I
t was like a version of A&E’s “Storage Wars” when Adam Foss took a chance on a mystery box at an auction of unclaimed freight in Ohio in 1851. The 29-year-old had just made a whistle stop in Cincinnati as he was travelling from Pennsylvania. He decided to bid on a crate that, once opened, revealed a shipment of hog bristles that came from China. Not having a clue what to do with a case full of hair that grows on the backs of hogs, Foss continued on to Wooster, Ohio along with his curious purchase to visit his older brother, Samuel. Upon arrival, Adam Foss unveiled the interesting auction item to his sibling. The men mulled over what to do with the material before agreeing it would serve as the crowning glory for their handmade hog bristle paintbrushes. They immediately began the assembly process in Samuel’s basement and sold them door-to-door throughout town. Fortunately, they didn’t get the “brush off” as their product was a hit. The Wooster Brush Company began to gain traction. “Word got around that these brushes were quite something,” said Tim Yates, Communications and Multi-Media Manager for the 167-year-old company, its name paying homage to the town where the applicators made their debut. It didn’t take long for Adam and Samuel to transfer their operation out of the basement and into a shop on East Liberty Street in Wooster. “They expanded their door-to-door sales throughout Ohio, and things just continued to grow from there,” said Yates. Soon, the Foss brothers were attracting a loyal following in other States, with customers in Michigan and Indiana. Despite the increase in production, the two were still making and selling their paint brushes themselves in addition to being the owners. After moving a few more times around Wooster and adding to their workforce, the company relocated to a spot on Madison Avenue in 1909. That way, they would be strategically situated close to the railway. The building has expanded several times over the years and now has over 800-thousand square feet of shipping, administrative and warehousing facilities.
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