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Rice & Hayward.

[Albumen photograph of the exterior of Rice & Hayward Manufacturers of Crackers & Biscuits.]

Providence, Rhode Island, [ca. 1865]. Albumen print, image size 14.25” x 9.75”, mount size 17.75” x 15”, with hand-coloring to American flag. CONDITION: Very good, strong tonality, a few short tears along the margins, a few abrasions at lower-left corner, light wear.

A photograph of the premises of an important supplier of hardtack to the Union Army during the Civil War, which for a time was the largest manufacturer of breadstuffs in Rhode Island.

Established in 1849, the bakery of George W. Hayward (1817–1888) and Fitz James Rice (1814–1893) operated at the corner of Broad and Pearl Streets in Providence. The company manufactured all kinds of plain and fancy crackers, biscuits, bread and pastry. At the time this photo was taken, Rice & Hayward occupied numbers 434 to 440 Broad Street. The company’s name can be seen on a building at left and also above the awning at right (“Rice & Hayward, Bakers”). A hand-colored U.S. flag flies atop one of the bakery’s buildings, this patriotic note perhaps suggesting that the photograph was taken during the Civil War or in any case alluding to the bakery’s contribution to Union victory. 

Hayward and Rice started the business with two nine by twelve foot ovens, and in 1851 two more ovens were added. Around 1856, the company purchased the pie-baking business of Calvin Rockwood and at this time was selling its goods in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The company became Rice, Hayward & Co. in 1858 after William S. Hayward (1835–1900), who married Rice’s daughter Lucy Maria Rice (1840–1906), purchased an interest in the firm. In November 1861, the Rice, Hayward & Co. and L. H. Humphreys & Co. established the Rhode Island Bakery in Washington D.C. At this time, there was a large number of troops encamped around the city. After the bakery enjoyed several months of satisfactory business, President Lincoln ordered the army to march “on to Richmond” on February 22nd, 1862, which decreased business. In turn, the Washington bakery was sold.

In May 1863, both Rice and George Hayward sold out their interest to William S. Hayward, who in turn introduced new and improved machinery. The Providence Plantations notes that “All the soldiers enlisted for the war of the Rebellion in the State of Rhode Island, while in the state, were furnished with bread from this bakery.” Rice & Hayward provided the Union with “biscuits,” i.e., hardtack, which constituted one of the most common, if infamous, meals for Union soldiers (but was less common in the rebel army). 

William Hayward carried on the business alone until November 1865, when Rice, desiring again to engage in business, became a partner in the company. The firm again became Rice & Hayward and continued for several more decades. In 1870, Rice & Hayward bought out the business of Providence Union Baking Co. While operating the company, William Hayward was active politically in Providence, serving on the City Council (1872–76), Mayor (1880), and in the State Legislature (1885–86). After his death in 1900, the business was continued under the direction of his wife.

An appealing image of an important Rhode Island bakery. 

REFERENCES: Greene, Welcome Arnold. The Providence Plantations for Two Hundred and Fifty Years (Providence, Rhode Island: J. A. & R. A. Reid, publishers, 1886), pp. 280–81; Hall, Joseph O., Ed. Biographical History of the Manufacturers and Business Men of Rhode Island (Providence, Rhode Island: J. D. Hall & Co., 1901), p. 229; “Hardtack during the Civil War” at National Park Service online.

Item #8287

Price: $650.00

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