Card Mfg. Co. out of Mansfield, Massachusetts and we do know they got their start in 1874. That would mean in order for them to learn how the business worked both brothers would have had to start from the 1874 date up to 1899, (so sometime in that time period ).

In 1900 they started the Winter Brothers Tap & Die Company in Wrentham, Massachusetts. They used the logo of the thistle plant on their products.

In 1929 they sold their company to the National Twist Drill of Rochester Michigan.

In 1942 National Twist Drill moves manufacturing operation to Michigan from Massachusetts. Winter Brothers is managed as a subsidiary of National.

In 1985 NTD is purchased by Regal Beloit Corp. of Beloit, Wisconsin.

In 2006 Regal Beloit sells to YG-1 Co., Ltd of Incheon City, Korea.

A few pictures and a few links for you on this nice Wednesday Afternoon to look over.

https://factorywhistle.tumblr.com/p...o National Twist Drill of Rochester, Michigan.

https://archive.org/details/WinterBrothersCoCatNo8/page/n97/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/WinterBrothersCoCatNo14/page/n7/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/WinterBrothersCoCatNo5

https://books.google.com/books?id=h...and john winter of the tap and die co&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=D...and john winter of the tap and die co&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=C...hn winter winter brothers tap and die&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=h...hn winter winter brothers tap and die&f=false

http://wrentham.ma.us/boards-committees/historical-commission/brief-history

 

[senlow]

When I saw the thread title, my first thought was Edgar and Johnnie! Alas, this isn't a music forum.

I still have a few Winter taps in my tool box.

 

[TapMan]

Re. Winter Brothers: My father worked for Winter Brothers for many years, starting out in the manufacturing shop and eventually as a sales executive. The timeline by woody73 is great but it misses one event, which was that in 1968 National Twist Drill, which included Winter Bros., was sold to Lear Siegler Inc. This just about broke my Dad's heart because Lear Siegler wanted to change things all around and it made the company much weaker as a result. My brother, who is a jeweler, has a number old Winter Bros. taps and he says they are the best he's ever used.

 

[woody 73]

Re. Winter Brothers: My father worked for Winter Brothers for many years, starting out in the manufacturing shop and eventually as a sales executive. The timeline by woody73 is great but it misses one event, which was that in 1968 National Twist Drill, which included Winter Bros., was sold to Lear Siegler Inc. This just about broke my Dad's heart because Lear Siegler wanted to change things all around and it made the company much weaker as a result. My brother, who is a jeweler, has a number old Winter Bros. taps and he says they are the best he's ever used.

Thank you so much for that missing information, strange that i missed it in my research... I enjoyed very much reading about your father working there.

 

[Dianne Winter Jerniga]

Murray Winter was my paternal grandfather. Among family documents, I found this article which may be of interest to you and your readers. Murray Winter was born in 1971, died in 1959. John E. Winter was born in 1973, died in 1969.

Winter Brothers Tap and Die​

John and Murray took advanced math through the International Correspondence School of Pittsburgh. Allan would not go to high school, so went to work with his older brothers. They earned five cents an hour. Based on the knowledge and skills learned at the S. W. Card Company, a tap and die manufacturing firm, in Mansfield, Murray and John started Winter Brothers Tap and Die Company in 1900. (Simon W. Card came to Mansfield in the employ of John Birkenhead, who himself had come from Providence in 1868 to make spindles and lathes. With the invention in 1871 of machines to cut internal and external screw threads, Card set out to manufacture taps and dies, forming by 1894 the S. W. Card Manufacturing Co. The Card company served as a school for numerous die makers. John and Murray Winter, owners and operators of the Winter Brothers tap and die works in Wrentham, received their training there, as did several of those who in 1903 established the Bay State Tap and Die Co. in Mansfield. In 1913 S. W. Card merged with the Union Twist Drill Co. of Athol, but by that date, tap and die production was already a major Mansfield industry.) A medallion celebrating the 250th anniversary of the town of Wrentham is shown at right.

