Wendell August Forge Launches NFL Giftware
GROVE CITY, PA — Wendell August Forge is launching a collection of Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns keepsake gifts, the result of a new license agreement with the National Football league.
The gift items, which include key chains, bag tags and coasters in aluminum and bronze, will be hand-forged — the signature process of Wendell August Forge.
“We’ve been forging metal for nearly 100 years, and this is the most significant opportunity for our company to date,” says Christian Werner, president of Wendell August Forge, in announcing the NFL product launch.
Additional home decor, entertaining accessories and ornaments will launch through the summer and fall, he adds.
“There’s a fan in every household throughout the country,” says Werner. “As these fans choose to support our NFL collection, they will be helping to preserve and create new jobs in America.
Obtaining a license for an NFL brand is a difficult and meticulous process, according to Werner.
“The NFL saw something unique in the Wendell August brand, specifically the quality of the giftware and being an American manufacturer,” he says.
Wendell August Forge was established in 1923 in Brockway, Pa., by Wendell McMinn August, who was active in the coal industry. August engaged Ottone Pisoni, a blacksmith in his coal mine, to hand-forge door latches for his home. Admiring the low cost and quality of Pisoni’s work, August was inspired to start a decorative ironware business.
Today each piece is still hand-wrought using an eight-step process with roots in ancient metalworking techniques.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
