The Oneida Company specializes in the manufacture of tabletop products. Currently known as Oneida Ltd., it is one the largest marketers of stainless steel flatware in the United States. Oneida has plants and operates in the U.S., Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada. Oneida has been in operation for more than 100 years and continues to thrive, having the top five designs of the tabletop industry.
Community Founder
Oneida was founded by John Humphrey Noyes in upstate New York in 1848. Oneida was originally a community built on the principles of the ideas perfectionism. The perfectionism religion was based on two principles--communalism and self- perfection. The Oneida community shared work and property with all of its members. Men were married to more than one woman and children were raised by the entire community until the age of 12. The men and women of the community made their money in the manufacturing business producing silverware, animal traps and silk items. The Oneida community successfully lasted for at least 30 years.
Reorganization
The Oneida community lasted from 1848 to the late 1870s. In 1879, the community was divided into two different factions. The community joined all their businesses into one joint stock company called Oneida Community Limited, which was operated and owned by the senior members of the community. The stock was valued at $600,000 and was distributed to the men and women of the community. Due to a lack of leadership and emigration from the community, this led to the failure of the community and the company.
Making a Comeback
In 1894, John Noyes' son, Pierrepont Burt Noyes (P.B. Noyes) sought to re-establish his father's community and business. P.B. Noyes worked as a wholesaler for Oneida outside of the community. Since P.B. Noyes worked on the outside of the community, he was able to properly identify the mistakes of the business. With the leadership of P.B. Noyes, the older directors were voted out by just 16 shares. P.B. Noyes was promoted to superintendent at the Niagra Falls plant and led the company to its highest profits in 1899. At 30-years-old, P.B. Noyes had been promoted again to general manager overseeing all the company's divisions. P.B. Noyes introduced Oneida to the Industrial Revolution. In 1904, P.B. Noyes increased the promotion budget from $5,000 to $30,000 per year by using the profits from the trap manufacturing business.
Contributions
Oneida helped the United States defense efforts during World War I by producing gas shells, combat knives and ammunition clips. Oneida also helped the World War II efforts by producing surgical devices, shells, hand grenades, chemical bombs, air fuel tanks, silverware and parachute releases. During the 1960s, Oneida produced stainless steel flatware that revolutionized the use of stainless steel utensils. Also, the Newhouse trap for animals was a well known instrument used globally.
Modern Times
In 1983, Oneida sold more than half of the flatware that was sold in the United States. Oneida further expanded the company by purchasing Buffalo China Inc. the nation's largest manufacturer of commercial chinaware. By the middle part of the 1980s, Oneida began to produce crystal stemware and giftware. The company formed a joint venture with an Italian company called Sant'Andrea S.r.l. to market Italian tabletop products. During the 1990s, Oneida revamped the company focusing on just tabletop products, selling subsidiaries that manufactured other types of products.
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