Robert Wallace began in the cutlery field at the age of 18 in 1833. He leased an old grist mill in Cheshire, Connecticut and began the manufacture of spoons.
Robert Wallace introduced the manufacture of German Silver into the United States. In 1834, he met a man from New Haven, Connecticut who showed him a spoon made of German Silver. This was a new metal in the United States. Wallace learned that another man had brought a small bar of the metal from Germany, and he purchased it. He then had the bar rolled, and made four dozen spoons, which he quickly sold.
Mr. Wallace paid $25 for the formula, and made preparations to manufacture German Silver. He moved his factory to a shop in Quinnipiac, Connecticut, and in 1834 made the first German Silver ever manufactured in the United States.
Wallace did little, if any, manufacturing in German Silver, and soon became an employee of Hall, Elton & Company, makers of Britannia spoons. In 1855, he left Hall, Elton & Company to form a partnership in Wallingford, Connecticut under the name R. Wallace & Company.
In 1865, they became Wallace, Simpson & Company. Mr. Simpson sold his interest in 1871, and they were incorporated later in 1871 as R. Wallace & Sons Manufacturing Company.
They made all types of table service, and in the late 1800s, some pocket knives. In 1955, the company became Voos Associates Incorporated.
c 1871-1955