PLATED AND STERLING SILVERWARE.

SUMMARY.

Sterling and silver-plated tableware are articles composed of solid silver, or of base metals plated with silver, used as containers for food or drink or as eating implements. The list includes knives, forks, spoons, trays, bowls, pitchers, saltcellars, mugs, plates, and other articles. Knives and forks are specially provided for in paragraph 130.

Sterling silverware is composed of solid silver of a high degree of purity. Plated ware is made in several grades. The first and highest contains an all-over coat of sterling silver amounting to 6 ounces per gross of teaspoons. The second or standard plate contains 2 to 2 ounces of silver per gross. In addition, these grades may be extra plated at the wearing points. The lowest grade, known as half standard plated, contains about 1 ounce of silver per gross of spoons. The higher grades ordinarily use a nickel silver base containing 18 per cent nickel, but a cheaper alloy containing only 10 per cent nickel is used for the lowest grade. At times the base is composed of copper, pewter, britannia metal, or steel.

The domestic silverware industry is well established. The nature of the manufacturing process necessitates large scale production, efficient organization, and a wide market. The manufacture of silverware is largely hand-fed machine work, and each piece passes through a long series of individual operations in its journey from sheet metal to the finished article. The principal steps are casting, punching, stamping or spinning, rolling, shaping, embossing, trimming, burnishing, pickling, plating, polishing, inspecting, and packing. The handicap of hand operation is overcome by attention to operating details, so that a large number of pieces are handled per operative. The domestic industry produces sufficient tableware to satisfy the domestic demand, and in addition exports to all advanced countries of Europe and South America.

Great Britain and Germany are, normally, the principal foreign producers. Imports of tableware are small, those classified as manufactures of gold and silver being largely novelties and articles akin to jewelry. Imports from England are high-grade articles of some special design. The German importations are chiefly very low grade material-that is, for the most part-supplementary to domestic production.

The domestic industry owes much of its success and prosperity to its ability to anticipate the public fancy in the matter of design and finish. The originality of design and perfection of finish of the domestic ware enable it to compete in neutral markets with the high-quality, lower-priced English ware and the poor-quality, very low-priced German goods. Domestic manufacturers change their designs frequently and in this way keep ahead of imitative competition.

3 Silversmithing and plated ware (knives, forks, spoons, and hollow ware).

4 Calendar year.

GENERAL INFORMATION.

TARIFF PARAGRAPH, ACT OF 1913.

*

Paragraph 167. Articles and wares not specially provided for in this section; if composed wholly or in part of * silver, and articles or wares plated with * * * silver, and whether partly or wholly manufactured, 50 per centum ad valorem.

DESCRIPTION.

Plated and sterling silver tableware consists of knives, forks, spoons, and hollow ware (pitchers, bowls, and other dishes), composed of sterling silver or of copper, britannia metal, nickel, silver, or steel, plated with silver.

Forks and spoons are true flat ware, made in one piece from strips of sheet metal. Knives are cast in one piece or made in three pieces the handle in two pieces of stamped metal and the blade of forged steel. The parts are assembled before plating or polishing. Hollow ware is cast, stamped, or spun from sheet metal, or shaped by hammering.

Sterling silver was formerly the only ware used by the rich, but during the last 10 years the quality of the plated ware has been raised until it is practically as durable, and possesses all the characteristics of sterling silver. This development, together with the high price of silver, has resulted in the substitution of high-grade plated ware for sterling to a large extent.

Knives and forks are specially provided for in paragraph 130 and are treated only incidentally in this survey.

DOMESTIC PRODUCTION.

The domestic tableware manufacturing industry is well organized and leads the world in design and finish of products. Only the English industry at Sheffield has been longer established.

Raw materials.-Silver, copper, lead, tin, antimony, zinc, steel, cobalt-chrome and nickel are the major raw materials used. The

minor supplies include cyanide, rouge, abrasive wheels and pumice. The base metals are made up into nickel silver, britannia metal and pewter, for use as a base for the silver plate. Cobalt-chrome, or stainless steel, is used for knife blades. Common steel is used for cheap cast knives.

The supply of all metals and alloys used, with the exception of stainless steel, is amply sufficient for every need. Antimony and tin are imported, but the domestic industry is in as advantageous a position as the foreign, since both must import from Asia. manufacture of stainless steel is controlled through patent rights by an English concern.

The

Equipment. The machinery, tools, and manufacturing processes used in the domestic industry have, to a large extent, resulted from American ingenuity, and are all of American manufacture.

Method of manufacture-Flat ware.-The manufacturing process for sterling and plated forks and spoons is identical up to the time the plating is applied. Blanks of any desired size and shape are cut by punches from sheet metal and pass rapidly through a series of hand-fed machines that shape the article, trim off any excess metal, and give a semifinished product, identical in every respect with the finished piece except that it has no polish, or, in the case of plate, no silver coating.

From this point the sterling and plated ware separate. The blanks to be used for plated ware are carefully inspected for flaws, given an acid bath, and sent to the plating room. Here they are treated in one of three ways depending on the quality of ware to be produced.

The high-grade plate is given a uniform coating, amounting to 6 ounces of silver per gross of teaspoons and other pieces in proportion. The highest grades, in addition to the uniform coat, are extra plated on all wearing surfaces, or a piece of sterling silver is inlaid at those points before plating.

Medium-grade ware, known as standard plate, is given an all-over coat of from 2 to 24 ounces of silver per gross of spoons, and in some cases the extra plating is applied. Low-grade ware is known as half standard plate, and usually carries a deposit of about 1 ounce of silver per gross of spoons.

