The Celnik family, which was apparently Jewish, originally came from Poland. Before the First World War, the Celniks settled in Glasgow and became involved in the cutlery and jewellery trades. In 1920, Celnik Bros Ltd was listed in Glasgow as an electro-plater at Oswald Street.  Later the Celniks moved to London, where they became linked with a German family, the Sippels. At the start of the 1930s, the Sippels were UK agents for the latest German technologies in the manufacture of flatware (spoons and forks) by using huge friction screw presses. Two individuals can be identified in the Celnik family: Samuel (1909-1991) and Albert (1917-?).  Their family relationship is unclear: they may have been brothers, but more likely were cousins. The Sippels and Celniks soon parted amicably to establish their own cutlery enterprises. The first was B. & J. Sippel Ltd, which gravitated to Sheffield, with Samuel Celnik as the works manager. The second was Celnik & Power Ltd, which was incorporated in 1933 as a holloware manufacturer at Stannard Road, Dalston, East London. This was run by Albert and Arthur Edward Power (1889-1955). The latter, who had been born at Walton-on-Thames, was an engineer. He had been a manager at a manufacturer of mechanical appliances for dentists.

In 1948, Celnik and Power relocated to Wales, as part of the government’s regional development plans. The firm was offered a site in the Rhondda Valley at Llwynpia, an old mining town, near Tonypandy. By the mid-1950s, about 75 workers were employed, with about half the workforce disabled miners (Western Mail & S. Wales News, 30 January 1956). An output of 200,000 pieces each week (including knives, forks, and spoons) was claimed. The firm targeted the popular end of the market and relied on factoring (buying-in products). However, Albert bragged that the firm has a ‘secret process’, which would make it difficult for Sheffield makers to compete with them. Asked for details, he replied: ‘It is just one of those things you stumble across by mixing two-pennyworth of this with a pennyworth of that’ (Western Mail & S. Wales News, 25 January 1956).  This may have been a reference to the firm’s ‘GLOSSWOOD’ range of flatware, which was produced by casting bronze, and then polishing and chromium plating before adding a wooden handle.

Arthur Edward Power died on 19 January 1955, aged 65, leaving £32,670.  He was replaced in the business by John Shillito Power (presumably his son). Celnik & Power had a good network of sales agents and publicised their products widely, partly by sales promotions. The Hawley Trust item is a steak knife, which would have been sold with a fork. In one promotion, six steak knives and forks were given away free with the purchase of every new gas cooker from Wales Gas (North Wales Weekly News, 29 October 1964). But exporting through Cardiff from an isolated Welsh valley was a problem, and so too was factoring products, such as knives. This was partly solved by John Price (of Arthur Price Ltd). In 1967, Albert Celnik and John Power met Price in Birmingham. Price recalled that, in effect, they said to him: ‘If I was so smart, why couldn’t I make cutlery for them?’ (J. Price, The Cutler’s Tale, 1997). Price designed a new range, ‘HENLEY’, which was the cheapest pattern possible (with knives cold-formed from an alloy of 18% chromium and 8% nickel). For years the pattern sold well, with Price’s press shop achieving volumes of 40,000 pieces a week for Celnik & Power (compared with 100,000 pieces a week for Price’s own firm). ‘Fine Tableware from Sheffield’ was printed on Celnik & Power’s plain cardboard boxes.

But Celnik & Power was eventually unable to compete with cheaper Far Eastern cutlery imports. The firm declined in the 1970s and was wound up by its chairman, John Shillito Power, in 1984.  Albert Celnik apparently died in Cardiff, but his death date has not been traced. Samuel Celnik had returned to London and died on 30 July 1991, aged 82. His estate was valued at £240,722.