On the American Damascus thread, Robert raised a good point. Gun factories tended to get built were several "resources" were available, water (for power), rail and most importantly skilled labor.
I took Daryl's suggestion above and browsed (for only a few hours) the 1910 Census records looking for Meriden employees. The following is based on this casual venture and is by no means hard and fast. I found a number of men who were listed as "Laborers" with the Occcupation of "Gun Shop". I found a few blacksmiths also Occcupation of "Gun Shop" as well as a checkerer (sp?). Nothing surprising. Never did find my engraver(s). Then I noticed something. Almost to a man they had recently immigrated, in most cases date of immigration was 1906. A great many of them had their country of origin listed as Austria Poland. Again, none of this hard and fast...not sure I want to spend days scanning these records for a more accurate reading!
I thought about it some more. At 1st I thought, "Well I have found Meriden employees." Then I asked, "Why Meriden?" The answer of course is obvious, Parker Bros. Now I am not sure whose employees I was seeing.
On a side note, the "Brass Shop" and the "Silver Shop" employeed far more people than the "Gun Shop" in this little town.
So, did building the factory in Meriden hurt Parker? When it went out of business did that help Parker? When a corporate gorilla like Sears decides to play on your doorstep, I think perhaps some one made note of it.
Pete
