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PASSING IN REVIEW 
 
COPYRIGHT 1925 
 
 HART MIRROR PLATE COMPANY 
 GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 
 
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 MIRROR HISTORY 
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 ay, its way to the sea. It was long ago, very 
 , long ago. It was so long ago that no 
 trace of the rift or the brook is now to be found. 
 It was long before the primitive Aryans sought the 
 desert sands of Iran, long before the white race began 
 its conquest of the earth. 
 
 On its way to the sea, the little brook tarried here 
 and there, as if to rest itself, as if to ponder and reflect 
 upon its course. Being made, as we lately have learned, 
 of countless atoms, each with its revolving stars, the 
 little drops of water gathered in deep places, in shady 
 nooks, around the outskirts of the bends, or at the foot 
 of some obstruction, as if to counsel with one another 
 and compare observations. Over one of these pools 
 had fallen a tree whose still luxuriant branches played 
 in the ripples and whispered fancifully to the little 
 drops of water the secrets of the mighty earth. It had 
 heard from other trees and other branches that a new 
 life had come into the wood—a life different from all 
 that had ever lived there before. 
 
 Presently the whispering was hushed. A melody 
 
 Page eleven 
 
 f ROVE wey . 
 CPACT WAS. 
 
came into the air, a new note unlike that of the birds, 
 the trump of the elephant or the roar of the saber- 
 tooth tiger. 
 
 ‘Here she comes,” whispered the tree to the pool. 
 
 And she came—a woman, brown, lithe and shapely. 
 A leopard skin met the flowing gold in the hair and 
 escorted it to the waist. A garland of fresh olive 
 blossoms, suspended from the neck, swayed with the 
 rhythm of her limbs. Her eyes were of a deep blue set 
 like sapphires in two little fields of white. 
 
 The age-old forest had seen much life. It had seen 
 the woolly-haired mammoth come and go, laughed at 
 the antics of the marsupials, cradled the jibbering apes 
 and trembled when ferocious mastodons had battled to 
 death in the deep shadows of its groves. 
 
 But it had never seen a woman. All life seemed to 
 stop and wonder as this future ruler of the earth 
 paused on the shore of the playful little stream. The 
 thousand voices of the forest were hushed. The cata- 
 ract, at the foot of the pool, seemed as if bashful, in 
 her presence, to continue its song. 
 
 The water in the pool, awed by the beauty and the 
 presence of the woman, abandoned its spirit of play- 
 
 Page twelve 
 
fulness and stood still for the first time in its joyous 
 life. Its surface was quiet and unruffled. No breeze 
 stirred. 
 
 The surface of the pool became the first mirror. 
 It reflected the glories and the majesty of all it could 
 see. Miraculously, there were now two trees where a 
 moment before there had been only one. The wooded 
 banks of the stream, the sky, the fleecy clouds,— 
 everything was pictured in the pool. 
 
 The girl—for she was only a girl—gazed in wonder- 
 ment at the transfiguration. When she moved, another 
 girl moved in the pool. When she raised her arms, the 
 girl in the pool raised her arms. And when she beck- 
 oned her to come ashore, the girl in the pool seemed to 
 beckon her to come into the water. Presently the girl 
 from the forest climbed out upon one of the branches 
 of the fallen tree and reached for the image in the pool 
 as if to help it ashore, but when her shapely hands 
 touched the water, the girl in the pool was disturbed 
 and would not heed her. Then the girl in the tree 
 knew that it was a reflection of herself. 
 
 For a long time she sat there in silent communion 
 with her likeness. She fitted and refitted the olive 
 
 Page thirteen 
 
blossoms around her throat and shoulders to see what 
 particular frame suited her best. She moved and 
 removed the leopard skin, the more to enhance the 
 something within that told her she was beautiful. She 
 made faces at the girl in the pool, who quickly replied 
 in form. Then she smiled and learned always to seek 
 the best in the image of the pool. 
 
 Yes, that was the first mirror. Of course, this is all 
 a fairy tale, but it has three morals—that the first 
 mirror was a pool, a lake or a body of still water, that 
 it was discovered by a woman and that ever since no 
 one has been able to make a mirror tell a falsehood, 
 that is, if it was a good mirror. 
 