The manufacture of the high-grade table knives, which may be mentioned here, differs from that of true flat ware in that the two halves of the handle and the finished blade are sent to an assembling room where the halves of the handle are soldered together with pure silver and the blade fastened in place. It is then sent to the plating room or to the polishing room. Cheap, solid-handled knives are cast in one piece, then trimmed and plated.

After plating the articles are washed and sent to the polishing room. The sterling silverware does not enter the plating room, but passes direct from the grinders to the polishers and is treated in the same manner as the plated ware from this point.

Hollow ware.-Hollow ware is either cast or shaped from sheet metal by stamping, spinning, or hammering. The manufacturing process except in the case of stamping is largely handwork. The domestic industry spends large amounts of money and considerable time in the discovery of new designs or the rediscovery of old designs that were in vogue in the so-called "period" days.

The article is shaped as far as possible by stamping or spinning then finished by hand, and any accessories, such as cast ornamentation or handles, are attached with silver solder. The ware is then pickled to remove all grease, plated, and sent to the polishing room for further treatment. Sterling hollow ware is manufactured in the same manner as plate except that the plating process is omitted. In order to polish the ware and fit it for the market it is passed through a long series of hand-fed, power-operated brushes and burnishing wheels that polish every part of the article. The finished ware is inspected and packed in boxes for the retail and jobbing jewelry trade.

The base of the high and medium grade plated flat ware is usually 18 per cent nickel silver, while the low grade is made from an alloy containing only 10 per cent nickel. Hollow ware is made from nickel silver, copper, or britannia metal. The nature of the manufacturing process requires that the goods pass through a large number of hands, but the work has been systematized so that the number of pieces handled per operative is very large. Male labor is used exclusively in the punch and die, rolling, cutting, turning, trimming, and embossing rooms, but all burnishing, polishing, and inspection work is performed by women. The labor is performed on a piecework basis. As the domestic manufacturers change their patterns frequently and as the large volume of production wears out dies rapidly, they maintain a force of die cutters and designers. This is a heavy factor in expense, but is justified because the success of the industry depends to a large extent on the originality and perfection of the goods produced.

Organization. The silverware industry requires large plants, efficient organization, and wide markets. The United States industry consisted of 29 plants operated by six companies in 1914. That part of the industry devoted to the manufacture of plated knives, forks, and spoons was capitalized at $5,750,861; hollow ware, at $3,982,177; all other plated ware at $12,482,324, and sterling silver at $27,941,934. Most of the manufactures mentioned as "all other plated" are articles akin to jewelry, but considerable amounts of flat and hollow ware are probably included. The sterling silver capitalization includes some sterling silver jewelry and novelty articles as well as tableware, but no figures are available on which to base an exact division.

Estimates of manufacturers in 1920 placed the capital employed in the manufacture of plated ware at 25 millions, and of sterling at 20 millions. Some novelty articles may be included in the above but the amount is small. The increase in plated ware is due to new construction and to the increased valuations resulting from the war. Geographical distribution.-The industry consists in 1920 of two small plants in the Middle West, two large plants in New York, one in Rhode Island, and several in Connecticut. The Connecticut plants are largely controlled by one operating company. There are, however, at least two important independent companies operating in that State. A number of plants scattered throughout the country produce small amounts of silver tableware. These plants produce silver jewelry and novelties as a main product.

History of the industry.-The English silver-plate industry at Sheffield was the pioneer in the silverware field, the original plate being

composed of copper with a silver coating, but considerable sterling silverware has been produced in the United States since early colonial days. Upon the discovery of the electroplating process the domestic silver-plate industry grew very rapidly and soon supplied the entire domestic demand for this class of goods.

The manufacture of high-grade plate is a comparatively new development, resulting from a public demand for a moderate-priced ware that will not become brassy under continuous service. The present high price of silver has further increased the demand for the best plate.

Domestic production and consumption.-The domestic manufacturers of tableware produce enough to supply the domestic market and provide considerable quantities for export.

Domestic exports. Before the war domestic high-grade plate and sterling silver was exported to all advanced countries of Europe and South America. The domestic manufacturers were unable to compete with the British or German industry on a price basis, grade for grade, but the distinctive, original designs of the domestic article commanded higher prices than similar grades manufactured by foreign

concerns.

FOREIGN PRODUCTION.

Great Britain, Germany, and Austria are the chief foreign producers. Japan came into the field after the beginning of the war and has evidently met with some success in certain far eastern markets formerly supplied by European manufacturers. Most of the German and Austrian product was of poor quality, but English silverware compares favorably with that made in the United States.

Since the industry was considered nonessential, it was severely crippled in Europe during the war. The Central Powers had not in June, 1920, recovered sufficiently to develop any considerable export trade. The present situation in England is marked by an active demand from all quarters which far exceeds the supply. There has been a marked revival in production, but the lack of experienced polishers restricts output. In December, 1919, polishers were earning $50 or more per week and not working full time. Other skilled artisans were making between $25 and $30 per week of 47 hours. These earnings were from 150 to 175 per cent above the prewar level, although the scales for piecework had increased only 80 per cent. The number of female workers is limited by trade-unions, and every effort is concentrated upon maintaining the standing of the work as a craft. The manufacture of silverware in England is closely allied. with the making of cutlery and is concentrated in Sheffield, London, and Birmingham. In normal times as many as 5,000 men and probably more women are employed in the silver and plate trade in Sheffield alone.

There is an abundance of plant in England for the stamping of articles in the rough, but the subsequent finishing is done almost wholly by hand. Electroplating equipment formerly came from Germany, but is now supplied by English manufacturers.

IMPORTS.

The imports of silverware are for the most part rather supplementary of the American output. They consist largely of very cheap

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