Jacob Bromwell - MorningCalM November 2018

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WORK IN PROGRESS

Founded in Ohio in 1819, Jacob Bromwell has grown alongside the United States in the nearly 200 years the housewares company has existed. Its historic lifestyle goods remain contemporary, embodying the ever-shifting character of America.

1819. The national anthem of the United States is only five years old. The Union is composed of just 22 states. A conflict that will forever define the country is looming on the horizon, with the passing of the Missouri Compromise the next year solidifying the rift between North and South.

It was in this formative, powder-keg moment that a young man from Baltimore, Maryland, traveled west to Ohio to start a housewares company called The Bromwell Brush and Wire Goods Company. While the country at large was on the edge of an ideological reckoning, Jacob Bromwell began to manufacture everyday items for those pushing past the territorial edge of the US, like tin cups and popcorn poppers, as well as one of the most iconic symbols of a wanderer: the hip flask.

To this day, the company — now called Jacob Bromwell — produces a flask of the same 19th-century design and materials. Its body is made of pure copper, while molten, lead-free tin is applied to the interior using a process that’s proprietary to the company. In The Great American Flask’s copper-red surface you can see a reflection of the past in motion. The flask wasn’t a utensil that belonged in the kitchen; it was an accessory that followed you out the door. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Jacob Bromwell flasks even accompanied soldiers into battle.

The company’s two-century journey has taken it across the US. From Ohio, it spread to seven factories in various states throughout the 19th century. Today it’s headquartered in California, once again near the country’s western edge. Sean Bandawat acquired the company at 23, having recently graduated from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. He was determined to unearth the value it could hold for Americans today. “I was immediately captivated by the products, the story, the history,” he says. “It was a massive turnaround project that took around two and a half years.”

When Bandawat bought the then-named Bromwell Housewares in 2010, it was suffering an identity crisis. “That was a key part of the turnaround process, because at the time I took over the brand, it was all over the place,” he says. “It was in a lot of different product categories — like candles.” One of the first steps Bandawat took was to pare the product line down to a handful of kitchenware and housewares products that were most emblematic of its place in American history, like its signature flask and its flour sifter, which was one of the first in the world. There are also chestnut roasters, graters and pie plates, which were sometimes used to sift for gold during the California Gold Rush, which began in 1848.

The company takes special care to produce these items using historical methods — soldering them instead of welding, for example, in order to echo how Bromwell products were made in the early 1800s. Its Classic Tin Cup is manufactured using machinery that’s about as old as the Civil War. By leaning on its history, the redefined Jacob Bromwell was no longer just selling high-quality goods. It was selling American identity.

It’s said that you are what you eat, but it seems you’re also what you consume. People today pay closer attention to brand identity than ever. A 2015 study on modern consumption habits found that 91 percent of Americans aged 18 to 34 would, given two similar brands, switch to the one associated with a good cause. A brand’s identity becomes an extension of your personal identity.

There were three key parts to Jacob Bromwell’s rebranding: maintaining its dedication to hand- manufactured quality (every one of its products comes with a lifetime guarantee), being produced entirely in the US and, of course, epitomizing an alluring narrative of American history and tradition. Jacob Bromwell has tied its own identity to national identity, though what that exactly entails has always eluded perfect definition.

In its rebirth, though, the company has embraced imperfection. While it exalts high quality, it doesn’t think of the trait as utter technical flawlessness. Jacob Bromwell stands against what it calls an “over-perfected modern lifestyle.” Because the products are hammered into shape by hand, small imperfections can occur. “I would say every once in a while we get a customer who’s disappointed because they’re looking for something more uniformly made,” Bandawat says. “But I think for the most part our customers come to us specifically for that reason.” Appreciation for its well-crafted flaws is transnational; the brand’s products have a surprising following in Japan.

Jacob Bromwell recalls an ideal of the US in its early days, when American life was lived on the edge of the unknown. Though the company is about to celebrate its 200th anniversary, it remains young and malleable. So long as what it means to be American is still evolving, so will Jacob Bromwell.