Sticks, Whips, Canes, Parasols, and Umbrellas

[dognose]

GEORGE SIMPSON & Co.

314, Oxford Street, London



George Simpson & Co. - London - 1864

Trev.

[dognose]

FRATELLI ZANNONE

Via Calzaioli 17, and Via dei Tosinghi, Firenze



Fratelli Zannone - Firenze - 1904

Trev.

[dognose]

BOGEN & TRUMMEL Co.

147-151, Baxter Street, New York



Bogen & Trummel Co. - New York - 1911

Trev.

[dognose]

HOLLAND UMBRELLA AND SPECIALTY Co.

Holland, Michigan



Holland Umbrella and Specialty Co. - Holland, Michigan - 1911

User of the trade name: 'BAKER'

Trev.

[dognose]

DALMAN & NARBOROUGH (formerly Frederick Narborough)

53, Green Street, Doriton, later, 38-40, Lombard Street, Birmingham



D&N - Birmingham - 1970

Established at Birmingham in 1850 by Frederick Narborough.

Various entries with the Birmingham Assay Office ('F.N' and 'D & N') from at least 1881 (the firm themselves note 1859 as their first registration).

See: http://www.925-1000.com/dlBirmingham3.html#M

First entry with the Edinburgh Assay Office ('D & N') on the 10th January 1967.

First entry with the Chester Assay Office ('F.N') in c.1886.

Trev.

[dognose]

HULL BROTHERS UMBRELLA Co.

Ohio



Hull the Jeweler - Wallingford, Conn. - 1910

Established in 1899 as the Hull Brothers Umbrella Manufacturing Company at Norwalk, Ohio. They relocated to Toledo in 1903.

In 1928 the company was reorganized as Hull Brothers & Haas Umbrella Company.

In 1933 the business was reorganised to the Haas-Jordan Company.

In 2002, the F. J. Westcott Company acquired the rights to the Haas-Jordan brand name.


The Hull Bros.’ Umbrella Co., located on Summit St., near the heart of Toledo, has just completed arrangements whereby the concern will have built for its use the finest umbrella factory in the middle west. A large site has been leased on lower Summit St., on which T. B. Allen, of this city, will build a large one-story factory building 125x160 feet in dimensions. All the very latest ideas in factory construction will be embodied in this building, which is made necessary by reason of the firm’s large growth in recent years. The Hull Bros.’ concern moved to Toledo from Norwalk, Ohio, about three years ago. The property owned in that city was occupied as a branch for some time, but recently has been leased, and hereafter the entire efforts of the concern will be concentrated in Toledo. The present building will be given up, although a retail store will be maintained in the business section. Work on the new structure will be started at once and the building should be ready for occupancy early next year.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 4th November 1908

Trev.

[dognose]

IRVING UMBRELLA COMPANY

20, Front Street West, Toronto



Irving Umbrella Company - Toronto - 1896



Irving Umbrella Company - Toronto - 1898



Irving Umbrella Company - Toronto - 1904




Trev.

[dognose]

LE BIHAN

1, Barclay Street and 206, East 14th Street, later, 178, Fulton Street, New York



Le Bihan - New York - 1896

Users of the trade term: "FIN DE SIECLE" (Fin de Siècle - French phrase meaning end of century and applied specifically as a historical term to the end of the nineteenth century and even more specifically to decade of 1890s).

The business of Charles Le Bihan.





From a 1900 advertisement:

THE LE BIHAN Umbrellas have been known to the elite and to those appreciative of fine, exclusive articles for the past fifteen years.

TO CARRY A LE BIHAN Umbrella stamps one as a person of taste, culture and refinement.

LADIES' UMBRELLAS.
A feature of Le Bihan's establishment, and one not found in any umbrella concern in the United States, is the enormous and bewildering display of handles for ladies' and gentlemen's umbrellas. It is not an exaggeration to say that a prospective purchaser can select from a display of one thousand different handles, one in particular that may suit his or her fancy and have it mounted to Le Bihan's famous Fin de Siecle Umbrella In less than a minute!

