In 1874 a new patent was added to the many inventions for which this establishment was famous. Its purpose was to produce a solitaire stud made in two parts, so as to enable its ready application without the trouble of passing a button of large diameter through a small buttonhole. A self-acting steel spring is fixed in the upper part of the stud, and snaps as soon as inserted into the lower part, where a slight pressure on two projections releases the springs and permits the separation of the two parts. These solitaires are manufactured of gold, silver, and a variety of other metals, the principal of which is gold plate. There are now more than five hundred patterns in existence, and this useful manufacture grows daily in extension. Perry & Co.'s paper binders, an article now universally used for fastening together loose papers, cloth patterns, etc., are produced in infinite styles and sizes, principally by self-acting machinery.
The total number of workpeople employed in the company's manufactories exceeds 1,300.
The business of Perry & Co. was carried on for more than forty years at 37 Red Lion Square, London, but the increase of business and the reconstruction of London required that a more central position should be found for the development of the commercial department of the company. Large and handsome warehouses having been constructed on the Holborn Viaduct, the company transferred their London depot to a building five stories high on the side fronting the Holborn Viaduct and eight stories high at the back. In this immense warehouse are stored not only the produce of the manufactories of this company, but also special articles for which this firm has been famous for the last thirty years, principally the elastic or endless bands, patented by Mr. Daft and Mr. Stephen Perry, and originally introduced by Perry & Co. in conjunction with McIntosh & Co., afterward in conjunction with Warne & Co. Perry's Royal Aromatic Bands are now an indispensable article, and may be procured in every city of the world. Every fancy article required by stationers can be found in these vast stores. An illustrated price current which appears monthly, and which numbers more than 120 pages, gives fair idea of the variety of articles of which samples and stock can be found ready for daily delivery. The increase of business has been so rapid that the company found it necessary to lease the adjoining premises, which is stored with some of the two thousand articles forming the staple trade of the London depot, and the principal of which are the following: American Letter Files, Clips (now manufactured in Lancaster Street), Marking and other Inks, Aromatic Bands, Audascript Pens, Bostonite Goods, Cigar Lighters, Copying Ink and Copying Ink Powder, Copying Ink Pencils, Copying Presses, Corrugated Imperial Bands, Essence of Ink, Grease Extractors, India Rubber for Erasing, Ink and Pencil Erasers, Ink Extractors, Patent and other Inkstands in every variety, Key Rings, Letter Clips, Letter Files, Metallic Books, Paper Binders, Pencil Point Protectors, Pencils and Pencil Cases, Penholders, Pen Knives, Pen Racks, Gold Pens, Portfolios, Presses, Scotch Tartan Fancy Goods, Solitaires or Sleeve Links, etc., etc., etc.
This establishment is under the exclusive management of Mr. Joseph J. Perry, managing director.
[The illustrations in this work are engraved from pen-and-ink sketches executed by Walter Langley with a Perry's No. 25 pen.]
