The Charles Parker Company (born 1832) was formed in

Meriden, Connecticut Meriden ( ) is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is part of the South Central Connecticut Planni ...

, by Charles Parker, and over the years manufactured products including metalware, Art Brass (now in museums), hardware, lamps, spectacles, and piano stools. Also related to the company were others founded by Charles Parker: including

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known as Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. It remained family owne ...

(gun manufacturer), Meriden Curtain Fixture Co. (established 1869), and Parker & Whipple Co. clock manufacturers. Bishop, J. Leander. (1868). "Manufactures in Meriden", pp. 424-26. In "A history of American manufactures from 1608-1860"
/em> (3rd edition, revised and enlarged). Philadelphia: Edward Young & Co. Retrieved May 14, 2020.Hall, Henry. (1895). "America’s successful men of affairs. An encyclopedia of contemporaneous biography"
/em>, (vol II),(pp. 608-10). The New York Tribune. Retrieved May 14, 2020.D. & H. Hurd Co. (1893). "Town and city atlas of the State of Connecticut"
/em>, (pp. 211-12). Boston, MA. Retrieved May 14, 2020. As of 1868, Charles Parker Company and related initiatives were described as comprising "four large manufactories, located at different places in Meriden and its vicinity, and some of them comprise so many departments for the manufacture of distinct articles that they might be regarded as several distinct establishments." The main factory, consisting of numerous buildings, was estimated to cover two acres in the center of Meriden. At the 19th century fairs, the Meriden Curtain Fixture Company participated in the 1876

Centennial Exhibition The Centennial International Exhibition, officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was the first official wo ...

in Philadelphia and received an award. The company also participated in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.(March 14, 2016)
"Charles Parker Company designs in collections, at auction and in exhibitions"
''artdesigncafe''. Retrieved October 22, 2016. As of 1895, this company is referred to as "the largest establishment of the kind in the world". In 1940, the Charles Parker Company acquired the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company. The Charles Parker Company was in operation until the 1970s. In 1973, the company participated as an exhibitor at the

Eastern States Exposition The Big E, formally known as The Eastern States Exposition, is an annual fair in West Springfield, Massachusetts, which opens on the second Friday after Labor Day and runs for seventeen days. It is billed as "New England's Great State Fair," th ...

in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Among the diversity of Charles Parker products, Parker guns are very actively collected and traded, including the historical catalogues illustrating the designs. Design catalogues featuring Parker vises design are also a significant collectible. Charles Parker Company "Art Brass", largely focused on tables and shelves, is another. Examples of these Art Brass designs are in the Brooklyn Museum, the

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the A ...

, the Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute museum in Utica, New York, the

St. Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is an art museum located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. With paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from around the world, its three-story building stands in Forest Park in ...

, and

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...

. In 2005–2007, Charles Parker Art Brass designs were featured in the exhibition ''A Brass Menagerie: Metalwork of the Aesthetic Movement'' exhibited in Utica and New York City.Moonan, Wendy. (August 3, 2007)
"Brass: Roll it, spin it or stamp it to suit your fancy"
''New York Times''. Retrieved October 22, 2016. In 1994–95, the company was included in the Dallas Museum of Art's exhibition ''Silver in America 1840-1940: A century of splendor''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles Parker Company 1832 establishments in Connecticut Companies based in New Haven County, Connecticut Defunct manufacturing companies based in Connecticut Meriden, Connecticut