INTRODUCTION
     The intention of this paper is to provide a narrative
history of the Keystone Tag Company (1901-1956), and to examine
the relationships between the company, the company's employees,
and the local West Chester neighborhood.  The Keystone Tag
Company  was a family-owned small business with connections to
major national and international industries. During the
historical time period in which the Keystone Tag Company existed
many social, technological, political, and economic changes took
place within America.  A central question raised in the research
of this paper is how did the company respond to changes in
American society.  This paper will attempt to address some of the
ways that the increase in the number of working women, the
adoption of a minimum wage for women, the Great Depression, and
World War II effected the Keystone Tag Company.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
     The history of the Keystone Tag Company begins with the
arrival of the Denney Tag Company to West Chester, Pennsylvania. 
In 1888, Samuel Denney Jr. decided to relocate his tag
manufacturing plant from Philadelphia to West Chester.(1)  While
it is unclear as to why Mr. Denney chose West Chester for the
site of his plant, there were several economically attractive
features within West Chester.  During the 1800s West Chester's
population grew from 374 to 8028 residents; from 1850 to 1890
West Chester's population more than doubled in size resulting in
a large labor force of men, women and children.(2)  Additionally,
West Chester's proximity to paper mills, such as those located on
the Brandywine River, and its access to rail road transportation,
necessary components to tag manufacturing, surely influenced the
decision of Mr. Denney to move his plant to this town.  In
addition to bringing his plant to West Chester, Mr. Denney also
brought with him, a shipping clerk, Samuel O. Barber, who would
eventually become the founder and president of the Keystone Tag
Company.
     During the winter of 1888 the Denney Tag Company occupied
the vacated brick school house on E. Barnard Street and began its
operations with fifteen employees.(3)  By September 1888, the
Denney Tag Company had the second largest tag factory in the
United States, with a production rate of 500,000 tags per day,
and a declared dividend of 8% on capital stock.(4)
     In November 1889, Mr. Denney resigned as President and
Superintendent of the company and Samuel Barber became the
plant's Superintendent.(5)  Mr. Barber remained in this capacity
for more than a decade becoming one of the largest stock holders
in the company.(6)  In June 1901, Dr. B.F. Herr of Lancaster, PA
offered to sell his pin ticket and strong business tag
manufacturing company to the Denney Tag Company.(7)  The
directors declined Dr. Herr's offer, as they "were satisfied with
the present scope and profits of their industry."(8)  However,
Mr. Barber and three other men arranged to purchase Dr. Herr's
business.  
     In October 1901 Samuel Barber, George McFarland, Benjamin
Hains, Dr. Herr and S. LeRoy Barber, who was Samuel Barber's
oldest son, incorporated the Keystone Tag Company to manufacture
tags, tag hooks, pin tickets, baggage checks, gum labels and
adhesive labels in West Chester.(9)  It is significant to note
that for a period of time Mr. Barber continued to act as
superintendent of the Denney Tag Company and owner of the
Keystone Tag Company. 

TAG PRODUCTION
     The Keystone Tag Company began manufacturing its products in
the Ralston R. Hoopes warehouse building located on Barnard and
Matlack Streets, only four blocks west of the Denney Tag
Company.(10)  It was managed by C. Harry Barber, another son of
Samuel Barber.  Originally the company used only a single machine
and had only two or three employees.(11)  Despite its small
beginnings, shortly after opening for business, the company
received an order from London for a half million tags.(12)   This
order appeared impressive in size and it hinted at the scope of
international business the Keystone Tag Company would command in
the future.  However, as noted previously, Denney Tag produced
that amount in one day in 1888.  Therefore, Keystone's success
could not have been due to its production rate, as it was never
as large a manufacturer as Denney Tag.  
     Workers at the Keystone Tag Company designed and built a
machine to mechanize the job of stringing tags to replace the
work which had been done through child labor.(13)  In the summer
of 1902, Keystone Tag reported operating three machines in the
manufacturing of its tags.  One machine cut tags of various sizes
from paperboard, perforated the tags, and punched each tag with a
small round patch at the eyelet; another machine was used in the
production of pin tags, and a third machine was used to string
the tags and tie each string with a knot.(14)  The tag stringing
machine was delivered to the factory earlier that year. 
According to a newspaper account, the patent was issued to a
member of the Keystone Tag Company and the machine was built from
plans designed by a West Chester firm.(15)  The machine was
"expected to revolutionize the work of stringing tags and
eventually take the place of dozens of persons about town who
have been doing work by hand ever since the tag factories located
in West Chester."(16)   
     Both the Denney Tag Company and Keystone engaged in a system
of putting-out work among local residents in the form of
stringing tags.  For example, in 1901 the local newspaper stated
that for several years tags had been "put out" to West Chester
residents in their homes to be strung by children or others
"whose time was of moderate value."(17)  The going wage was about
ten cents per thousand tags.(18) While a person could not get
rich stringing tags at home, this system enabled persons,
including children and the disabled,  unable to work in factories
an opportunity to earn an income.  According to a local resident,