By 1900, John had saved $500 and they borrowed $2000 from Daniel Brown (more about Daniel Brown below) in Wrentham, MA . Patrick was looking after the Brown estate in Wrentham (the family had moved there from Mansfield in 1899). Mr. Brown told John and Murray that he would let them use the empty jewelry shop on the grounds. With 3 or 4 employees and the borrowed capital they began. The first ten years were a struggle. They all worked 6 a.m. till 10 p.m. for 2-3 years to get the company going. John had originally gone to Providence, R.I. as a foreman (and then came back to work in Wrentham). His wife Minnie didn’t want to leave her home in Providence and didn’t like Wrentham, so they compromised by moving to North Attleboro. Charles, was the company’s chief engineer.(Footnote 1) Allan, restless for change, was only there for a short time, finally moving to Florida with his family in the 1920s. The first year Murray set everything up. He was not married yet and had the time. John was earning $25.00/week. The photo below shows the staff in about 1910, John is third from right on back row, Murray is second from right on back row. Charles is fourth from the right on second row.

In 1916, pay was $.30/hr, 10 hour days and 5 1/2 day weeks. That year they added two large lathes, new mills and 14 automatic machines.2 Fifty people were out with influenza on October 3, 1918. In 1933, the bank notified them there would be no more money and they were forced to lay off workers. From 1933 to 1938, diary entries describe the impact of the depression: “July 14,1937, business is falling”, Sept 17, “no work for days”, Oct 14, “shop closed Thursday, except tool room”, Nov 27, “there isn’t much work, very dull”, Feb 8,1938, “business is still poor”.

During the difficult years they agreed to make taps and dies for Sears-Roebuck at a profit of only a penny per tool. When the specifications came from Sears, they refused to put their trademark thistle on it, instead choosing a duck. (from Loel “Ski” Raymond). Inspiration from the duck came from the duck hatchery in Wrentham. Robert Hanson kindly shared the emblem used.



At the end of 1937, with the economy deteriorating President Roosevelt responded with an an aggressive stimulus program, $5 billion for WPA and public works creating 3.3 million WPA jobs. The conditions improved dramatically at Winter Bros. Diary entries now read, Dec 8 1938, “building new addition”, Sept, 1939, “enough work for five years.” Although their product was higher-priced than the cheaper grades available, they could advertise that their product was truly superior. At normal speed their taps and dies lasted longer than ordinary taps and dies. “When the operating speed can be increased,” they argued, “the gains resulting from increased production and the long life of the tools much more than compensate for the high first cost.” They stated flatly, “We have made records of productions increased from five to fifteen times by their use.”

Their philosophy, hard work and persistence paid off and it became a very successful and nationally respected company employing more than 1100 employees by 1942. Among their buildings was a unit which produced centerless ground bolts, which were rather new in that era, and studs for most of the major engine manufacturers. This building, which face Depot and Minot Streets , was known as the “stud plant.”

Their logo, seen on the orange box displayed here, was well-known and depicts the three founding brothers. On their “Thistle Brand” taps and dies they had a thistle stamped into the metal and on the box, reminding all of their Scottish roots. The thistle is the official emblem of Scotland. It is seen on the end of the wooden box shown at right. Occasionally one will find these tools for sale on eBay today at reasonable prices. They sold the company in 1929 to National Twist Drill of Rochester, MI, but they continued to run it for 13 more years until it was moved to Detroit. The plant was taken over in 1948 by the Crosby-Ashton Valve Company. The company was unionized during WWII. Lois Brown worked there in the late 1930s and John said that she was a “handsome girl.” Doris Brown recalls working on the line. Youngest Winter brother Bob did not work for Winter Brothers—he went to Michigan and worked as one of Rickenbacker’s right hand men. Robert Winter, Jr., said of his father, “That redheaded Scotsman was too independent to join his brothers in their venture.”

 

[four.cycle]

Dianne Winter Jerniga-
Thank you very much for an excellent contribution!
Welcome to the site!

BK

 

[PFSard]

Now, that's a great story. Talk about perseverance and overcoming adversity. Not that I need any more taps and dies, but after reading a history like that, I will certainly be on the lookout at any future estate sales.

 

[four.cycle]

Sorry I didn't see this thread earlier, Woody.
Here's all I have on "Winter Bros."

1925 H. Channon Company catalog - Winter Bros. Screw Plates, Taps, Dies, and Die Stocks

 

[humber2]

There is an interesting history of High-Speed steel on Wiki.

Did Winter have their own version of HSS?