 Old Newbury Crafters is the direct-decended craft manufacturing entity of William Moulton (1617-1664), who settled in Hampton,NH in 1638, and is credited with bringing the art of silversmithing to New England. Today, some fourteen generations later, the skills and methods of handforging sterling silver are still employed by the craftsmen at Old Newbury Crafters. |
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Chart of Antecedents of Old Newbury Crafters
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During all this time, the company had flourished in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
The business continues to be housed in the three-story, red-brick mill building at 36 Main Street, Amesbury, but ownership once again changed hands in January, 1998, when Connecticut businessman, Peter Dooney acquired the company with bold plans to continue growth well into the next century. |
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 Inside the workshop c. 1960 |
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 The Newburyport workshop c. 1946 |
Why , you may ask, still employ laborious methods of manufacture in today's mass production world? The answer is simply that the machine cannot match the quality, durability, look and feel of handmade silver. When making silver purchases, consider these points regarding handwrought sterling silver:
--most of all, it brings satisfaction to the growing number of people, who seek something
beyond the ordinary -- to those who aspire to quality and distinctiveness not found in mass-produced goods of any sort, whether it be clothes, cars, or silver.
As your guarantee that Old Newbury silver is genuinely hand-made, each piece is personally signed by the skilled craftsman who made it. No other silver has this unique reassurance.
Old Newbury patterns are of substantial weight. Some are among the heaviest made. But more important is the way the silver is apportioned to achieve the superior strength and balance that is the character of handwrought silver. Pick up a machine-made piece, and a handwrought piece, and compare. Feel the difference.
The subtle hammered finish shows silver at its finest.
Each of Old Newbury Crafters handwrought pattern offers the greatest selection of distinctive place setting and serving pieces made. Almost every dining need can be met.
All sterling silver is a good investment. What else can one buy, use for a lifetime, and after many, many years find it just as functional, just as beautiful, and worth more than its original cost?
Handwrought silver is even more certain of increasing in value. Of all the silver being made today, it is most likely to be sought by collectors of the future.
The extra cost of handwrought silver over a normal period of use is only a fraction of a penny a day per place setting. |
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In 1915, "spoonman" Elmer Senior and "polisher" Albert MacBurnie, started in business as a partnership under the name Old Newbury Crafters . During the early years, only two flatware patterns were offered, 'Moulton' and 'Old Newbury, and distribution of these was largely through crafts societies and some fine jewelry stores. A few more classic early American patterns were added during the 1920's, but it was not until the company was acquired by Swift Barnes in 1955, that real growth in both the product line and distribution took place.
More flatware patterns were added and, in 1965, sterling hollowware became an important part of the company's offering when the Worden & Munnis Company of Boston was acquired. In 1974, a pewterware manufacturing plant was set up and this too, became a source of distinctively different items.
For most of those years, the workshops were located at 364 Merrimac Street, at a location where once had stood the iron workers shop of the great Currier and Townsend Shipyard. In 1979, the company relocated to neighboring Amesbury, Massachusetts and ownership was acquired by Don Brady, a businessman from Greensboro,NC.