Mirro Aluminum Company

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The roots of the Mirro Aluminum Company, commonly known as Mirro, can be traced to the 1885 founding of the Aluminum Manufacturing Company by Joseph Koenig in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. In 1909 Aluminum Manufacturing Company merged with Aluminum Novelty Company, founded in neighboring Manitowoc, Wisconsin by Henry Vits, and the New Jersey Aluminum Company. The combined company was renamed the Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company, was headquartered in Manitowoc and headed by Vits. The name stuck until 1957 when shareholders approved the change to the Mirro Aluminum Company, a title referring to a number of the company's popularly-known products.

At its peak, Mirro was the United States' largest manufacturer of aluminum cooking utensils, and over time had as many as eight plants in three states, with products ranging from pots and pans to small boats and aluminum siding.

Mirro was acquired by the The Newell Companies in 1983. Facing stiff competition from other manufacturers, Newell had moved most of its Manitowoc area operations out of the country by 2001, and shuttered the most modern of the area Mirro plants in 2003. Mirro also closed its administrative offices in Manitowoc at that time, ending the company's 118 year history in the area.

Tim Martinez and a group of workers laid off in the 2003 closings went on to purchase the Mirro Drive plants and founded Koenig & Vits, a custom aluminum manufacturing company, and it continues to operate today.

In December of 2005, Mirro's landmark plant and former headquarters in downtown Manitowoc was purchased by Kenneth Lemberger, the owner of a local construction company. He announced plans to tear down what is considered to be the city's most visible reminder of the company's history. However, those plans are now on hold.