      "There were a lot of people who made money off of Keystone
     who didn't actually work at Keystone by taking the tags home
     and stringing them.  Johnny Shields was a blind man who...
     used to walk back and forth to the Tag Company.  He had a
     sort of rope that went up across his shoulder and he had it
     set up so he could carry several boxes of tags.  And then he
     would sit on his front porch and string tags, and walk back
     and forth to the factory to get more tags."(19)

     The putting-out system was industrial work done in the home
for wages.  Such work was attractive to women who needed an
income but wanted to continue homemaking and caring for their
children.(20)  West Chester's tag companies may have serviced the
local community by providing a "social security" income for
persons who would otherwise have been unable to support
themselves.  This system appears to have existed from 1888 until
at least the 1940's despite the use of tag stringing machines.

THE GROWTH OF THE KEYSTONE TAG COMPANY
     Many published accounts of Samuel O. Barber describe him as
a genial, energetic, prosperous resident of West Chester and a
pioneer in the tag business.  Barber was respected for producing
quality goods at fair prices.  Shortly after starting the
Keystone Tag Company, Barber made his first attempt to expand the
size of his factory.  He requested a portion of the lot at the
borough's stone crusher on South Matlack be transferred to him
for free.(21)  Members of West Chester's Borough Council
considered this land to be expendable and wanted to sell it for a
nominal price to the company.(22)  They believed that a factory
would benefit the borough through increased tax revenues and
employment opportunities for town residents.(23)  During the turn
of the century many West Chester's residents viewed factories as
benefits to the community's growth and economy.  In 1892 a
newspaper article stated that the establishment of a factory
would offer hundreds of young girls a "respectable and light
employment" and that there would be more applicants than they had
positions to fill.(24)  Several years later a local businessman
stated "We need factories as it increases our population and
helps businesses...We can afford to be liberal with all new
manufacturing companies."(25)  Although a favorable atmosphere
for the construction of a new manufacturing industry prevailed in
West Chester, Samuel Barber's land deal fell through and the tag
company remained in the Hoopes warehouse until 1908.
     Although the company's physical growth did not expand past
the walls of the Hoopes warehouse, from 1905-1907 Keystone Tag
reported substantial increases in its business.(26)  For example,
in January 1906 the company reported an export of 2.5 million
tags.(27)  By 1907 the company experienced difficulty obtaining
the materials needed for tag manufacturing.  Mr. Barber reported
that paper mills throughout the country are "full of orders" and
that "all lines of business" are more prosperous now than they
had ever been.(28)
     After a second failed attempt to acquire land in order to
build a tag factory, Barber purchased a plot of land from David
J. Scott on Mechanic Street in December 1907.(29)  Within four
months the two story brick building containing about 10,000
square feet of space was completed.(30)  The new Keystone Tag
Company plant was described as a modern factory, well lit,
ventilated and heated to accommodate the comfort, convenience and
efficiency of its workers.(31)  A year later the company built an
addition onto the factory increasing the size of the factory to
20,000 sq. feet.(32)  
     The first floor of the factory contained the machine shop,
the shipping and receiving department and storage space for the
enormous rolls of paper, ink for the presses, glue for the
adhesive, completed tags and other supplies.  The second floor
contained presses, several tag machines which cut out the tags,
and punched holes, if needed.  Also on the second floor were the
machines which made the boxes to store the completed tags and
administrative offices.  The division of the factory into two
stories enabled the company to separate its various departments
as well as its workers.(33)  

