Manning, Robinson &  Co., Gold, Silver and Nickel Electroplaters, and general manufactures of Electro Silver-ware, are located at No. 54 West Fifth Street, nearly opposite the Tyler Davidson Fountain.  The business was established in 1865.  The firm manufacture Tea, Water, Dinner, and Dessert Sets, in finest quality of white metal and nickel, as a base for heavy electro-plate guaranteed on all their wares.  Among the articles may be mentioned Tea and Coffee Urns and Sets, Ice Pitchers and compete Sets, Fruit Stands, Cake Baskets, Butter Dishes, Castors, Card Receivers, Vases, and other parlor and mantle ornaments; also Spoons, Forks, Knives, etc, in elegant designs and finest  workmanship.  They also make a specialty of all kinds of Plating for the trade, and are the sole licensees in Cincinnati for doing the celebrated nickel plating.  They deal largely in fine Bronze Ornaments, which are being placed so generally in homes of culture and refinement.

The firm consists of Messrs. H. A. Manning, and G. C. Robinson, of Cincinnati, and E. B. Manning and Robert Bowman, of West Meriden, Conn.; and the Eastern members are engaged, with a force of upwards of 100 employees, in producing many of the goods there which are finished by the house here, employing 16 workmen, by which means it has unusual facilities for providing specially for its first-class retail trade.

 

Excerpt from 1875 Kenny's Illustrated Cincinnati; pages 173-175

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