Vintage Factories - Smith + Sons Confectioneries

Antique postcard, circa 1909 

White River Jct. Vermont
Machinery used in confectionery manufacturing 
Engine, Dynamo and Ice Machine
Part of a set 


 White River Junction sits on the southern bank of its namesake watercourse where it joins the Connecticut River. One of 5 villages within the township of Hartford, White River Junction has lived up to its name as a crossing point for vital transportation routes in eastern Vermont for more than 200 years. The town’s long rail heritage continues today: it sits astride a busy freight corridor and is served daily by Amtrak's The Vermonter.

 White River Junction became an ideal wholesale distribution center, and warehouses were built along the tracks. One of the best known enterprises was Smith and Sons, which specialized in crackers and confections.

 Smith's (and eventually, Smith & Sons') Cracker and Candy Company built its new two-story White River Junction factory in 1871 after bidding a sweet farewell to nearby Hanover where it began in 1837. 

 This is one of a series of postcards from the factory. 

 In 1889, it was claimed that the factory annually produced almost 20 million crackers as well as 400 varieties of candies and chocolates.
Product names / brands included Smith & Sons' Hand-dipped Dartmouth Chocolates and Smith's Hanover Crackers.

The company shuttered in 1934, one of countless victims of the losing battle against national poverty during the Great Depression.  

Cracker box  source: ebay
 
 All my uploads are from my own collection of antique paper ephemera
and offered here as free use, no-restrictions stock images and references.
Do with them whatever you wish

 My gallery yesterdays-paper.deviantart.co…