WHEELING STAMPING

The Wheeling Stamping Company originated in 1877 as the "Nail City Lantern Company." The first president of this concern was A. W. Paull, Sr., and his associates were Samuel A. Laughlin and Alexander Laughlin. In 1897 the business was organized under the present title and was incorporated in the same year. During the first year of operation twenty people were employed in the plant. It is now an industry employing three hundred, and its payroll is one of the substantial contributions to Wheeling's prosperity and its product adds to the fame of this city as a manufacturing center. The business is capitalized at three hundred thousand dollars, all of which is owned by local stockholders. The officers of the company are: J. F. Paull, president; A. W. Paull, secretary and general manager; James S. Paull, assistant secretary; and Irwin Paull, treasurer.

The factory is one of the largest in the manufacturing district. There are three four-story buildings, each covering a ground space sixty-six by one hundred and twenty feet, and the mechanical equipment is of the most modern type for the manufacture of a varied output. The company sends its goods to all parts of the United States and abroad, and they have a standard reputation in many markets. The principal articles manufactured are lanterns, lamp burners, fruit tops, tooth-paste tubes, lithograph tinware and metal specialties, and they manufacture goods both for the direct market and for other manufacturing concerns.

Wingerter, A. M. History of Greater Wheeing and Vicinity; Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1912. v.2, p. 833-834.

The firm continued in business into the 1990s, concentrating on collapsible metal and plastic tubes (toothpaste tubes).