How Many Mesh Bags Were Made of a Certain Design? 

wadco

Image 7001 – The WADCO NEWS was the official newsletter of the Whiting & Davis Company in the 1920s and 1930s.

This is probably one of the mysteries that will not be solved. To our knowledge no records detailing such facts were kept that survive today. However, the Whiting & Davis company newsletter, Wadco News, gives some insight into this question. A 1926 Wadco issue noted that only 50 mesh machines were in operation in 1912. In an August 1921 issue, it was stated that 350 mesh machines were in use. Shortly thereafter, the August 1922 issue reported that one department had set a record of 37,704 bags processed in the month of June of the same year. By 1926 the number of mesh machines Whiting & Davis used to produce mesh for bags had risen to 500. One can only imagine how many bags must have been produced each month at that time. It is not known how many bags of a certain design were made, but it was probably more than might be expected since thousands of bags were being produced each month. Collectors today must be asking, “So why can’t I find that one particular design I’m looking for?” That’s a mystery we’d all love to solve.

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