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Jewelry boxes that protect and store with style and elegance.

History of Mele Companies

Emidio Mele, an immigrant from the small town in Italy called
Volturarra Irpina founded Mele in 1912. Emidio immigrated to
the USA at the age of 12 in 1896 and lived with a family in
New York City that was from his same hometown. Wolfsam
and Sachs, a maker of display cases for jewelry, employed
Emidio at a very young age. It was here that Emidio learned the
trade that would later be the basis of his own company.

In 1912, at the age of 28, Emidio started his own business,
Mele Manufacturing. When Mele was established, its focus was
on designing and building elegant displays for jewelry store
windows.  Emidio was the craftsman, salesman, and the
deliveryman.
One of Emidio’s first customers was Tecla Pearl who sold an exquisite line of pearls and
owned a retail store on Fifth Avenue.

The business grew and survived the Great Depression of the 1930’s and early 40’s.
The entry of the US into WWII had a tremendous impact on manufacturing since materials were
very difficult to obtain for consumer goods. However, the company was fortunate enough to
receive orders from the government to design and build the boxes that held the Purple Hearts
awarded from the war. These orders helped the company survive during these years.
In the 1940’s, three of Emidio’s four
sons joined the company. Edward, the
eldest son, joined Mele after
graduating from college. Joseph and
Raymond both first served in the
military, Joseph as a tugboat captain
and Raymond as a fighter pilot. In
1947, after the war ended and they
both graduated from
college, Joseph and Raymond joined
the family organization.
During this decade, the demand for consumer goods rose, so the company began to prosper.
Mele had a spectacular success with their introduction of a covered jewelry box with a tray that
automatically rose as you lifted the lid. In 1948 Macy’s listed this box as one of the ten best-
selling holiday gifts in an article featured in Life magazine. Mele was becoming a household
name!
In addition to the popular covered jewelry boxes,
the company saw much success in the mid 50’s
with the introduction of musical jewelry boxes,
with the musical movement imported from
Switzerland. Shortly after, Mele added a children’
s music box with a revolving ballerina, which was
an instant success. In the spring of 1957, black
lacquer jewelry boxes were being sold in a New
York City department store and Mele began
importing these also.  These Japanese lacquered  
boxes were an immediate hit.
From the lacquer boxes evolved what became known as furniture miniatures, which were small
versions of various styles of furniture. These are representative of many of the styles featured
in today’s Mele  jewelry box collection.
By the 1950’s, Mele had experienced spectacular growth, and
had facilities in seven locations in New York State, including
one in the Kerk Guild building in Utica, NY. Due to so many
locations, the company decided to consolidate to a single
location to be more efficient. In 1956, the entire Mele operation
was moved to a 450,000 sq. foot complex in Utica, New York,
which had formerly housed the Utica Knitting Company Mill.
This relocation allowed the company to continue to grow and
add additional lines to the Mele organization.

Over the following years, Mele acquired a group of companies
ranging from packaging to modular flooring. In 1961, E & A
Gunther Co. was purchased, which was selling jewelry boxes in
Canada, and later was named Gunther Mele. Also In 1961, the
Farrington Packaging division was purchased, which produced
custom packaging. In 1968, Mele purchased Lionite Ltd., which
became the European manufacturer of jewelry boxes known  
today as Lionite Mele Ltd. Six years later, Blue Star Leather
was purchased, specializing in handcrafted leather desk
accessories, which today is also the exclusive distributor of the
dated products and specialty books branded
Leathersmith of London.  The following year in 1975, Mateflex,
a plastic injection modular flooring company, became part of
the Mele organization. Farrington Loose Leaf – a bookbinder
manufacturer- was purchased in 1985.
Today, our company is known as the Mele Companies in order to encompass all divisions.
Recently, we moved all of our operations, except the Farrington division, to a newer more
efficient facility – still in the city of Utica. We have a long history in this city and we are proud
that we have been able to maintain our presence in a city rich in Italian heritage, just like our
company. Our new facilities have allowed us to be much more productive in all aspects, allowing
us to serve our customers even more efficiently. Mele is the foremost name in jewelry cases and
we aim to continue leading this category well into the future. Our jewelry boxes can be found in
department stores, jewelry stores, independent gift stores, children’s stores and luggage stores
throughout the country. Throughout our history, we have developed strong relationships with
our retailers throughout the country, while still maintaining our Mele Family atmosphere. It is our
goal to continue cultivating these relationships and adding many new ones to our Mele Family in
the years to come and to continue as “America’s Foremost Name In Jewelry Cases Since 1912!"