 * * * 
 
 But be this fable or fact, we know that when men 
 and women had learned to understand their images as 
 reflected in the still waters, they also learned to improve 
 upon those images. It was probably their first step in 
 reflection. Seeing themselves as they were caused 
 either happiness or pain. The mirror created an inner 
 consciousness of beauty as contrasted with ugliness. 
 It educated primitive man to a sense of comparative 
 
 Page fourteen 
 
self values and gave birth to what we know as personal 
 pride. It gave him a greater joy in his mate and it 
 created in the woman an enduring watchfulness over 
 her natural attractions. It urged her to remain young 
 and helped her to recognize and resist the advance 
 of age. 
 
 The mirror and adornment have ever gone hand-in- 
 hand. We do not know which came first, but we 
 know that jewelry and cosmetics could find no place in 
 this world were it not for the mirror. Sight is the 
 most necessary, the most responsive of all our senses. 
 ‘Know thyself,” said Solon, thereby meaning, “mirror 
 yourself as you are.” 
 
 Hence, the mirror has been one of mankind’s most 
 consistent civilizers. It has alternately kept it in check 
 and urged its advancement. It is one of the most 
 truthful inspirations that has ever figured in the story 
 of the human race. As a rule, we know what a mirror 
 is going to say. We seldom argue with it. 
 
 The mirror is and always has been a teacher. It 
 teaches us care and caution and keeps us ever trying 
 for a better and a more pleasing presentation of our- 
 selves. It is a mentor that checks our mistakes. We 
 
 Paze fifteen 
 
ask its opinions every morning of our lives and several 
 times during the day. Fancy a life without a mirror! 
 
 To heed the mirror is to live longer. Oftentimes 
 the mirror warns us of approaching dangers, of illness 
 or physical disturbances. It reflects happiness and fear 
 with equal unconcern and is quite frequently a whole- 
 some companion of our consciences. Many a rash deed 
 has been prevented by a look into the mirror and, like- 
 wise, a mirror can be a cruel painter of remorse. 
 
 The best way to be on friendly and happy terms 
 with a mirror is to follow the best that is in us. It 
 seems, frequently, that the mirror has a spirit that 
 rejoices in the happiness of the thing it portrays. In 
 reflecting inanimate things it is equally as lifeless as are 
 the objects placed before it. But, somehow, it takes on 
 added glory when the rays of a happy soul strike the 
 sensitized layers of its silvery white. 
 
 Page sixteen 
 
The 
 
 STORY OF THE 
 MIRROR 
 
——UMIVERSITY 8 
 
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HIE word “mirror” comes to us through 
 s} the old French mirour, which, in tum, 
 MH] traces its origin to the Latin word 
 
 mirart, which means “to admire.” That 
 is not what the Romans called it, however. They held 
 to the word speculum, which, in turn, is taken from 
 the Latin word specere, meaning “to look,” or “be- 
 hold.” It is from this word that we derive the term 
 ‘speculum metal,” composed of an alloy of copper or 
 tin and capable of taking a brilliant polish for the 
 purpose of reflection. 
 
 The mirrors of the ancients, principally of the 
 Etruscans, Greeks and Romans, consisted usually of a 
 thin metal disk which was either polished on one side 
 or covered with a fine metallic film. Their use dated 
 back to the earliest antiquity. We read in Pliny’s 
 natural history that there existed in the ancient city of 
 Sidon, in Phoenicia, frequently referred to in the Bible, 
 a manufactory of “mirrors of glass,” and we learn from 
 the few that have been found, that they were coated 
 with tin, some with silver. 
 
 As early as 400 years before Christ, hand mirrors 
 were common among both the Greeks and Etruscans, 
 
 Page nineteen 
 
the latter being the people preceding the Romans in 
 Italy. The difference is largely in the ornamentation 
 on the back. The early Greek mirrors contained 
 figures of the gods, particularly Eros, corresponding to 
 Cupid, the god of love. Hence, it is significant that 
 on both sides of the mirror, particularly the hand 
 mirror, mankind for ages has accustomed itself to look 
 for the best, finest and most inspiring. 
 
