| The Toys teamed up with G. G. Haslup (as Haslup
& Toy), Ben Slusser (Slusser Sulky Plow Works), Philip Smith, and others. W. M. Toy subsequently made street
maintenance equipment, metal snow plows for sidewalks, steel lawn chairs and steel street
trash cans. A new age for Sidney, Ohio, industry was born with the arrival in Sidney of Philip Smith in 1859. With just $25, he started a small foundry with his brother, Michael. Known as P. Smith & Bro., the business grew steadily. The Smith brothers made all things metal, including metal wheel spokes and school bells. A disastrous fire wiped out the budding enterprise in the 1860s. Various business recessions had the firm teetering on the brink of failure. Philip Smith eventually bought out his brother. His foundry was turning out 8,000 bells and 4,000 sugar kettles a year by 1879. Over the next four decades, Mr. Smith designed and manufactured such diverse items as steam engines, fire escapes, metal building columns, grain handling equipment, washing machines, and cookware. Among their other products were cast iron architectural elements; cornices, window hood molds and particularly storefronts. A Philip Smith Foundry storefront nameplate can be seen on the Piper Building (120 South Main Avenue, facing the alley) and at 116 West Poplar Street (just east of the Sidney Theater). The West Poplar Street building is one of the few Smith iron storefronts which survives intact. [Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] |
|
 The business was incorporated as the Philip Smith Manufacturing Co. It was located on the southeast corner of Main Avenue and Shelby Street. Industry segment written in January, 1998 by Rich Wallace |
