A Brief History of the Warren Trask Company as It Celebrates 100 Years
Since its inception in 1924, Warren Trask Company has developed close relationships with more than 75 mills across the globe for the past 100 years.
One of the more ominous features of the National Industrial Recovery Act was to require all purchasers of mill-direct products to be “wholesalers.” They, in turn, were obligated to sell only to retail lumberyards, who would then sell to the building contractor. If enforced, this would spell the end of Gerrity Company, which was resented by the retail lumberyard world within Gerrity’s trading area.
In response, Joe Gerrity did two things:
1) He started a wholesale lumber company.
2) He went to Washington to challenge the constitutionality of the NIRA on the basis that it effected an illegal restriction of trade. Three years later, this effort proved successful with the overturning of the National Industrial Recovery Act by the Supreme Court in the “The Schecter Chicken” lawsuit.
Joe Gerrity selected a college roommate, Warren Trask, to run this new company as sort of an “anchor to windward” in the event the act was not overturned, at which point Gerrity Company would cease to operate. Out of deference to his friend, Joe Gerrity named the new company The Warren Trask Company. During the years the act was being challenged, the company developed excellent relationships with a number of retail lumberyards, and while making very little profit, the company was paying its own way.
After the success in overturning the constitutionality of the NIRA, Joe Gerrity, out of respect for his friend and because the company could stand on its own, decided to continue operating the Warren Trask wholesale company. Warren Trask, due to his repeated use of the phrase “ditto,” operated the company until the late 1940s when he died. The management was then taken over by Walter Webb, who soon became a beloved name within the lumber industry and enjoyed a significant measure of success until 1987, when he retired. Therein followed a brief oversight by Richard Wilson, who was then succeeded by Vincent Micale, under whose leadership the company prospered. Today, Bernie Nugent is at the helm and is looking to continue the company’s success by introducing new products, refining operations, and expanding the geography.
Top row left: Bernie Nugent. Top row, right: 50’s Trask sales office circa 1950’s.
Middle row, left: 1950’s office management. Middle row, right: Lakeville warehouse crew.
Bottom row, left: original mill pond. Bottom row, right: 1960’s mill operation.
Logos: Trask Wholesale Lumber logo, circa 1960. Puritan Pine logo from 1960’s. Warren Trask Co. Logo (banner and tree), 1970-1990. Warren Trask Company Logo, 2003 to present.