Springfield Metallic Casket Company

Reverse reads: "500 ton double casket press. Metallic casket ('bliss')". This photograph shows three unidentified men loading a metallic casket lid into a double action press machine called "Bliss" at the Springfield Metallic Casket Company in Springfield, Ohio. The Springfield Metallic Casket Company, was located on the northeast corner of Main and Mechanic (now Lowry) streets in Springfield, Ohio. The company was founded in 1884 by A. A. Baker, D. R. Hosterman, Ross Mitchell, Scipio E. Baker, and Edgar N. Lupfer. The company grew to become one of the nation's largest manufacturers of metal caskets and burial vaults. By 1959 it had 230 employees. In the early 1960s, the company became a division of Springfield Greene Industries, Inc., which also owned Springfield's Thermometer Corporation of America. Later, it became a subsidiary of A-T-O Corporation of Willoughby, Ohio. The casket company finally had to close its doors on November 30, 1974 after almost 100 years of continuous production. It was one of the largest producers of burial vaults and metal caskets in the country, and some rumors claim that caskets were built there for Al Capone, President John F. Kennedy, and Buffalo Bill Cody