 The ruins of Pompeii have given up many mirrors 
 of many kinds. Then, as now, the mirror was highly 
 ornate. It seems that, in common with furniture, the 
 early mirror was designed principally for people of 
 taste, culture and a high sense of artistic appreciation. 
 Exquisite figures, moulded or engraved upon the backs 
 of mirrors, have been found in the ruins of the resi- 
 dences of both Greeks and Romans. While Homer 
 makes no mention of mirrors, they are frequently 
 referred to in the Greek plays written subsequent to his 
 time. Most of these were hand mirrors, but the 
 younger Seneca, who was born three years before Jesus 
 Christ, tells us in his ““Natural Questions” that some 
 were large enough to reflect a person’s whole figure, 
 
 Page twenty 
 
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HART MIRROR PLATE COMPANY 
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 HART MIRROR PLATE COMPANY 
 BUILDING AND OFFICE 
 
were in vogue early in the Sixteenth century. They 
 were called “Bull’s-eyes,” 
 
 Mirror making, for more than 200 years, was more 
 or less a secret process. So strong became the mirror 
 trust in Europe during the Sixteenth century, that it 
 was not safe for anyone outside of the elect to venture 
 into the business. Death, kidnaping and other forms 
 of dire punishment awaited those who trespassed upon 
 the sacred right of “mirror silvering.” For many years, 
 the industry was confined to Venice, where, in 1564, 
 the corporation was formed which spread terror to all 
 who attempted to engage upon a competitive enterprise. 
 
 But the demand increased, and, early in the Seven- 
 teenth century, we find Italian workmen making mirrors 
 in England. The Duke of Buckingham, about 1670, 
 interested himself in a glass works at Lambeth, where 
 “flint glass” was made for looking glasses. France had 
 considerable difficulty in importing Venetian mirror 
 workers, who, according to the Bishop of Beziers, had 
 no urgent desire to be thrown into the Adriatic sea as 
 a penalty for taking the secret of mirror making out of 
 their own country. France persisted, however, and 
 
 Page twenty-six 
 
after the industry was established, French mirrors soon 
 excelled in quality those of Venice. With the intro- 
 duction of plate glass in 1691, the art of mirroring 
 received a new impulse and the use of mirrors became 
 more general among all peoples in all walks of life. 
 
 Page twenty-seven 
 
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MIRROR-MAKING 
 PHILOSOPHY 
 
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Cre itLE mission of a mirror is to reflect, truth- 
 6 e . 
 
 Re, fully and faithfully, that which comes 
 
 yet 44a before it. To do that it must be as nearly 
 
 ] perfect as human skill can make it. 
 
 For ages the making of the mirror has been shrouded 
 in mystery. And not without cause. There is a mys 
 tery in mirror making—the mystery which attaches 
 itself to all the things made by man that require 
 patience, exactness and skill. 
 
 To explain in detail the process of mirror making 
 would entail reciting in technical terms a formidable 
 array of mechanical and routine performances, as would 
 be necessary in telling the story of steel, furniture, or 
 the making of shoes. All have a fundamental basis, a 
 program, after the manner of speaking. This program 
 changes according to the quality of the product. 
 Likewise in the making of mirrors. Fundamentally we 
 silver a piece of plate glass. Technically that process 
 entails an endless amount of skill, treatment and care. 
 
 All the elements of human application enter into 
 mirror making. It calls to its aid the sciences of 
 chemistry and engineering in their most approved 
 and modern forms. It deals with temperatures and 
 
 Page thirty-one 
 
atmospheric conditions, and the mirror must be made 
 impervious to these. You can make a semblance of a 
 mirror by pouring a liquid silver solution upon a piece 
 of window glass, but that mirror will not endure. 
 It will not be truthful nor will it stand the strain of 
 the service required of it. 
 
 The mirror bears a close relationship to the furniture 
 on which it is used, in that it serves both artistic and 
 utilitarian purposes. For infinitely less than the cost of 
 a dressing table you can make something upon and in 
 which to place the things it contains. Likewise with 
 the mirror that is a part of it. The roughly silvered 
 window glass may have thrilled the prehistoric woman, 
 but it would add little to the comfort, enjoyment and 
 cultural requirements of the woman of today. Relative 
 quality, therefore, goes hand in hand in the companion- 
 ship of mirrors and furniture. The best furniture 
 demands and should have the best mirrors, as it de- 
 mands and has the best design, the best material and 
 the best workmanship. 
 
 In the making of mirrors we deal with two outstand- 
 ing factors. They are the glass on which the silvering 
 is done and the process, the human effort, of making 
 
 Page thirty-two 
 
the mirror. The glass reaches the mirror maker in all 
 grades, conditions and sizes. In that respect the prob- 
 lem of all mirror manufacturers is the same. After he 
 has the glass the quality of the mirror becomes largely 
 what the maker turns out. He can make a poor mirror 
 with a good glass, or he can improve the glass and 
 make a good mirror. 
 
