Maker record
Newton
Newton & Thompson was an American manufacturer based in Brandon, Vermont, known for wooden toys, games, and small novelties. Established in 1856 as Howard, Newton and Co., it first made turned household goods using Alexander Newton’s automatic wood-turning machine. By 1886 the firm was listed as a toy works, and from the 1890s it also supplied New York toy companies. Its products included wooden playthings and games, as well as small boxes containing miniature toys and dolls’ accessories.
- Founded
- 1856
- Countries
- United States
- Locations
- Brandon, Vermont · 1856
- Founders
- Alexander Newton · Edward C. Thompson · Benoni Howard
The story of Newton
Newton & Thompson Manufacturing Company began in Brandon, Vermont, in 1856 as Howard, Newton and Co., founded by Alexander Newton, Edward C. Thompson and Benoni Howard. The company’s early business centered on wood-turning. Alexander Newton designed an automatic lathe, and the firm made pill boxes, matchboxes, button forms, clothespins and other turned goods. Toy production was not part of its initial work; by 1886, however, the Brandon directory listed it as both a novelty-turning business and a toy works.
In the 1890s the company also acted as a jobber for New York toy companies. Its range included wooden toys and games, followed in the twentieth century by small boxes filled with miniature toys and dolls’ accessories. The company was incorporated in 1885, after its establishment, and developed several manufacturing sites alongside its main factory in Forestdale, a village in Brandon. After bankruptcy in 1937, it was purchased in 1942 and renamed Newton & Thompson, Inc. Later owners shifted production away from toys; the company closed in the 1960s.