Silver- Chamberlain Brush Co. Story
By Jeff Radio
The Sanitary Brush Co., a factory started, in 1907, was run by a one man team playing owner and operator of the promising young company.
The man within the walls of the 15 X 20 ft factory was Mr. D. Linton Silver. He was too young to vote, but very optimistic about this line of business. Mr. Silver worked 16 to 18 hours daily, not only as a maker of brushes, but as a door to door salesman.
In his first month, income was a mere $53.00. The rent on his factory room, located on Maple Street, was $5.00 a month. Mr. Silver's true aspiration was to run this company, and his motto was;" Our strength lies not in the size of the factory, but in those who believe in us, our policy and our products." His brushes were made from imported bristles and Mexican grasses.
In 1909 larger facilities were needed due to a strong demand for the product. The factory moved to Delsea Drive, next door to the Clayton Post Office's original location. Special machinery was installed to increase their productivity. Soon after, Mr. Chamberlin joined forces with Mr. Silver to help with his growing company, which was making over $18,000 annually by 1911.
In 1912 a new factory was built next to the railroad. It's square footage grew to over 5,400 sq. ft, far more than the previous factories. By 1913 they introduced their new trade mark called NIBCO (New Idea Brush Co.).
Surprisingly enough by 1918 their new factory was again too small, and another had to be built next to it, jumping their square footage for productivity to 11,800 sq. ft. The newly named Silver-Chamberlin Brush Co. now employed over 50 people and made over 1,500,000 brushes a year.
To supply the demand from their nearly 200 salesmen (not part of the factory force of 50), a speeding up of parcel post deliveries was needed, so in 1923 a sub post office was put into the factory.
For more then 20 yrs. the Silver-Chamberlin Brush Co. kept their guarantee of service until the Ox Fibre Brush Co. of Fredrick Maryland drew an interest in their company. A deal was made and the Silver-Chamberlin Brush Co. became a subsidiary of the Ox Fibre Brush Co.. Silver-Chamberlin Brush Co. would now use the Oxco label, but keep their name and grow in sales of $7 million annually.
The deal would only be in existence until 1953, when the Pro-Phy-Lac-Tic Co. of Florence Mass. made an offer to buy the controlling shares of the Ox Filre Brush Co. The Pro-Phy-Lac-Tic Co. grossed over 21 million annually and used the trade names of Quikie and Sparkie. Though the Ox Filre Brush Co. made brushes for industrial and household use, the Pro-Phy-Lac-Tic Co. made products for personal use, like combs and plastic dinnerware.
Unfortunately by 1955, Silver-Chamberlain's Clayton factory was shut down and its employees were asked to work either in Fredrick, Maryland at the Oxco plant, or Florence, Mass. at the Pro-Ply-Lac-Tic plant.
The old factory building on Maple Street has been used as a warehouse by local companies, Glicks Antiques and Doughty's Furniture.
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