These handles, comprising the handiwork of the foremost silversmiths of Europe and the United States, are shown in this phenomenal display:–Mother of pearl, with silver and gold mountings; ivory, with silver and gold mountings; tortoise shell, with silver and gold mountings, and a variety of wood handles, plain or with silver and gold mountings, each characteristic of itself.

DON'T THINK TWICE WHAT TO BUY.

An umbrella is always a useful and appropriate gift. If it's a Le Bihan it's one to be proud of.



Le Bihan - New York - 1910


Le Bihan - New York - 1915


Trev.

[dognose]

A Listing of Umbrella and Whip Makers Located at Birmingham in 1835:


UMBRELLA MAKERS

Barry William and Son - 7, Edmund Street
Boyce James and Son - 26, Alcester Street
Boyce John - Meeting house yard
Carter A. and C. - 111, Snow Hill
Dodson John, 12 - St. Martin's Lane
Dutton Thomas - Sherlock Street
Howell Joshua - 79, Bull Street
Jackson Josiah - 52, Constitution Hill
Jones James - 26, Moor Street
Padmore Charles - 24, Coleshill Street
Power William T. - 59, Bradford Street
Roof Green - 36, High Street
Rubery John - 6, Newhall Street


WHIP MAKERS

Ainsworth James - St. Martin's Lane
Bagnall S. - 114, Suffolk Street
Beale Thomas - 131, Digbeth
Bright, Martin, and Co. - New Street
Coates Thomas - 84, Alcester Street
Docker Thomas - 218, Bristol Street
Hanmer Luke - 28, Suffolk Street
Keays William - Colmore Street
Lowton Thomas - Upper Brearley Street
Renaud Thomas - 11, Upper Temple Street
Sheen Richard - High Street
Stubbs Joseph - Bromsgrove Street
Tester Samuel - Curzon Street
Varney and Co. - Cheapside

Source: The Directory of Birmingham - 1835

Trev.

[dognose]

THE UMBRELLA HANDLE

Few consider an umbrella handle as peculiar, and yet owing to the varieties of taste and frequent changes in style no one thing requires so many substances for raw material, acording to John P. Herr, with Follmer Clogg & Co. Some imagine an umbrella handle is merely a piece of wood, but there are numerous kinds of woods as well as other materials used for umbrella handles. Glance over the following list and you may get an idea of the variety.

Gold, silver. platinum, zinc, iron, natimony, lead, pewter, brass, tin, wood, rubber, copper, paper, china, velvet, silver, paint, cheese, milk, glass, grass, mud, wax, sand, powder, ivory, vegetable ivory, stone. slate, bakelite, celluloid. coal, agate, petrified trees. amber. sea shells and the leathers, fur, horns, hide, hoofs, skin, tusks, teeth, bone and in fact some part of every animal from Armadillo to Zebra, not excluding reptiles, fishes and birds.

Of horns we have had rhinoceros, antelope. deer. steer, buffalo, goat, etc–every horn except those of the devil and his are questionable. Ivory tusks from elephant, boar, walrus, mastodon. Skins from all animals. The reptiles supplying alligator, crocodile, snake, lizard, gila-monster, tortoise shell ad ‘infinitum. Birds furnish claws. Thus we have seen eagle claws from the northwest, chemically hardened, clutching most every variety of ore known.

If the reader has in mind some animal which they imagine has not been turned into a handle, let him avoid the most peculiar, the porcupine. for large quantities of porcupine quills have been used, tightly glued into a cluster to form a post.

Now, while we have gone into more detail concerning the contributions from animals, nevertheless, we could give just as specific a treatment of any of that long list of materials used. Of the woods used for example we could write a full book. Every state of the Union and every country of the globe is represented, and from battlefields and historic points come relics and souvenirs. Some are fakes. Mr. Herr gives two examples.

