| Henderson-Ames
Company: Regalia Makers
One of the country’s leading producers of uniforms and regalia,
the Henderson-Ames Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan, served lodges,
secret societies, and other social organizations for forty years.
Frank Henderson first moved to Kalamazoo from Dowagiac in 1860 and
formed a saddlery business with Charles Brown in 1866. After buying
out his partner a few years later, Henderson expanded his business
in 1868 by adding uniforms and regalia. Henderson formed a new partnership
in 1870 with T. F. Giddings, but the two partners split three years
later; Henderson maintained the new regalia division while Giddings
kept the saddlery division.
In 1893, the Henderson-Ames Company was officially formed when
Henderson consolidated with the Chicago branch of the Ames Sword
Company in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Awarded the medal and diploma
for excellence of quality and design at the 1893 Columbian Exposition
in Chicago, the company quickly made a name for itself. In 1895,
Henderson moved to a new home (Henderson
Castle) on West Main Hill overlooking Kalamazoo. He died in
1899, so he did not live to see the scandal that undermined his
company following the Spanish-American War. The company had purchased
large quantities of unused militia uniforms at salvage prices, and
after a few minor alterations, sold them back to the State of Michigan
at full price.
The company survived the scandal, and in 1900 built a five-story
factory on the corner of W. Main Street (today Michigan Avenue) and
N. Park Street. It dominated that intersection until it was razed in
1940. The company manufactured uniforms during World War I, and
enjoyed great prosperity in the early part of the twentieth century.
By 1924, it maintained over $1 million of business a year, but the
great depression took its toll. In 1933, the Henderson-Ames Company
merged with another regalia firm, the Lilley Company of Columbus,
Ohio, to form the Lilley-Ames
Company. Operations were soon moved to Ohio, effectively ending
the company’s affiliation with Kalamazoo.
The Henderson-Ames Company manufactured uniforms, regalia, ceremonial
swords, flags and emblems for fraternal organizations, secret societies,
bands, police and fire departments, railroad workers, and even the
United States military. Although it has been out of business for
more than sixty years, many of its products--particularly its swords--
have become heirlooms and collectors items, which continue to carry
the company's legacy all over the world.
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For further information, we suggest
these sources:
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H
977.417 F53 |
Compendium of History and Biography of Kalamazoo County,
Michigan.
Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co., Publishers, 1906, pp.355-356. |
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History Room Orange Dot File: Henderson-Ames Company. |
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History Room Subject File: Henderson-Ames Company. |
H 977.418
M417 |
Massie, Larry and Peter Schmitt. Kalamazoo: The Place Behind
the Products. Kalamazoo: Windsor Publications, 1981 (see index). |
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"Those were the firms that were." Kalamazoo
Magazine,
April 1965, vol. 2: no. 6, p. 19. |
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For general information about ceremonial swords, try the Society
Sword Collector page |
Written by Kris Rzepczynski, Kalamazoo
Public Library Staff, 1998. Updated 14 September 1999.
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