High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Napier Company got its start in North Attleboro, Massachusetts 1875, under the name Whitney and Rice, manufacturing silver men's watch chains. In 1882, the company became known as Carpenter and Bliss, and shortly thereafter it had become the E. A. Bliss Company. The company relocated to Meriden, Connecticut in 1890, after the company sustained rapid growth in the previous decade. During World War I (and again in World War II), they ceased production of jewellery, and instead focussed on producing war-related items, such as medallions and medals.