Dexter-Russell, Inc.
is the largest manufacturer of professional cutlery in the United States.
Throughout our long and rich history, we have maintained a tradition of
excellence in both materials and workmanship. Our company is the proud
successor to the two oldest American cutlery manufacturers: The Harrington
Cutlery Company and the John Russell Cutlery Company.
Henry Harrington, a New England craftsman
and inventor, established the first cutlery company in the United States
on June 18, 1818 in Southbridge, Massachusetts.
Harrington manufactured surgical equipment and shoe knives, as well as
well crafted firearms. As his cutlery line expanded, he gradually
discontinued his firearm business. In 1884, Harrington introduced
the Dexter trade name. The Dexter line of fine kitchen and table cutlery
soon gained a reputation for quality in America's homes and restaurants.
Another New Englander, John Russell,
founded his Green River Works on March 1, 1834. After
having made his fortune in the cotton industry, Russell, at age 37, turned
his energies to the manufacturing of quality cutlery. He built his water
powered factory on the banks of the Green River near Greenfield
Massachusetts. His first products, chisels and axe heads, were made from
fine English steel of the type normally reserved for tableware. As the
Green River works expanded its line to include knives, the company
continued to use only the finest materials.
By paying much higher wages than English
cutlers, Russell was able to attract skilled European craftsmen to his
factory. With all the manufacturing operations consolidated under one
roof, these skilled craftsmen were able to produce large quantities of
high quality hunting knives to supply the needs of America’s western
frontier.
On May 1, 1933,
the Harrington Cutlery Company and the John Russell Cutlery Company
merged, bringing together the two most respected names in cutlery: Dexter
and Russell. The new company, Russell Harrington Cutlery Company, offered
a broad range of quality cutlery products from the famous knives that
"won the west" to innovative cutlery for the professional and
industrial markets. In 2001, the company changed its name to
Dexter-Russell, Inc. to reflect its long history of product brand
identity.
Today,
the same tradition of quality and variety is carried on in Southbridge,
Massachusetts, where Dexter-Russell produces the broadest line of
professional cutlery made by any single manufacturer in the world.
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