Coats North America; Hendersonville, NCI recently wrote an article for my plant’s quarterly newsletter, The Coats Chronicle, and was informed the other day by my human resource manager that he had submitted it to our company magazine in hopes that they would utilize it in their next edition. WOW! Could it be that I’ve finally hit the big time in my writing endeavors? But then again, there’s no guarantee it will be published, which is really no biggy at all because what could be more big time than publishing it here at our blog site? Here on the net, it can be seen by the world as opposed to just being seen by the employees of my company, not that I actually take myself that seriously. I just enjoy writing and love words, and I truly am honored that my article was considered good enough to even be submitted for possible publication. Thanks, Gary; I owe you one.
So, with no further ado, submitted for your approval and perusal, what I found to be a very interesting history to write about. So go figure: who would have ever thought that work could be so interesting and educational, as well as fun? And for the first time ever, I actually got paid for writing! Well…at least I got paid while writing. Once again, thanks, Gary…(“,)
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What’s In a Name?
by Harry, Plant Maintenance; Hendersonville, NC
by Harry, Plant Maintenance; Hendersonville, NC
Yeah, just what is in a name? That’s one of those old, stale clichés that the English language is notorious for. But then again, there’s something that can be said about the particular ones that follow, for in every name there is a story, a history, just waiting to be told.
The name Coats North America has its origin in early 1800’s, when the Coats and Clark families opened textile mills in Paisley, Scotland for the manufacture of sturdy cotton thread. Cotton fibers were taking the place of silk, due to geo-political issues of the times. Even the name Paisley has another story. I’m sure all of us old timers remember the paisley pattern that graced shirts and ties back in the 60’s. That pattern originated in Paisley, Scotland in the mid-1700’s and was the rage for over 100 years, used mostly in the making of shawls. But I digress here, though that is a case in point as to what’s in a name.
The Coats and Clark industrial families were competitors for many years. And it was almost 150 years before J&P Coats LTD and the Clark Thread Company merged to become Coats and Clark, which was the precursor to Coats North America. I even have fond memories of the Coats and Clark name. Both of my grandmothers had one of those classic treadle sewing machines, and I remember seeing the wooden bobbins with the Coats and Clark logo pasted on the ends, having no idea at that young age that in the future I would be linked to the name. That, in itself, gives credence to the idea of the six degrees of separation that we all share, for we are all linked in some way.
Still, Coats North America carries the legacy of many other names. Coats and Clark purchased Belding Corticelli, which itself has a storied history. Just in my short time at the Hendersonville Plant, nearly 14 years, I’ve worked for Belding Corticelli, Noel, and Barbour, before Coats got in the game. But Belding Corticelli has a lineage that goes back almost as far as the Coats and Clark beginnings.
The Corticelli Silk Company was born in 1832, though it didn’t take that name until 1922, passing through several owners over the years, such as our company, as well as Belding, Paul and Co., which began in 1884 in Montreal, Canada, going through the same progression of names and ownerships, being bought by Hemingway Bartlett to become Belding Hemingway. Such a tangled web finally led to the formation of Belding Corticelli in 1932.
Very confusing, to say the least, and we’re still missing pieces of the puzzle that led to where we are now. Such is history. For those of us working at the Hendersonville Plant, there’s one name that we’re all linked to in this journey, a name most likely unknown by all, yet we’re all so familiar with its image.
One of the first things I noticed when I walked into the lobby to apply for a job at the plant was the huge framed cat hanging on the wall, as well as the image embedded in the middle of the lobby floor. It was only while doing research for this article that I discovered the cat has a name: Corticelli the Kitten; Corti, for short. As for Corti’s age, the logo was born in the early 1900’s.
Harry & Corti
One of the earliest animated ads to be featured on the building at the corner of 42nd and Broadway, Times Square, New York City, was the Corticelli logo of Corti playing with a spool of thread. And the rest, using another cliché phrase, is history.
Times Square, NY; Circa Early 1900’s
Even the Hendersonville newsletter (The Coats Chronicle) has a history, carrying on a legacy that began in the 1930’s with the publication of Fibre and Fabric. From 1944 through 1947 was the Belcortimes, which kept track of the many Belding employees serving in the military during WWII. Then came Belcortline, which ran from 1962 to 1972, as well as a Hendersonville newsletter, Nymoville News in the early 70’s. After that was Threadline, 1990 to 1993. The Coats Chronicle, began in 2002.
So history does repeat itself in chain of people and events, linked together by time’s odyssey and by things so simple as the image of a cute cat named Corti.
Corti in Lobby Floor
