E.C. Beetem & Son, Inc.

John C. Stephens and Edward C. Beetem formed the partnership of Stephens & Beetem at Carlisle and bought the firm of Frysinger & Co. of the same place in 1875. In 1877 they built a carpet factory. The firm of E.C. Beetem & Co. was established in 1901, after Stephens' death. In the same year it built the Carlisle Carpet Mills. In 1906 the Charles B. Young Co. became the selling agency, the first "Hit and Miss Rag Rug" was made, and Charles Gilbert Beetem, partner of his father, went to Philadelphia to establish a rug factory, which specialized in Raglin carpets, so as not to interfere with carpet weaving in the mills at Carlisle.

In 1914, the Kensington plant was moved to a new mill in Carlisle as the elder Beetem sought to reassert control over his son's enterprise. By then the volume of business had reached $400,000 a year and the firm was one of the leading carpet manufacturers in the country. In 1914 C. Gilbert Beetem joined the business and expanded it with dye works in Carlisle and two mills in Philadelphia. They traded under various names: E.C. Beetem & Son, Bedford Mills, Carlisle Carpet Mills, Carlisle Dye Works, and Raglin Hand-craft Mills, and as Eden Mills in Philadelphia. They manufactured handwoven rag rugs, carpet, jute-filled rag rugs, chenille rugs, cotton bath rugs, novelty rugs, draperies, curtains, and pillow covers. The firm continued to be managed in such a way as to be able to flexibly respond to market forces. It relied on a largely female work force, depending on women sewing the rag rugs in the home.

Beetem's products had a wide distribution throughout the United States. By 1923 the following large distributors were secured to handle production output: Artman-Treichler Co. (Philadelphia), Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (Chicago), J. Kennard & Sons Carpet Co. (St. Louis), and W. & J. Sloane (San Francisco). The business was incorporated as E.C. Beetem & Son, Inc. in 1923. In 1925 they severed connections with the Charles B. Young Co. and secured the services of Geo. K. Van Nostrand, Inc., of New York, but this connection later proved disappointing. In the years that followed, the increasing flow of Japanese products reduced the volume of Beetem's business. Changing patterns of operation, with women no longer sewing rags at home, and management problems also contributed to business decline and operations ceased in the 1960s.

From the description of Records, 1875-1967. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122459403