Kennebunk Manufacturing Company

Kennebunk Manufacturing Company, also known as KEMACO, was a historical American manufacturer based first in Kennebunk, Maine, and later in Milton, New Hampshire. The company was incorporated in Maine on July 23, 1893, with a stated business purpose covering the manufacture and sale of cases, boxes, valises, grips, and trunks. Its product range placed it within the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century American travel-goods and protective-case industries, serving customers who required containers for personal travel, commercial samples, lunch provisions, and specialized equipment. The company used a name that had also belonged to an earlier Kennebunk enterprise associated with an unsuccessful cotton-mill project begun in 1825 and abandoned by 1828. The nineteenth-century KEMACO was a separate undertaking. At incorporation, John R. Littlefield of Boston served as president and J. B. Lara of Kennebunk served as treasurer. The available historical record does not identify a single founder in the modern sense. After 1895, Kennebunk Manufacturing Company merged with the Travelet Company, another Kennebunk producer of related travel items. This combination expanded or consolidated local manufacturing in a specialized field, although the surviving reference material does not provide detailed financial or production figures. In 1902, J. Spaulding & Sons Company purchased the merged business. The acquisition was followed by a move from Maine to Milton, New Hampshire, where the company occupied the former N. B. Thayer & Co. shoe-factory premises. The Milton operation retained the company's original case and luggage orientation while broadening its output. Products made there included lunch boxes, suitcases and suit cases, sample cases, megaphones, radio speaker horns, and violin cases. The variety reflects the company's adaptation to changing consumer and commercial needs during the early twentieth century, including the spread of radio equipment and demand for specialized protective containers. Kennebunk Manufacturing Company continued operating in Milton until 1936. In that year, its operations were integrated with those of Spaulding & Perkins Company, creating the Spaulding Fibre Materials Handling Division at North Rochester, New Hampshire. This integration marked the end of Kennebunk Manufacturing Company as an independently identifiable operating company. No current website, public listing, independent successor brand, or continuing consumer business is identified in the supplied reference material.

Kennebunk Manufacturing Company was incorporated in Maine on July 23, 1893. Its legal purpose was to manufacture and sell cases, boxes, valises, grips, and trunks. The business was based in Kennebunk, a town whose earlier industrial history included a different company using the same name. That earlier enterprise had attempted to establish a cotton mill in 1825 but failed by 1828; the 1893 company was a new organization rather than a continuation of that unsuccessful venture. The company's initial officers included John R. Littlefield of Boston, Massachusetts, as president and J. B. Lara of Kennebunk, Maine, as treasurer. The available reference does not identify a founder or provide detailed information about capitalization, workforce, production volume, distribution arrangements, or named product brands. Its stated product scope indicates a focus on travel goods and containers, categories that included both consumer luggage and cases for commercial or specialized use. After 1895, Kennebunk Manufacturing Company merged with the Travelet Company. Travelet was another Kennebunk manufacturer producing related travel items, so the transaction consolidated two businesses with overlapping product interests. The record does not specify the precise legal structure of the merger or whether the combined company continued under one operating plant, but the transaction appears to have preceded a larger change in ownership. In 1902, J. Spaulding & Sons Company purchased the merged operation. Following the purchase, manufacturing was transferred from Kennebunk to Milton, New Hampshire. The company occupied the former N. B. Thayer & Co. shoe-factory building, adapting an existing industrial site for the production of cases and related goods. The relocation connected the business with a broader New England manufacturing network and placed it within the Spaulding corporate sphere. During its Milton period, the company continued making products related to its original business, including lunch boxes and suit and sample cases. It also produced megaphones, radio speaker horns, and violin cases. These additional lines show a move beyond ordinary travel luggage into containers and housings associated with communications, entertainment, music, and commercial presentation. The supplied historical account does not provide product launch dates, model names, sales data, or evidence of international distribution. Kennebunk Manufacturing Company remained in Milton until 1936. Its operations were then integrated with those of Spaulding & Perkins Company, and the combined activities became part of the Spaulding Fibre Materials Handling Division at North Rochester, New Hampshire. This organizational change ended the company's independent operating identity. The company is therefore best understood as a defunct historical manufacturer whose assets and production activities were absorbed into a larger materials-handling organization rather than as a surviving modern luggage brand.

• 1936

  Integration into Spaulding Fibre

  [1]Kennebunk Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The Milton operations were integrated with Spaulding & Perkins Company in the Spaulding Fibre Materials Handling Division at North Rochester, New Hampshire.