 There is no short-cut to fame, in the making of 
 mirrors. The business functions under well established 
 economic laws. It is governed by supply and demand 
 both as to quality and quantity. Its success depends 
 upon the excellence of the product, plus the most 
 economical plan under which that excellence may be 
 attained. If, in that plan, the mirror maker can add 
 some detail to the quality, contribute some added 
 advantage in the service rendered, if he can add to the 
 brilliance and the length of the life of his mirrors, he 
 is making mirrors plus. If he cannot do these things, 
 either he or some one else must pay into the finished 
 product what was omitted in its making. 
 
 Modern mirror making differs but little from the 
 established methods of the past. It consists of pre 
 paring the glass for silvering, of removing blemishes and 
 
 Page thirty-three 
 NNN |} \ 
 
 Sark 
 
 Man 
 
imperfections, of sealing the backs and edges against 
 contacts with moisture, dirt and foreign substances. 
 This process is broken only by repeated inspections. 
 Improved machinery has materially simplified mirror 
 making, but the mirror is still and always must be a 
 hand made product, because each mirror must receive 
 the constant attention of the individual workman. 
 At no stage of its making does it leave the scrutiny of 
 the eye, or the touch of the hand. It is a work that 
 does not lend itself to the bulk economies characteristic 
 of the making of most modern products. 
 
 The mirror maker is one of the last survivors of the 
 old guild school. He must be fitted for his work by 
 temperament as well as by desire. Mirror making 
 requires infinite patience, a trained eye and a careful 
 nature. The mirror maker cannot be rushed or nettled. 
 He cannot cheat or hurry through his day’s work. 
 His training usually begins with the boy, who is formed 
 and moulded with almost the same accuracy that is 
 necessary in the work itself. There still remains among 
 good mirror makers that pride of performance which 
 aligns and holds the industry among the arts. 
 
 Admitting, then, that in mirror making there is no 
 
 Page thirty-four 
 
special patent upon which one may have more claim 
 than another; admitting that it is a well established 
 industrial process open to human effort, what is the 
 claim of the Hart Mirror Plate Company to the con- 
 sideration of the trade? 
 
 Obviously upon a full complement of the merits 
 which enter into mirror making. For twenty-five years 
 we have silvered mirrors with the closest attention to 
 these homely, though fundamental principles. And 
 with each year we have learned not only how to silver 
 more but better mirrors. With each year we find that 
 our product endures, that it gives satisfaction and 
 service. With each year our business has grown a 
 little larger and our friends and patrons more numerous. 
 With each year we have added to the care, patience 
 and thoroughness of our effort, but with no added cost 
 to the consumer. We have no costly sales department. 
 We have none of the glamors of atmosphere which 
 often deceive the eye and sway the judgment of those 
 who want their money’s worth in the ‘marts of trade, 
 The Hart Mirror is in all respects a modern product of 
 the conscientious “‘silverer’’ of the Righteenth century 
 who knew how to do one ae wel | | Pee hl Ne 
 
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SPIRIT OF HELPFUL CO-OPERATION 
 
 What most impresses the visitor to the Hart Mirror 
 Plate Company plant is the spirit of enthusiasm and 
 co-operation in evidence in every department. The 
 whole establishment functions like a harmonious family. 
 The reason for this splendid spirit is the long and close 
 bond between the management and the employes. 
 A skilled workman, who has been with the company 
 for a quarter century, puts it this way: “I like to work 
 here. So do all the others. We feel that our labors 
 are appreciated. We know that the management has 
 our interests at heart. We know that our jobs are 
 secure, that we will have steady employment. We 
 know that we are expected to do our best and that our 
 best means a high standard for the product, with a 
 steady demand for it, which means continuous employ- 
 ment for us. Some of the men drift away from here 
 for a time, but most of them are glad to come back, 
 and when they come back they usually stay here. I am 
 happy in my work, and I don’t want to hunt a job any- 
 where else. It is a pleasure to do my best, because I 
 know what I do counts in my favor as well as for the 
 success of the business.” 
 
 Page thirty-six 
 
Here is the story of the success of the Hart Mirror 
 Plate Company. It is no mystery, it is not a secret, it 
 is common sense applied to industry. The standard 
 has been set high, and the standard is maintained. 
 Only the best of materials are used, only the most 
 skilled craftsmanship is utilized. In such a plant nothing 
 but a high standard of product can be turned out. 
 Buyers of mirrors long ago learned that when they 
 purchase the Hart product they are getting the best. 
 And Hart customers demand the best. 
 
