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Smith & Wesson to celebrate 150 years
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Gun maker to celebrate 150 years
Tuesday, July 16, 2002
By WILLIAM FREEBAIRN
,2>Union-News file photo by MICHAEL S. GORDON
Robert L. Scott, president and CEO of Smith & Wesson in Springfield, talks with gun fitter Richard A. Cieplik of Ludlow, a 35-year employee, in April. The company is preparing to open its doors to the public to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
SPRINGFIELD - Smith & Wesson plans to open its factory to the public next month for tours as part of the gun company's celebration of its 150th anniversary.
The Roosevelt Avenue manufacturing plant will be open Aug. 4, 2-5 p.m.
Retirees and employees may visit the facility that morning. Invited guests will be treated to a reception, optional tour and short program Aug. 2.
"We're celebrating 150 years, which is a milestone in any company's history," said Smith & Wesson spokesman Kenneth W. Jorgensen.
"I think there's a lot of interest in Smith & Wesson and we've been in the news the last few years," Jorgensen said. "We're a household name to people in Springfield."
Jorgensen said the company does not know how many people might attend the open house. It has been more than a decade since the last time the plant was open to the public, possibly longer, he said.
Visitors will be able to tour the sprawling Roosevelt Avenue plant and employees will explain the handgun-production process, Jorgensen said. There will be displays of historical firearms and artifacts from the company's history.
The company has been redecorating its main office building in advance of the open house, Jorgensen said. The plant is idle for its traditional two-week summer hiatus, with work scheduled to resume July 29.
One of the largest manufacturers of handguns in the nation, Smith & Wesson was formed in Connecticut in 1852 by partners Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson. The company moved to Springfield in 1856, where it began producing its famous revolvers.
The Wesson family sold the company in the 1960s and it was purchased by a British conglomerate in 1987. The company was sold to Arizona gun-lock company Saf-T-Hammer Corp. last year. William Freebairn can be reached at wfreebairn@union- news.com
http://www.masslive.com/business/unionnews/index.ssf?/business/pstories/biz16smi.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Tuesday, July 16, 2002
By WILLIAM FREEBAIRN
,2>Union-News file photo by MICHAEL S. GORDON
Robert L. Scott, president and CEO of Smith & Wesson in Springfield, talks with gun fitter Richard A. Cieplik of Ludlow, a 35-year employee, in April. The company is preparing to open its doors to the public to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
SPRINGFIELD - Smith & Wesson plans to open its factory to the public next month for tours as part of the gun company's celebration of its 150th anniversary.
The Roosevelt Avenue manufacturing plant will be open Aug. 4, 2-5 p.m.
Retirees and employees may visit the facility that morning. Invited guests will be treated to a reception, optional tour and short program Aug. 2.
"We're celebrating 150 years, which is a milestone in any company's history," said Smith & Wesson spokesman Kenneth W. Jorgensen.
"I think there's a lot of interest in Smith & Wesson and we've been in the news the last few years," Jorgensen said. "We're a household name to people in Springfield."
Jorgensen said the company does not know how many people might attend the open house. It has been more than a decade since the last time the plant was open to the public, possibly longer, he said.
Visitors will be able to tour the sprawling Roosevelt Avenue plant and employees will explain the handgun-production process, Jorgensen said. There will be displays of historical firearms and artifacts from the company's history.
The company has been redecorating its main office building in advance of the open house, Jorgensen said. The plant is idle for its traditional two-week summer hiatus, with work scheduled to resume July 29.
One of the largest manufacturers of handguns in the nation, Smith & Wesson was formed in Connecticut in 1852 by partners Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson. The company moved to Springfield in 1856, where it began producing its famous revolvers.
The Wesson family sold the company in the 1960s and it was purchased by a British conglomerate in 1987. The company was sold to Arizona gun-lock company Saf-T-Hammer Corp. last year. William Freebairn can be reached at wfreebairn@union- news.com
http://www.masslive.com/business/unionnews/index.ssf?/business/pstories/biz16smi.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878