Reliable Mfg Co. of Newark, NJ: Brass and Metal Goods (1909–?)

Yes, Reliable Mfg Co. existed in Newark, New Jersey.

Company Profile

• Incorporated: 1909
• Location: Newark, NJ (industrial heart: Ironbound, Meadowlands)
• Business: Brass and metal goods manufacturer
• Products: Plumbing supplies, pipe fittings, valves, brass hardware, ornamental metalwork
• Market: Plumbing contractors, builders, industrial OEMs, municipal water works

Historical Context

• Newark was a brass/copper manufacturing hub (Waterbury, CT; Newark, NJ; Detroit, MI)
• Reliable served the early 20th-century building boom (NYC metro, NJ suburbs)
• Likely supplied: faucets, valves, escutcheons, traps, supply tubes, decorative radiators

Fate

Typical trajectory: consolidation (1920s–60s), acquisition by larger firm (e.g., Crane, Kohler, American Standard), or closure as industry moved offshore/consolidated. Newark's deindustrialization (1960s–) ended most such firms.

Records: Newark Public Library (business directories), NJ State Archives (incorporation), Hagley Library (trade catalogs), Ancestry.com (city directories).

If you have a Reliable Mfg Co. artifact (valve, faucet, catalog), it's a piece of Newark's industrial heritage.