The nation's oldest cutlery manufacturer has filed for bankruptcy after 177 years of making knives and other kitchen tools, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Lamson & Goodnow Manufacturing Co. of Shelburne Falls, Mass., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month and the business has also put its 18-acre factory complex up for sale. According to federal bankruptcy court in Springfield, the company filed for bankruptcy protection as a result of two multimillion dollar loans it could not repay. The company owes $1 million on a U.S. Small Business Administration loan and more than $2 million to the small business corporation in New York. Founded in 1837, the company has been owned by James Ross Anderson since 1998.