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN FACTORY LABOR
     During most of the 19th and 20th centuries industries "sex-
typed" work and blue-collar work of industrial production was no
exception.  The men employed by the Keystone Tag Company worked
as salesmen, machinists, shipping clerks, truck drivers and
laborers.  Pressmen were responsible for overseeing the
maintenance of the machines.  These men set the type, cleaned the
wells when they became full of ink, and changed the paper
rolls.(34)  
     Women ran the tag and box machines, and did most of the hand
stringing.  This was classified as unskilled work, because a new
employee could be trained by a more experienced worker within a
week.  However, many women machine operators, although not
trained to do so, acquired more advanced skills such as the
ability to clean their own machines when they became full of ink. 
Learning to maintain their own machines meant that these women
did not have to wait for a pressman to attend to their
machines.(35)
     In addition to sex-typing job duties, the factory also paid
its workers unequally, and during the first half of this century
women were paid significantly less than men.  For example, in
1909 the Keystone Tag Company offered its employees gifts on
Christmas eve.  Men were given a ton of coal and a turkey, women
were given kidgloves.(36)  The most likely rational for this
inequality is that many women working in gainful occupations in
the early 1900s were unmarried and lived with their parents. 
Conversely men were still considered to be the primary
breadwinners and therefore required higher wages.
     Another example of sex-typing was observed after a fire
damaged the factory.  Early in the morning of February 12, 1914
as Harry Barber arrived at work to find a smoke filled office and
"a lively blaze leaping along the ceiling of the operating
room".(37)  Barber attempted to extinguish the fire using a hose
from a 50 gallon Chemical tank.(38)  Unfortunately this failed
and Barber called the fire department who responded by pumping
water from hydrants into the factory.(39)  Ironically, the fire
caused minor damage to the building but much of the equipment and
stock were destroyed by the water from the hydrants.  The
estimated total loss of property was between $6,000 and $7,000. 
The building suffered $1,200 in damage and several machines were
damaged.(40)  The "girls" who worked at the factory were sent
home while the men were employed in cleaning up the debris and
removing damaged stock.  Fortunately for the women workers, the
tag machines escaped serious damage and they were able to return
to work within a few days.(41)
     The Keystone Tag Company resumed business shortly after the
fire and in May of that year reported exporting tags throughout
the U.S., Cuba, Mexico, Australia, India, South Africa, and the
Phillippines.(42)  The factory continued to operate as a family
owned business for several more decades.  

THE FACTORY CHANGES HANDS
     In 1923, Samuel Barber retired from active management.  His
son Harry, who had been operating the plant with his father for
twenty-four years, succeeded him as president of the company.(43) 
Upon the his father's death in 1925, Harry Barber became the
company president.  As a result of provisions in his father's
will, Harry also became the major stockholder of the company.(44) 
Fourteen years later, Harry died and the company was turned over
to his brother, Dr. S. LeRoy Barber.(45)  Unlike Harry, LeRoy had
little experience operating a factory.  Instead, Dr. Barber
received a medical degree from Hahnaman University Hospital and
practiced medicine from his home on Church Street.  As a
consequence, Dr. Barber's brother-in-law George McFarland (one of
the original founders of the company) became the active director
of the company.(46)  
     However, three years later, in February 1941 the Barber
family sold its interests in the Keystone Tag Company to Edward
F. Beatty of Dilworthtown.(47)  This marked the end of forty
years of a family owned and operated tag manufacturing company.

