The town that ivory built

Did you know that once upon a time, some 90-95% of the US trade in ivory went through just two neighboring south Connecticut towns? Read all about it at the Ivoryton web site:

Initially, combs represented the majority of what was produced, but soon all types of toiletries were being made as well as items such as toothpicks, buttons and billiard balls. During the middle and latter half of the nineteenth century, home entertainment came into focus and this had a dramatic effect on the production of pianos and organs. These two local factories manufactured the keys, keyboards, actions and sounding boards for many of the well known piano makers, including Baldwin, Everett, Wurlitzer and the like.

The ivory business in Connecticut came to an end in 1958, but in its heyday was going through elephants at a furious clip:

In 1884, three quarters of the Ivory exported from Zanzibar was sent to Deep River and Essex where it was primarily used for the manufacturing of keyboards. It has been estimated that 30,000 elephants were killed between 1905 and 1912 to supply these factories. A 70-pound tusk would supply ivory for about 45 keyboards

Posted by David on August 2, 2003 8:33 PM