The story starts with a December 24, 1915 ad for toy
electric trains in the Evening Journal.
The toy trains, probably some of the first sold in Wilmington, were being offered for sale by
Garrett, Miller, & Company. If you’ve lived in Wilmington long enough you
know that name. The way research works is often one little bit of information
sparks interest in something else which is the case with Garrett, Miller, &
Company, a company certainly worth writing about.
Garrett, Miller, & Company dates back to February 14, 1889,
when George W. Stone and J.R. Hudson incorporated the Stone and Hudson Supply
and Machinery Company. This company was located at Water Street in Wilmington
and its primary business was plumbing and ship chandlery. Two year later it was
reorganized as Delaware Electric & Supply Company and moved to 211 Shipley
Street where it operated for many years.
On February 26, 1895, Wilmington native Frank S. Garrett and
his friend Henry K. Miller left positions with the William Sellers Company of Philadelphia
and purchased the electrical department of Delaware Electric & Supply to
form their own company. This company went on to be one that Wilmingtonians came
to know and trust for a century-- Garrett, Miller, & Company.
Garrett was the grandson of Thomas Garrett, Underground Railroad
conductor and friend of Harriet Tubman. The two of them led hundreds of slaves
to freedom and Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park in Wilmington honors the pair.
Delaware Electric & Supply continued on Shipley street
and Garrett, Miller, & Company set up shop at 4th and Orange Streets.
It’s important to note that these were the early days of electricity and the
future held many electrical devices not yet invented. Initially the firm sold
electrical supplies for construction but soon ventured into other electrical
devices.
From the Evening Journal February 16, 1916 |
In 1916 they were
offering upright vacuum cleaners and lamps. in the 1920s they jumped into selling the cutting-edge
technology of AM radio. They were selling the Atwater Kent brand which was
manufactured in what was reported to be the world’s largest radio factory in
Philadelphia. Today the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent carries
that name.
By the 1920s they were selling a wide array of electrical items including added smaller items such as toasters, curling irons, and heating pads along with the larger appliances including the White Lily brand washing machines and Frigidaire
brand refrigerators in the 1920s as well. In 1925 their ads boasted, "Now only $190 now only for the unit that makes your ice box a Frigidaire." In the 1930s the firm picked up the
Philco brand of radios and soon became a regional distributor.
Electricity had brought a technological revolution and
Garrett, Miller, & Company was riding high. Through the years they became Wilmington
premier appliance retailer. Henry K. Miller died in 1925 at age 64 and the
business continued with Garrett in charge until his retirement in 1948. Donald
K. Farquhar became vice president and general manager and eventually purchased
the company. Garrett died in 1950 at age 81.
In the 1960s the company moved to Germay Drive and continued
to dominate the appliance market in Wilmington. By the 1990s the landscape for
retail appliance sales had changed and Garrett Miller struggled on until 1997
when the company closed its doors forever. Farquhar remained active with the
company until it closed.
The Delaware Electric & Supply Company remained on Shipley
Street and in 1930 changed its name to Desco Corporation. With the electrical
business sold, their focus was selling industrial piping and fittings. The
company left Wilmington in the 1960s and moved to Basin Road and became McArdle-Decso
Corporation. They were eventually taken over by Deacon Industrial Supply and the
Basin Road facility was closed.
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