taz42o
Bronze Member
Could anyone tell me the end date Waterbury used the backmark (W.B. CO.) ?
Are those images Great Seal buttons? I could add WATERBURY COMPANIES INC * as WWII and after if it was used on a Great Seal button.For BCH, and any other readers who are interested:
According to the "History" section at the Waterbury Button Company website, that company changed its name to Waterbury Companies (note that it is plural) during World War Two. Thus, the longtime "Co." abbreviation in the backmark became Co's.
I did some additional research to find the exact year, which IF I'm recalling correctly turned out to be 1943. Unfortunately I don't remember where I found that info, so to be sure about the 1943 date you'll need to doublecheck my foggy memory of it. I do feel certain that if you went with 1944 you'd be within one year of the correct date of the name-change to "Companies" and the emergence of the Co's backmark.
Edit: Here are a photos showing two variations of the Waterbury "Companies" backmark. One has "Companies" spelled out, and the other has the abbreviation Co's. Note the "INC" for Incorporated. Also, I've seen a third variation, which says simply Waterbury Co's Conn" (without the "Inc.").
I found some Great seal buttons on eBay with the same backmark and added it to my Great Seal thread.BigCypressHunter wrote:
> Are those images Great Seal buttons?
No. Their identification is in each photo's filename -- put your cursor on the photo to see the filename. The one with the "Waterbury Co's Inc. Conn." backmark is a Maryland State Seal button. The other is a civilian-usage Musician button (showing a Lyre).
nope it may still be used today.So I guess the answer to my original question of last use of W.B.CO.(on any button ) would still be about 43-44.