 Modern furniture, in the manufacture of which 
 Grand Rapids excels, makes heavy demands for mirrors. 
 As the furniture manufactured in the city is of the 
 finest grade, so the demand is for mirrors of the superior 
 quality. Thus it came about quite naturally that the 
 Hart Mirror Plate Company should have been estab- 
 lished in Grand Rapids twenty-five years ago. 
 
 FOUNDED BY JOSEPH S. HART 
 
 The business was founded by Joseph 8. Hart, whose 
 memory is still cherished by thousands of his fellow 
 citizens who learned to esteem him through years of 
 
 close association and square dealing. Mr. Hart was a 
 
 Page thirty-seven 
 
native of Michigan, having been born in Marshall on 
 December 7, 1858. His first business experience was 
 with a New York mirror house, in whose employ he 
 began his commercial career at the early age of thirteen. 
 He was only sixteen years of age when he was entrusted 
 with matters of importance by the New York firm. 
 On his tour in the quest of new business he came to 
 Grand Rapids. He was at once impressed by the 
 favorable possibilities of this market, and as his visits 
 to Grand Rapids continued he was more and more cor 
 vinced that a mirror plant in the Furniture City would 
 prove an industrial success. 
 
 Mr. Hart studied conditions during a number of 
 years. On his numerous visits to Grand Rapids he had 
 firmly established his own character for sterling probity, 
 for unflagging energy and for progressiveness. He had 
 earned the confidence of all with whom he came in 
 contact either in business or socially. Finally, con- 
 vinced that the time was ripe, he associated himself 
 with two eastern friends, George G. Heye and H. H. 
 Harrison, in the organization in 1899 of the Hart 
 Mirror Plate Company. 
 
 Page thirty-eight 
 
The first officers of the company were George G. 
 Heye, President; H. H. Harrison, Vice President; 
 Joseph S. Hart, Secretary-Treasurer and General Man- 
 ager. From the beginning the burden of carrying the 
 enterprise through to success rested upon Mr. Hart, 
 and ably he bore this burden. Large of heart and 
 sympathetic with all humanity, he was as high-minded 
 in his relations with his employes as he was just and 
 comprehending in his contact with all those with whom 
 he dealt as buyer or seller. He built solidly and firmly. 
 He was both conservative and progressive. Realizing 
 that in the final analysis the high standard of its product 
 establishes the credit and standing of any manufactur- 
 ing establishment, he impressed upon all his employes 
 the fact that only the best work of which they were 
 capable would be acceptable. He singled. out the-most 
 capable workmen. When he engaged the inexperienced ‘re. 
 he was careful to put them through a course of training 
 
 to fit them for the kind of work he demande ed. He 
 
 knew the business. He knew what he Wanted. and he rel » } 
 
 was able to impress his ideas u upon | all his employes. 
 
 But he was not exacting without being’ appreciative. 
 
 He made it worth while for rey iin aR to do their 
 
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 ‘Page thirty-nine 
 HTT! ah Y 
 
 SOV RT 1h 
 
best for him. He stood by them, as he expected them 
 to stand by him. He made his factory a model in 
 cleanliness, in healthful surroundings. The well-being 
 of his employes was as dear to him as his own. 
 
 A POLICY OF FAIR DEALING 
 
 Men like to work for that kind of an employer. For 
 him they will do their best, and nothing less than their 
 best. And thus began the policy of fair dealing, of 
 sympathy, of co-operation, which ever since has char- 
 acterized the plant of the Hart Mirror Plate Company. 
 Under these conditions, it is not surprising that there 
 are still men in the factory who started with it when 
 Mr. Hart established the business. It is not surprising 
 that many others have been in the company’s employ 
 for ten, fifteen, twenty years. It is not surprising that 
 some who go away for a time return, and return with 
 the resolve to stay. From the beginning the standard 
 of workmanship has been the highest, and so it is today, 
 and so it will continue to be. 
 
 Mr. Hart’s policies were firmly established during 
 the years which ensued before he passed away on 
 April 11, 1916, and no changes have been made since. 
 
 Page forty 
 
A few years before Mr. Hart’s death W. B. Banks, 
 who has been with the company since it was estab- 
 lished, was made an officer and succeeded Mr. Hart in 
 the active management of the business. The present 
 officers are: Mrs. Joseph S. Hart, President; Jacob 
 Van Oss, Vice President, and W. B. Banks, Secretary, 
 Treasurer and General Manager. 
 
 In this year, 1925, the Hart Mirror Plate Company 
 is celebrating its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary, as the first 
 silvering was done in the plant in 1900. 
 
 Page forty-one 
 
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