Rudd, Charles E.

The Holley Manufacturing Company of Lakeville (Salisbury), Connecticut, produced pocket cutlery and related products, from 1844 until 1946. Founded in 1844 by Alexander Hamilton Holley and George Merwin as Holley and Merwin, the Company claimed to be the oldest manufacturer of pocket cutlery in the United States. The company name was later changed to Holley & Company . In 1854, it was incorporated as the Holley Manufacturing Company, with Alexander H. Holley as president, George B. Burrall, treasurer, and William B. Rudd, secretary. William Rudd 's son, Malcolm D. Rudd, succeeded him as treasurer and general manager, serving in that position until 1942. Its customers were retailers and small jobbers, mostly in New England, Pennsylvania, and upper New York State. Total annual sales of the company probably did not exceed $50,000 from 1844 to 1925, or $10,000 from 1925 to 1933. Holley Manufacturing Company 's sales and production declined after 1933 and the firm was dissolved in 1946.

From the guide to the Holley Manufacturing Company Records., undated, 1847-1933., (Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center .)