Name/Title
Ice Skating Blades with BootsEntry/Object ID
2022.2.32.3Description
This pair of Union Hardware Company clamp-on style ice skates is complete with a pair of black Kenneth Cole boots, which have the laces and straps still attached. The blades are made of fine quality steel, and the boots were made in Italy.Context
The Union Hardware Company was established in 1854 for the production of ice skates and would later go on to include fishing rods and reels, roller skates, gun accessories, steel golf club shafts, and police handcuffs (just to name a few) in its repertoire. The firm was initially organized by Torrington industrialist Achille F. Migeon and occupied an old lock shop along the Naugatuck River in Torrington Hollow, Connecticut.
Around 1865, the company relocated to a site on Migeon Avenue in Torrington Hollow, where it would remain for the rest of its history. In 1960 the Union Hardware Company was purchased by the Brunswick Sports Products Co. Union Hardware was maintained as a division of Brunswick, and the company’s hardware lines were abandoned in order to focus on sporting goods, primarily roller skates and golf club shafts. In 1996, the FM Precision Golf Manufacturing Corporation acquired the Union Hardware Division of Brunswick, which was, in turn, merged with Royal Grip to form Royal Precision, Inc. True Temper Sports Inc., of Memphis, Tennessee, purchased and closed the Torrington factory in 2006. As of 2015, a portion of the plant had been reoccupied as a manufacturing facility for Duc Duc, LLC., a New York-based furniture maker.Location
Building
Lake Loramie Nature Center and Heritage MuseumOhio State Park
Lake Loramie State Park
