Forming in 1930s, the Edmont Manufacturing facility in Coshocton, Ohio had a hand in developing some of the most widely used gloves today. When the factory in Coshocton closed in 2011, we rescued 18,000 square feet of tongue & groove square edge Foundry Maple, preventing it from ending up in a landfill. We also rescued an additional 300 square feet with the original gray paint on the wood, plus a metal hand (more on that below).

Foundry Maple’s unmatched coloring ranges from browns and golds to greys and the occasional lavender tones, and is full of texture, original distressing, and as mentioned, occasional original paint.  It is an extremely durable hardwood that’s a very desirable material for old factory floors. Today we see the storied wood put directly back into use as flooring in high traffic spaces like retail stores. Its character only gets better with use, though for some venues the original look is preserved and celebrated as paneling.

Factory history:

Edward Montgomery took to his garage in the early 1930s, experimenting with developing a durable cotton glove. It was there he learned that if he took cotton gloves and dipped them in tire repair rubber then vulcanized them on a hot plate, he’d have a highly durable glove. 

Moving to an abandoned factory in Cochocton, OH a few years later, the Edmont Manufacturing Company became the world’s largest producer of coated gloves, later developing a range of specialized rubber coatings for various jobs. Through mergers and acquisitions, Edmont Manufacturing established the core industrial business of Ansell Edmont Industrial, making Ansell the world’s largest producer and distributor of medical, household and industrial gloves today. (Some of the reclaimed flooring from the Glove Factory has found new life in The Cub Room in Rochester, NY, below.)