With 2018 marking their 60th Anniversary, the company that manufactured the first commercially produced twisted wire mascara brush is adept at looking ahead to the future while still honoring the past and the industrial significance of its place of origin.
Sanderson MacLeod’s is the story of a local company that grew to be an industry leader. By developing proprietary automation designs and creating supply integration solutions along with patented products and processes, over the last six decades the company has literally become the premier player in twisted wire brush manufacturing.
“When it comes to being on the cutting edge of production capable twisted wire brush innovation and automation, every designer knows partnering with Sanderson MacLeod is critical,” said Christopher Tarling, CEO of Manhattan-based consumer product development firm MIXCreative, LLC. “The Sanderson team is very talented in quickly assessing which ideas can realistically be produced on a large scale.”
Nestled in the heart of the Quaboag River Valley, this geographic location still possesses the extraordinary talent and Yankee ingenuity that once made it a significant chapter in New England’s industrial story.
It’s a story of company and place worth remembering and celebrating. After recently expanding their Brush Innovation Center (BIC), Sanderson MacLeod’s president, Mark Borsari was looking for a way to memorialize this rich manufacturing history in a focal point that would both delight and inspire employees and clients alike. What better, centralized piece to embellish that ideal than the BIC conference table – a gathering place for brainstorming ideas and discussion.
Enter Bruce Rosenbaum of ModVic, LLC. After he and wife Melanie relocated their home, studio workshop, and Steampunk gallery to Western Massachusetts, Bruce and Mark were introduced by local architect Robert Haveles who had a hunch the two would hit it off.
He was right! After a tour of the manufacturing facility and BIC, which is a unique work environment that offers proprietary sampling systems and prototyping equipment focused on reducing client brush development time – Rosenbaum and Borsari discussed their shared visions and passion of mechanical and technical innovation – and the concept of the Steampunk conference table was born – the ‘heliXwing’.
Both then set out to assemble a team comprised of local artists, Pathfinder Vocational students and instructors, and Sanderson and MacLeod’s own toolmakers.
Lead by Rosenbaum, the team took a collaborative approach to sourcing materials and constructing the table into a functional art piece (click here to view video). The table is nearly 100% fashioned from long-retired brush making tools, automation equipment, and industrial revolution era antiques found in the company’s warehouse and local antique markets.
“I chose to move to this area (Thorndike, MA) because I wanted to share my passion for technical artistry with trade school students, other artists, and talented young people,” said Rosenbaum. “The Sanderson Steampunk piece tells the story of how a local company came to be an industry leader and gave us a really amazing opportunity to engage with, and hopefully inspire, local students about what careers in modern manufacturing or art fabrication can be like.”
According to Borsari, Steampunk’s history as an artistic movement made it the perfect medium for the project. By definition, Steampunk is the fusion of History, Art, and Technology.
“The table has come to represent not only our love of innovation but how we seek out inspiration from the most obscure places,” said Borsari. “It’s also become a great way to recognize the dedication, creativity, and hard work of all past and present Sanderson and MacLeod employees. As this idea started coming together, just buying a traditional conference table started to seem much, much too ordinary.”
Borsari was also amazed to see the conference table do its work (both literally and figuratively) when one of his clients came in to brainstorm ideas for new brush designs and spent 30 minutes first talking about the table, taking pictures, and sending images back to their home office to show off the creativity and innovative nature of the company they are doing business with. Borsari noted “Our creative problem solving and collaboration skills are now all laid out on the table for our clients to see and appreciate.”