• 1906

  Milton, New Hampshire operations

  [1]Kennebunk Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The company's operating period in Milton is recorded as beginning in 1906, at the former N. B. Thayer & Co. shoe factory.

• 1902

  Acquisition by J. Spaulding & Sons

  [1]Kennebunk Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  J. Spaulding & Sons Company purchased the merged business and moved its manufacturing operation to Milton, New Hampshire.

• 1895

  Combination with Travelet Company

  [1]Kennebunk Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The company merged with Travelet Company, another Kennebunk producer of related travel goods.

• 1893

  Incorporation in Maine

  [1]Kennebunk Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Kennebunk Manufacturing Company was incorporated on July 23, 1893, with a business purpose centered on cases, boxes, valises, grips, and trunks.

A New England manufacturer of travel goods, protective cases, and specialized containers, later diversifying into products associated with radio, musical instruments, and public-address equipment.

• Travel goods · 1893

  Travel cases, valises, grips, and trunks

  These products formed the company's original manufacturing scope. The range covered portable containers for personal travel and related uses, including valises, grips, and larger trunks. The available source identifies the categories but does not provide model names, materials, dimensions, or retail branding.

• Containers · 1893

  Boxes and lunch boxes

  Boxes were included in the company's incorporation-era business purpose, and lunch boxes were among the products made during the Milton period. The source does not specify construction materials, designs, distribution channels, or individual product lines.

• Commercial and travel cases

  Suit and sample cases

  Suit and sample cases extended the company's case-making business into personal travel and commercial presentation. Sample cases were suited to carrying goods or materials used by traveling sales representatives, while suit cases served ordinary travel needs. No detailed specifications are identified in the reference.

• Audio and communication equipment

  Megaphones and radio speaker horns

  While operating in Milton, the company manufactured megaphones and radio speaker horns in addition to luggage and containers. These products indicate diversification into acoustic and radio-related equipment, although the available material does not identify specific technologies, models, or sales markets.

• Musical-instrument cases

  Violin cases

  Violin cases represented a specialized extension of the company's protective-case expertise. They were produced during the Milton period alongside travel cases and other specialized goods. No information is provided about the instruments supported, case materials, or product branding.

• 1936

  Integration into the Spaulding Fibre Materials Handling DivisionStrategy

  Background

  Spaulding reorganized related manufacturing activities after the company's Milton operating period.

  Action taken

  Kennebunk Manufacturing Company's operations were integrated with those of Spaulding & Perkins Company at North Rochester, New Hampshire.

  Aftermath

  The Kennebunk Manufacturing Company ceased to operate as an independently identifiable company.

  Source

• 1902

  Sale to J. Spaulding & Sons CompanyM&A

  Background

  Following the combination with Travelet, the business entered the ownership of a larger company.

  Action taken

  J. Spaulding & Sons Company purchased the merged operation and moved manufacturing to Milton, New Hampshire.

  Aftermath

  The company operated from the former N. B. Thayer & Co. shoe factory and broadened its product range.

  Source

• 1895

  Merge with Travelet CompanyM&A

  Background

  Travelet Company was another Kennebunk manufacturer of related travel items, creating a basis for combining overlapping operations.

  Action taken

  Kennebunk Manufacturing Company merged with Travelet Company after 1895.

  Aftermath

  The combined business was later purchased by J. Spaulding & Sons Company in 1902.

  Source

• 1936

  Operations integrated into Spaulding Fibre[1]Kennebunk Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Kennebunk Manufacturing Company's Milton operations were combined with those of Spaulding & Perkins Company in the Spaulding Fibre Materials Handling Division at North Rochester, New Hampshire.

• 1902

  J. Spaulding & Sons acquired the merged business[1]Kennebunk Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  J. Spaulding & Sons Company purchased the Kennebunk and Travelet business and subsequently moved its operations to Milton, New Hampshire.

• 1895

  Kennebunk Manufacturing Company merged with Travelet Company[1]Kennebunk Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  After 1895, the company combined with the Travelet Company, a Kennebunk manufacturer of related travel goods.

• 1893

  Kennebunk Manufacturing Company incorporated in Maine[1]Kennebunk Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The company was incorporated on July 23, 1893, to manufacture and deal in cases, boxes, valises, grips, and trunks.

1. 1Kennebunk Manufacturing Companyen.wikipedia.org