History
The Stanley Bottle was invented by William Stanley Jr, in Great Barrington, MA, as a result of his work with transformers. During this work, he discovered that a welding process he was using could be used to insulate a vacuum bottle with steel instead of glass and the Stanley bottle was born.
By 1915 William Stanley began mass production of the Stanley bottle. He acquired an empty building, renovated and equipped it with machinery for production of insulated jugs, beverage servers and desk top decanters.
In 1916, William Stanley died at 57. He is best remembered for his work in electrical power transmissions in addition to his invention of the Stanley bottle. After his death, a New York City investment company acquired the operation and hired a mechanical engineer, Harry Badger, as General Manager who continued to invent and develop new products which expanded the product line.
In 1921, Landers, Frary & Clark (L.F&C) of New Britain, Connecticut (a major household appliance manufacturer) purchased Stanley Insulating Company and added the Stanley line to their appliance and hardware lines.
In 1933, the entire Stanley operation moved from Great Barrington, Massachusetts to L.F&C’s plant in New Britain, Connecticut. During this time, Harry Badger became Chief Product Research and Manufacturing Engineer and in the following years he continued to develop and add more products to the Stanley line.
In 1949 Harry Badger retired and John Ezra became Chief Product Research and manufacturing engineer. From 1949 – 1965 fifteen new products were added and Stanley was now used by the majority of airlines, railroads, ocean lines, hospitals and mass feeding institutions.
In 1953 the Pint Quart and two Quart bottles were improved to utilize common cups, collars, and stoppers.
In 1960, the JP Williams Co acquired control of Landers, Frary, & Clark and sold the Stanley operation to Aladdin Industries, Inc in Nashville, Tennessee. All of Stanley’s operations were moved to Nashville and by 1966; the first Aladdin Stanley bottles were shipped.
In 1968 the insulated cup and threaded stopper were designed and manufactured providing a reduction in manufacturing costs and operating equipment as well as an improved aesthetic appeal.
In 1976, a ‘short’ two-quart Stanley bottle was introduced which improved its utility and ease of handling. In 1988 the bail handle was replaced by a side handle. In the mid 1980s a side handle also was introduced in the 1 QT bottle. During this time the 24oz wide mouth bottle with an insulated cup was also produced.
In 2002, Stanley was purchased by Seattle, WA based Pacific Market International (PMI), founded by Rob Harris in 1983. Under new ownership sales for Stanley have grown globally and the brand has grown to include several product lines including a performance based outdoor line.