Wooster Brush Company, The

. .......... . . ........ ..

About

Name

• Wooster Brush Company, The

Wholesale

• Merchant Wholesalers - Nondurable Goods

Manufacturing

• Miscellaneous Manufacturing

Trading names

• Wooster Brush Wooster Brush Co

Brands

• Company makes approximately 2,000 products sold around the world

Facts

Founded

• 1851
  ^Wooster,Ohio

Number of employees

• 500 persons 2022

Related

Predecessors

• Brush Works, Wooster Brush Works

Key Persons

Founders

• Adam Foss 1851-1879

Owners

• Walter R. Foss
  1938–1949
• Walter D. Foss
  1879–1938
• Allan K. Rodd
  1998–2010
• Stanley R. Welty
  1949–1969
• Woodrow J. Zook
  1975–1985
• George J. Schwartz
  1876–1876
• Jack W. Lester
  1969–1975
• Stanley R. Welty, Jr.
  1985–1998
• Ben Maibach
  2020
• William (Bill) S. Fagert
  2010–2020

Key Persons

• Mike Palmer, Human Resource Manager

Location

• Reno
  • 4950 Joule St., Reno, 89505, Nevada
• Headquarters
  • 604 Madison Ave., Wooster, 44691, Ohio
    1909
• Old Location
  • 56 S. Market St., Wooster, 44691, Ohio
    1909
• Old Location
  • 18 S. Market St., Wooster, 44691, Ohio
    1870–1879
• Plant 2
  • 1654 Old Mansfield Rd., Wooster, 44691, Ohio
• Old Location
  • 400 S. Buckeye St., Wooster, 44691, Ohio
• Original location
  • 212 E. Liberty St., Wooster, 44691, Ohio
    1851–1880
• Old Location
  • 35 S. Market St., Wooster, 44691, Ohio
    1870–1879

Established in 1851, Wooster Brush Company is one of the oldest manufacturers of paint applicators in the country. The company's founder, Adam Foss, traveled from Pennsylvania to Ohio at the age of 18 with his brother Samuel. Together they "began producing bristle paintbrushes by hand in a small, two-story building in downtown Wooster, then sold the brushes door to door through the state."

In 1876, Adam's son, Walter D. Foss, and son-in-law, George J. Schwartz, purchased the business and established it as Wooster Brush Works. Under their leadership, the company continued to grow. After a fire destroyed their original plant on East Liberty Street, they moved operations to 35 South Market Street, and within a decade they had expanded to occupy the entire building. After adding on to that structure, the company purchased land on Madison Avenue in 1909 in order to build a much larger factory, a building that has continued to expand in the years since.

The company continued to innovate over the years. In 1937, the Wooster Brush Company introduced the first angled brush for reaching corners close to ceilings and trim. When trade embargoes during World War II stopped shipments of hog bristles from reaching the US from northern Europe, the company introduced the first nylon brushes instead. In addition to product innovations, the company became one of the first in the country to create a profit-sharing plan for employees. In 2016, the Wooster Brush Company celebrated 165 years of business and continues to thrive today.

Wooster Brush Presidents

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Wooster Brush Gallery

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Newspaper Articles on Wooster Brush

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Wooster Brush Timeline

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Historical Documents on Wooster Brush

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Gallery

Newspaper ads

11

Non-newspaper ads

1

Newspaper articles

19

Newspaper clippings

6

Letterheads

1

Logos

7

Photos

2

Maps

7

Slogans

• "If it's worth painting, it's worth a Wooster brush."