Oneida Silver Company

The Oneida company began as a religious/social society. In 1848, John Noyes developed a theology of Perfectionism. There were two basic values: self-perfection and communalism. Property and work were to be shared, so that the interests of one were the interests of the whole group. The small unit of a family became the larger unit of the group.

The Oneida Community Mansion House in Upstate New York was built in phases from 1848 to 1880 and served for the social practices of a 300-person commune living as one family. They began canning fruit and vegetables for market. They became skilled in the manufacture of chains and traps, eventually learning how to make knives, forks and spoons.