MODERNIZATION
     The 1940's was a time of modernization at the Keystone Tag
Company.  Improvements were made to the factory and modern
equipment was installed.(48)  Another form of  modernization was
a more equal treatment of female workers.  Most outstanding was
the promotion of Ms. Henrietta K. Fetters to an executive
position.  Ms. Fetters had worked as a private executive
secretary for the company since 1923 and after the company was
sold to Mr. Beatty she was appointed as Secretary Treasurer of
the company.  This was exceptional, as very few women ever
crossed the threshold from clerical to executive or managerial
positions.  According to Matthaei's book, "Managerial jobs were
intrinsically masculine, developing and giving expression to
masculine competition for self-advancement.  Clerical positions
were permanently subordinated, dead-end positions which allowed
women to keep their femininity..."(49)  
     Additionally, in 1943, the Keystone Tag Company began
recognizing its employees for 25 years of loyal service -- both
men and women received war bonds in appreciation of their
continuous service.(50)  This is a stark contrast to the days of
women receiving kidgloves and men getting a ton of coal. 
Awarding long-term company employees with war bonds served to
strengthen the employee-employer relationship, as well as the
patriotic atmosphere of this era.  To further illustrate the
patriotism of the company, in 1945 the factory hosted its 4th
annual picnic, touted as "A Victory Outing."(51)  It should be
noted that company picnics and service awards began after the
transfer of the company from the Barber family to Mr. Beatty.  
     Another change in the factory that took place after 1941 was
its transition from employing girls to employing married women. 
While there is no direct evidence that Keystone's female
employees were young, unmarried girls, this hypothesis is
supported by numerous references to female workers as girls and
that in 1920 only 23% of American women over the age of sixteen
engaged in gainful occupations were married.(52)  Ironically,
after the Depression the number of married women workers
increased at a rate of 30.0 despite legislative attempts to
restrict the employment of married women.(53)  Therefore it is
not surprising that during the 1940's and 1950's married women
were employed at the factory.(54)  Working at the tag plant
enabled these women to supplement their husband's salaries.  It
is not known what a full-time female worker earned at the
factory, however due to the Fair Labor Standards Act women
working in businesses conducting interstate commerce were to
receive a minimum wage of $.40 per hour.  If the Keystone Tag
Company was paying at least minimum wage, a full-time female
worker earned $16.00/week or $832.00/year.  Even for the 1940's
this was not a substantial wage.  Therefore in addition to
working full-time at the factory some women supplemented their
income by doing ironing and laundry in their homes.(55)
     In 1950 the Keystone Tag Company reported a business volume
of $.5 million which was the largest in the company's 50 year
history.(56)  The company was producing tags for large American
firms such as Ford and duPont.(57)  Despite the apparent success
of the company, in 1955 Ed Beatty entered into negotiations with
Denney Tag Company.  In 1956 The Keystone Tag Company was
formally absorbed by Denney.(58)  The company's 54 employees were
assured placement at Denney, including Ms. Fetters who was
offered the position of Sales Promotional Manager.(59)  

CONCLUSION
     West Chester has a rich labor history which deserves further
study.  The end of the Keystone Tag Company is indicative of
several declines in the economy and changes in the demographics
of the borough after World War II.  With the closing of the
Keystone Tag Company, West Chester and its residents lost an
employer, an international business attraction and an icon of
America's industrial age.

A NOTE ON SOURCES
     The Chester County Historical Society's clippings file and
news paper microfilms provided most of the secondary sources for
the research of this paper. Primary sources for this paper came
from interviews with a former Keystone employee and West Chester
residents.  Further study of the Keystone Tag Company will depend
upon locating additional secondary and primary sources.  A
starting point for future study would likely be Census Bureau
documents in order to identify how many West Chester residents
listed their occupations in the tag making industry, what their
incomes were, their ages, marital status, race, nativity, as well
as information about their families. 

     Other useful sources may be found among reports which focus
on women and working conditions during the first half of this
century, including those published by the Census Bureau and the
"Federal Report on the Condition of Women and Child Wage-
Earners," by the 61st Congress, second session, Senate Document
number 645.  "Women in Gainful Occupations 1870 to 1920" provides
information about general trends, but includes no specific
information about industries in West Chester, Pennsylvania due to
the relatively small population of this town.  Another path of
research which may provide information about West Chester's tag
industries are union documents published by the International
Brotherhood of Bulk, Sulphite and Paper Mill workers, A.F. of L.,
CIO.  It is not know if such documents exist, however,
unionization attempts were made during the 1950's.  


WORKS CITED

"Adjusted Insurance at the Keystone Tag Company" in Daily Local
News (February 19, 1914).
Daily Local News articles listed under "Denney Tag Company" in
Chester County Historical Society clippings file.
Gincely, Anne.  Interview by Kelly McVeigh (West Chester, PA,
April 12, 1997).
Hill, Joseph A.  WOMEN IN GAINFUL OCCUPATIONS 1870 TO 1920 (New
York:  Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1972).
"Keystone Tag Plant Suffers," in Daily Local News (February 12,
1914).
Matthaei, Julie A.  AN ECONOMIC HISTORY OF WOMEN IN AMERICA  (New
York:  Schocken Books, 1982).
Morely, Thomas "Pat".  Interview by Jim Jones (West Chester,
February, 1997).
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 1799-1949 WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA (West
Chester, PA, 1949).

