Trivia 4-14-15 Breaking the Law!

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A company in New York was producing two unique and opposing products in 1861, one of which was soon declared illegal by the US government . What was the company and what were they producing?

credit: @Northern Light
 
American Banknote Company producing Union and Confederate banknotes

"In 1861 the American Banknote Company of New York city was printing the first issue of the new United States of America "greenbacks." At the very same time, they were also printing the first issue of Confederate States of America currency. The US government soon prohibited American Banknote from continuing this practice. To overcome this, they just moved a portion of their operation to New Orleans and continued producing Confederate currency under the nom de guerre of Southern Banknote Company."

http://www.americancivilwarstory.com/strange-and-interesting-civil-war-facts.html

Don't ask me how I found this! I was first thinking of ammunition and some kind of early bullet-proof vests, then something in connection with poisonous food preservation products who might be regarded healthy at first and then suddenly I thought I could just look at those "strange facts about the Civil War" sites and now I think this might be it.
That was tough, @Northern Light , but while looking on these sites I found at least yesterday's answer, which unfortunately I missed... better late than never!
 
National Bank Note Company and the American Banknote Company, both of New York, printed "northern" and "Confederate" bank notes in 1861 until the government stepped in. The first company smuggled over a million dollars worth of Confederate currency south first!

Note: it wasn't long before it was made illegal to produce the "northern" bank notes also. The National Banking Act (ch. 58, 12 Stat. 665; February 25, 1863), originally known as the National Currency Act finally put a stop to banks issuing their own currency altogether, making Federally produced notes the only valid form of paper currency.

I quote Copperhead-mi on this forum from August 1, 2011:

The first Confederate notes were authorized under the Act of March 9th, 1861 and issued beginning on April 5, 1861, while the capital was in Montgomery Alabama. These notes were printed by the National Banknote Co. out of New York City. When the Federal government prohibited the National Banknote Company from further supplying the Confederacy with its notes, another New York City firm, the American Banknote Company, secretly moved part of its production to New Orleans and continued printing notes as the Southern Banknote Company until the September 2, 1861, issue when the Federal government declared the American Banknote Company was supporting the Confederacy and its equipment was seized.
 
New York's National Bank Note Company and the American Bank Note company were producing currency for both the Confederate government and United States government. The National Bank Note Company produced the first issue of Confederate currency during March 1861 while the Confederacy's capital was in Montgomery but once war broke out in mid April 1861 between the Confederate States and the United States, the U.S. Treasury Dept. seized the currency plates from the National Bank Note's facility in New York. The American Bank Note Company produced the earliest notes of the Second Issue after the capital moved to Richmond. These notes were produced in New York but the company's president feared being caught by the Federal government so they moved the plates and presses for the Confederate currency to their New Orleans branch and renamed that branch the Southern Bank Note Company.
 
"In 1861 the American Banknote Company of New York city was printing the first issue of the new United States of America "greenbacks." At the very same time, they were also printing the first issue of Confederate States of America currency. The US government soon prohibited American Banknote from continuing this practice. To overcome this, they just moved a portion of their operation to New Orleans and continued producing Confederate currency under the nom de guerre of Southern Banknote Company."
http://www.americancivilwarstory.com/strange-and-interesting-civil-war-facts.html
 
The company was Charles Goodyear's vulcanized rubber products company. At the time, they were producing India rubber ground cloths for the US army. The production of all civilian rubber products, including condoms :unsure:, was outlawed in 1861 so that the company's resources could be dedicated to the production of military products.

(To save you trouble searching for references to this......I will admit I have searched for two days for an answer to this questions but I actually have NO idea. :nah disagree: So I just took a shot in the dark. It would be really funny if this turned out to be true. :bounce:)

Edit - Very imaginative - but not the correct answer.

Hoosier
 
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New York Life-slaveholder policies

Edit - Interesting answer, though I can't give credit for it. New York Life did, at one time, issue policies insuring the lives of slaves for their owners. There were also other insurance companies that did the same.

However, New York Life's board of trustees made a corporate decision to cease issuing such policies in 1848, long before any legislation was passed to make such policies illegal.

Hoosier
 
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Answer : In 1861 the American Banknote Company of New York city was printing the first issue of the new United States of America "greenbacks." At the very same time, they were also printing the first issue of Confederate States of America currency. The US government soon prohibited American Banknote from continuing this practice. To overcome this, they just moved a portion of their operation to New Orleans and continued producing Confederate currency under the nom de guerre of Southern Banknote Company. http://www.americancivilwarstory.com/strange-and-interesting-civil-war-facts.html
 
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