W. A. Case & Son Manufacturing
IndustryPlumbing
Founded1853 (1853) in Buffalo, New York, United States
FoundersWhitney A. Case
DefunctDecember 31, 1969 (1969-12-31)[1]
FateDissolved, defunct brand of Briggs Plumbing
Successor
  • Case Plumbing Manufacturing Co.
  • Case Manufacturing Co.
  • Briggs-Case (brand)
Headquarters
Buffalo, New York
,
United States of America
Number of locations
23[2] (1948)
Key people
Whitney G. Case
ProductsPlumbing fixtures
Owner
Number of employees
2,000[2] (1948)

W. A. Case & Son Manufacturing, usually referred to by its wordmark Case, was an American manufacturer best known for its plumbing fixtures. Founded in 1853 by industrialist Whitney Asa Case, the company initially manufactured boilers, radiators, and ran a heavy coppersmithing shop for steamboats and locomotives. It was best known for its metalwork by the time of Whitney A. Case's death in 1892.[4] His son and successor, Whitney G. Case expanded into the plumbing and household markets, and by 1910 the company had expanded to become the largest supplier of copper engineers’ and plumbers’ supplies in the United States.[2][5]

The company began producing porcelain toilets and sinks, from the 1910s through the 1920s with the acquisition of several other firms, including the business of James M. Teahen in 1917, and the Fred Adee Corporation in 1926, one of its largest wholesalers in Greater New York City.[6][7][8][9] Teahen would go on to develop Case's toilet division, being the first company to produce a one-piece, "low boy" toilet, which incorporated all parts into the bowl/body rather than as a separate tank. The toilet was sold both under the Case brand as the "Model A", as well as the "T/N water closet", named for its inventor.[10][11][12][13] These one-piece water closets were later popularized by Arts & Architecture for use in their Case Study Houses,[lower-alpha 1] including Case Study House No. 1, as well as the Eames House.[14][15] Although the company maintained a small pottery manufacturing plant in Detroit,[6] on November 1, 1925, it would additionally acquire the Zwermann Company, a vitreous sanitary wares manufacturer in Robinson, Illinois, which would serve as the company's main pottery division.[10][16] By the time of Whitney G. Case's death in 1948 the company had 20 offices around the country and 3 factories, in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Robinson, Illinois, and one in Boston, Massachusetts.[2][17] It sold its products to more than 2,800 wholesale customers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and several countries in South America.[10]

Logo for the Case line of fixtures after the company's dissolution into Briggs, after 1969

W. A. Case & Son was bought out by the Ogden Corporation, today known as COVANTA, in 1952. Up to that time Ogden had been considered solely an investment holdings corporation, but with its purchase of Case, the Securities Exchange Commission ruled it was considered a manufacturing company for regulatory purposes.[18] Ogden maintained Case as a subsidiary known as the Case Plumbing Manufacturing Company until it was sold to Briggs Manufacturing in November 1964.[3] Briggs consolidated its plumbing operations with Case, and by 1969 the company was dissolved a separate entity altogether, with Briggs retaining the name for some branding into the 1970s. Despite being defunct for more than 50 years, demand remains for Case fixtures and parts.[19]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Case Study Houses" does not imply that their name is related to this company.

References

  1. ↑ "893-62-SA". Bulletin of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York. LVIII (4): 40. January 25, 1973. Panacon Corporation has submitted an affidavit showing that the Case Plumbing Manufacturing Company, Division of Ogden Corporation and the Case Manufacturing Company, Subsidiary of Briggs Manufacturing Company was dissolved on December 31, 1969...
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Whitney G. Case". Buffalo Evening News. Buffalo, NY. June 14, 1948. p. 18 – via GenealogyBank.
  3. 1 2 "Briggs And Republic Borrow $10 Million". Erie Daily Times. Erie, PA. December 16, 1964. p. 61 – via GenealogyBank. In November Briggs bought Case Manufacturing Co., Robinson, Ill., from Ogden Corp.
  4. ↑ "Death of W. A. Case; The Well-Known Buffalo Manufacturer Is Dead at Carlstad". Buffalo Evening News. Buffalo, NY. July 14, 1892. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "Looking Backward: Foot of Main Street, 1958". Daily Public. Buffalo, NY. August 24, 2016. Archived from the original on October 31, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "W. A. Case & Son Mfg. Company Acquires Jobbing Branches". Merchant Plumber and Fitter. May 10, 1926. p. 313.
  7. ↑ "General News". Mill Supplies. Vol. VII, no. 1. January 1917. p. 65. The W. A. Case & Son Manufacturing Co., Buffaloy, N. Y., has purchased the business of James. M. Teahen, 171–191 Beecher avenue, Detroit, Mich., and will conduct it under the title of the W. A. Case & Son Manufacturing Co. of Detroit.
  8. ↑ "W. A. Case & Son Mfg. Co. and Fred Adee Corporation Considate". Domestic Engineering. May 1, 1926. p. 89.
  9. ↑ "Suffolk Supply Firm Planning Expansion of Plant, Services". The Patchogue Advance. Patchogue, NY. August 7, 1958. p. 3-1 – via NYS Historic Newspapers.
  10. 1 2 3 Rita Millis, ed. (August 14, 2000). "Case Manufacturing Corporation". Crawford County, Illinois Genweb. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016Text from an original typed document from about 1955{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  11. ↑ USA Expired 1670324A, James M. Teahen & Taylor William, "Water-closet", published 1928-05-22
  12. ↑ "Case". ThisOldToilet.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023.
  13. ↑ Matthias Jr., A. J. How to Design and Install Plumbing. War Department Education Manual. American Technical Society. p. 378.
  14. ↑ "Case Study House 1; Sponsored by Arts & Architecture Magazine, J. R. Davidson, Design; with plumbing fixtures by Case" (PDF). Arts & Architecture. June 1945. p. 47.
  15. ↑ "Eames House, 203 Chautauqua Boulevard, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA". Library of Congress. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  16. ↑ "[Advertisement for Zwermann Stanardized Vitreous China Sanitary Ware]". Domestic Engineering. June 13, 1925. p. 99.
  17. ↑ "Whitney G. Case Dies at 92 After Long Industrial Career". Buffalo Evening News. Buffalo, NY. June 14, 1948. p. 9 – via GenealogyBank.
  18. ↑ "Ogden Corp. Buys W. A. Case". The New York Times. June 25, 1953.
  19. ↑ "Case Toilet Model Information". PlumbingSupply.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
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