West Chester Star articles listed under "Keystone Tag Company" in
Chester County Historical Society clippings file.

Wandersee,Winifed D.  WOMEN'S WORK & FAMILY VALUES, 1920-1940  
(Cambridge, MA:  Harvard University Press).

Transcribed copy of the "Last Will and Testament of Samuel O.
Barber" in CCHS.


REFERENCE NOTES

1. Daily Local News (February 21, 1888), "Denney Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

2. SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 1799-1949 WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA (West
Chester, PA, 1949), 12.

3. Daily Local News (August 17, 1962), "Denney Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

4. Daily Local News (September 6, 1888), "Denney Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

5. Daily Local News (August 24, 1948), "Denney Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

6. Daily Local News (June 19, 1901), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. Daily Local News (October 14, 1901), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

10. Daily Local News (June 19, 1901), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

11. Daily Local News (May 30, 1914), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

12. Daily Local News (October 12, 1901), "Keystone Tag Company"
in CCHS clippings file.

13.  Daily Local News (September 1, 1906), "Keystone Tag Company"
in CCHS clippings file.

14. Daily Local News (July 7, 1902), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

15. Daily Local News (January 18, 1902), "Keystone Tag Company"
in CCHS clippings file.

16. Ibid.

17. Daily Local News (January 12, 1901), "Denney Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

18. Ibid.

19. Thomas "Pat" Morely, interview by Jim Jones (West Chester,
February, 1997).

20. Julie A. Matthaei, AN ECONOMIC HISTORY OF WOMEN IN AMERICA,
210-211.

21. Daily Local News (March 1, 1902), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

22. Daily Local News (March 10, 1902), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

23. Daily Local News (March 1, 1902), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

24. "West Chester Pays Her Working Girls Low Wages, but Has Many
Out Positions" in Daily Local News (March 1, 1902).

25. Daily Local News (March 1, 1902), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

26. Daily Local News (January 9, 1906), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

27. Daily Local News (September 1, 1906), "Keystone Tag Company"
in CCHS clippings file.

28.  Daily Local News (April 4, 1907), file "Keystone Tag
Company" in CCHS clippings file.

29.  Daily Local News (December 11, 1907) "Keystone Tag Company"
in CCHS clippings file.

30.  Daily Local News (February 29, 1908) "Keystone Tag Company"
in CCHS clippings file.

31.  West Chester Star (May 30, 1914) "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

32.  Ibid.

33.  Anne Gincely, interview by Kelly McVeigh (April 12, 1997).

34. Ibid.

35. Ibid.

36. Daily Local News (December 28, 1909), "Keystone Tag Company"
in CCHS clippings file.

37. "Keystone Tag Plant Suffers" in Daily Local News (February
12, 1914), 1.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid.

40. "Adjusted Insurance at the Keystone Tag Company" in Daily
Local News (February 19, 1914), 1.

41. "Keystone Tag Plant Suffers" in Daily Local News (February
12, 1914), 1.

42.  West Chester Star (May 30, 1914) "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

43.  SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 1799-1949 WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA (West
Chester, PA, 1949), 77.

44. Transcribed copy of the "Last Will and Testament of Samuel O.
Barber" in CCHS.

45.  SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 1799-1949 WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA (West
Chester, PA, 1949), 77.

46.  Ibid.

47.  Daily Local News (July 07, 1951) "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file .

48. SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 1799-1949 WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA (West
Chester, PA, 1949), 77.

49. Matthaei, AN ECONOMIC HISTORY OF WOMEN IN AMERICA, 223.

50. Daily Local News (January 9, 1945), "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

51. Daily Local News (September 10, 1945), "Keystone Tag Company"
in CCHS clippings file.

52. Hill, WOMEN IN GAINFUL OCCUPATIONS 1870 TO 1920, Table 119,
230-231.

53. Wandersee, WOMEN'S WORK & FAMILY VALUES, 1920-1940, 91-99.

54. Anne Gincely, interview by Kelly McVeigh (April 12, 1997).

55. Ibid.

56.  Daily Local News (July 7, 1951) "Keystone Tag Company" in
CCHS clippings file.

57.  Ibid.

58.  Daily Local News (January 20, 1956) "Keystone Tag Company"
in CCHS clippings file.

59. Ibid.