General Info

Thompson Enamel has been a manufacturer of vitreous enamel for metal for over 119 years. The first part of this article is an excerpt from a talk Thomas E. Thompson gave some time after World War II. It gives a brief history of the company which was founded by his father, Thomas C. Thompson, in 1890. Thomas C. Thompson Company Mr. William Marlow, the grandfather of the present Mr. Thomas E. Thompson, was originally from a suburb of Coventry, England. In Coventry, there was a watch and clock manufacturing company. At that time, many of the parts were made by the small shops around the countryside. Mr. Marlow made enamels and dials for clocks and watches that were assembled in the main plant. About 1882, Mr. Marlow was urged by Elgin National Watch Company, of Elgin, Illinois, to come to the United States to make enamels at their plant in Elgin. When he first came to this country, he contacted his son-in-law, Mr. Thomas C. Thompson, who was operating a drug store in Chicago. With their combined knowledge, they developed the manufacture of enamels in the United States, and then went to Elgin and made enamels there. In 1890, Mr. Thomas C. Thompson elected to go into business for himself and established a small plant in a suburb of Chicago, known as Ravenswood. After ten years of operating in Ravenswood, he moved to Wilmette. From 1900 to 1941, the business was operated in Wilmette, Illinois. The office of this plant in Wilmette was formerly a playhouse for the Thompson children. It was located in the front of the lot. The factory was a makeshift building in the rear. It was run by one individual to start with. As the business grew, the buildings were added onto with the help of the employees and they grew in the manner of "topsy". As another shanty was needed, an addition was made to the original building. The roof was put on in the same manner ; consequently, it ran across the buildings on an angle. The main piece of equipment consisted of furnaces, which, together with most machinery, were built by the owner and employees. In about 1918, Mr. Thomas C. Thompson retired from the business and the operation was then taken over by his son, Thomas E. Thompson, who has been head of the concern since that time. In 1941, the roof of the factory building caught on fire and the building, machinery and most equipment were almost a total loss. The nature of the fire was never determined. However, the section around this factory was being built up into a residential neighborhood, and also the property was sought after for the building of a school. During the time the company was in Wilmette, prior to the fire and thereafter, no help was laid off. Everyone was kept on the payroll, although times were rough. All pitched in to clean up rubbage at the old location and in the revamping of the new quarters, building of furnaces, equipment, etc.