Oldest Aquarium Manufacturer in the U.S.?

An 1876 print advertises E.W. Taxis, a “Practical Aquarium Tank Manufacturer” based in Philadelphia. It notes that thirty-five tanks were in the possession of the Bureau of Agriculture and being displayed for sale in Agricultural Hall, one of five buildings at the Centennial Exposition. The event took place from May 10^th to November 10^th, 1876, in Fairmont Park, Pennsylvania, and commemorated the one-hundred-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The advertisement claims that E.W. Taxis is “the oldest in the United States,” and touts their position as the only manufacturer in Philadelphia experienced in the production of specialty tanks. Specifically, they promote their aquariums made of iron, slate, marble, or combined materials, and emphasize their ability to ship said tanks to buyers in the U.S. and Canada. Despite these claims no additional records of E.W. Taxis have been identified in readily accessible archival or digital sources, suggesting the firm may have been a small, short-lived aquarium manufacturer.

Image of the Agricultural Hall. Credit: https://www.loc.gov/item/90708470/

The listing for products and animals exhibited in the Agricultural Hall of the 1876 Centennial Exposition lists 3 manufacturers of aquariums during this time:
Exhibit 123 – Douglass W. & B., Middletown, Conn.
Exhibit 124 – Murphy & Broom, Philadelphia, Pa.
Exhibit 126 – Taxis, E.W., Philadelphia, Pa.

Credit: https://archive.org/details/internationalexh00unit_2/page/16/mode/2up