Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-03-14
WHOLESALE HARDWARE.

Breast, Gibson d CO.-lTheIr Business.
As a iobbing house the one above named
dates It's origin to 1867, when its doors
were thrown open to trade by the firm of
/ Craighead, Breast & Gibson, who were sue
ceeded in July last by the present firm, the
cO-partners being A. A Breast, Joseph
Gibson, J. P. W. Brown, Norman Farrell
and Newton Cannon. Previous to the war,
in 1850 We believe. J. B. Craighead & Co.
I had established a retail hardware house in
Nashville, and the house of Breast, Gibson
& Co. is really an OutgrOV-th of that enter
/ prise.
/ The wholesale hardware trade of the city
| is Of large impOrtance-it has called for the
/ investment Of large capital, and employs
/ the time and energies of some of our best
/ business men, and we feel justified in de-
voting a considerable space 10 it, not only
as it has been, but as it is. Breast, Gibson
& Co. may fairly be spoken Of as a repre-
1 sentative house, and We cODfeSS 10 an hour
/ spent very pleasantly in inspecting their
place Of business and in conversation with
! the members Of the firm. The house is
located at No. Hicks Block, on the north
side Of the Public Square. The building
| is a large one, 1S3x20 feet, and consists Of
basement and three floors. Were we to
chronicle a 1.-THE of the articles that call
/ for mention, we would fl. columns Of the
| UNION AND ASIERICAN-that being i'm
possible We content ourself with a hasty
survey Of the establishment.
The basement presents an array Of arti
cles not specially attractive, and yet repre-
senting 2 large investment. There are
horseshOes and gTindstOnes, nails, and
general range Of heavy goods, all adapted
| TO the necessities Of the trade controlled by
the house.
The first floor is a general sales and sam
pie room, the rear portion being partitiOned
off for counting room purposes. The arti-
Cles displayed are simply endless as to num-
Der, and each department EeeiUs absolutely
complete Not only is builders and gen.
eral shelf hardware Of every known variety
shown, but we also notice a magnificent
line of cutlery, table and pocket, of Amer
| lean aid foreign make. This department
affords memoranda for quite treatise did
space admit. The tastes and the mechan-
! zeal skill of the old world and the new are
| in juxtapOsitiOn, and contrasts are striking
indeed. The cutlery department has re-
ceived special attention at The hands Of the
/ frm-nOt less than 200 samples Of table
and 100 of pocket cutlery are shown, and
/ an immense trade has been built up in
these lines. Upon this floor, also, we no
| tice number of Halls Fire and Burglar
/ Proof Safes, Of which the firm have TIE
! agency. Fairbanks scales are also shown
| in nearly every size, the firm having the
agency for them. Quite a specially is also
made of the famous Hellers rasps and files,
] the best manufactured, aud the famous
/ Tredegar Iron Works, of Richmond, Va,
| are represented by their incompatible horse
shoes.
Ascending to the second floor, we notice
| names and hOrse-cOllars and shOyels and
| cordaIe and host Of other articles. The
| factory Of 5. l.. Graham, Of Pinewood,
| Hickman Co., Tenn, noted for its SPINE
/ wood" sheetings and cordafe, is we'll repre-
scented by a full line Of the latter article, and
upon the third floor we see almost ten
| thousand things. There are cradles and
snaths, sieses and wOOden-'Fare, ak helves
in brief such things as the trade OF the
| house demands. We were shown the finest
AK helves we have ever examined, made in
| this city, and from here sold to every part
of the country. This house, by the way,
/ was the ulSJ III tue Guy 10 eEgd8b III INC
manufacture of this article it equipped
factory and operated it successfully, but
/ finally disposed Of the business to others.
a by no means incOnsidtrable portion Of
the goods handled by Breast, Gibson & Co.
are imported direct by the firm, and the
house stands upon the same plane Of equal
i ity with the other leading wholesale hard
ware houses Of the country. The business
Of the house, too, has undergone a crafty
ing development. During the past five
years its trade has increased fully fifty per
cent. Energetic measures lave been adopt
ed to accomplish this result Careful at
tention TO buying and selling has char
acterized the firm, and the labor Of five
travelling men has been 50 directed as to
accomplish the most good. The business
Of the house extends throughout a large
portion Of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia
and Southern Kentucky, and its operations
have materially added to tie Importance of
Nashville as a jObbing point.
All Of the members of the firm give the
business their per- Onal attention. All are
comparatively young men whose lives have
m silly thus far been passed in Nashville,
and that their business experiences are en-
inently practical, is evident by the success
that has crowned, their efforts.