On the cold, foggy Labrador coast grows a scrub tree, the wood of which goes to Philadelphia. There a couple of men make handles and canes with alligators carved thereon. These are then sold to dealers in sunny Florida, who in turn retail them to visitors who bring them North as souvenirs of orange wood carved by the Indians.

Among some canes which were cut in New Jersey was a strangely marked one whose peculiarities were noticed and commented on in the factory before being sent out to a dealer. Years afterwards this same cane came back from an individual, much worn but easily recognizable, with the following story:

‘‘This cane was cut from the flag pole of Ft. McHenry, near Baltimore, from which pole floated the flag on that memorable bombardment in 1814, the sight of which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star-Spangled Banner." The individual’s further instructions were that it should not be allowed to get out of the possession of some responsible party until an umbrella had been completed, making a handle out of the cane, and returning the unused part. Whose was the imagination in this particular incident?

Source: Luggage and Leather Goods - 1920

Trev.

[dognose]

B. ARCHER

167½, Bowery, New York



B. Archer - New York - 1840

Trev.

[dognose]

WILLETT & HOWARTH

28, Albert Street, Manchester




Willett & Howarth - Manchester - 1905

Late Charles Whitworth.

Trev.

[dognose]

R.W. GEE

2, Bath Street, Jersey



R.W. Gee - Jersey - 1881

Trev.

[dognose]

WILLIAM ROBERTS

198, Strand, later, 5, Wigmore Street, London




William Roberts - London - 1839

Trev.

[dognose]

Whips and Westfield

The whip business is supposed by some to be pretty nearly stalled by the incoming of the motor car. The facts are that there are not as many whips made now, and they are cheaper ones. But the decrease in the need for whips has been met most economically by uniting of the companies that make them. It is estimated on excellent authority that 97 per cent of the whips used in this country are made in Westfield. Of this amount 50 or 60 per cent are turned out by the U. S. Whip Company in its own plants. It has a good deal of competition–sometimes friendly, sometimes otherwise–in the business. Although it far outstrips all other companies, it does not have a monopoly, so as to crowd out its competitors. Of course, as business has slackened it has taken advantage of opportunity and has bought out several concerns.

There are now left several concerns, however, all active, and making their mark in the whip industry. There is first the New England Whip Company, the nearest in size and strength to the U. S. Whip Company.' It is a corporation, but its stock is understood to be privately and closely held as sort of family affair. Then there is the H. M. Van Duzen Whip Company, owned by the proprietor; the Cargill Cleveland Company, owned by the two partners named; the Horse Whip Company, the Steimer, Moore Whip Company and the Standard Whip Company. The last three are small companies, but all contribute their bit to the industry of Westfield. There are no shares of stock of whip companies in the public's hands except those of the U. S. Whip Company. A rough estimate of the property in Westfield owned by the whip concerns is $1,850,000 all together. With all this division, every house practically covers the entire field of the whip business, instead of making a specialty of one kind. Of course there are favorits brands, as of flour, but a whip's a whip for a' that, and each firm's customers covers about the whole country.

It would seem to be very hard, if not impossible, to find an industry not affected by the war in some way, and it is so with the whip makers. There are the riding crops and swagger sticks for officers, made to sell at from 10 cents to a number of dollars, made of cheap wood, cotton covered, or of rawhide, covered with leather, and perhaps with silver mountings. There was an attempt to make the cheap swagger stick popular, as a camp souvenir, something which the girls would take to, not merely to be used by soldiers in the service. That part of the program resulted in the selling of a lot of the little sticks, hut the demand did not equal expectations.


United States Whip

There has been a great change in the kind of whips sold. The fine coach whip, costing $5 or so, used in most effective way by the liveried coachman, has practically disappeared. Of the buggy whip there are still many used, but buggy riding is not what it used to be. Whalebone is still used for the core of good whips, but rattan is the chief factor in the "stick." Leather is used in various ways. Leather is higher, of course, but it can be obtained. Rattan comes from abroad and is hard to get anyway, and is much harder to transport, with the present scarcitv of tonnage, as it is so bulkv. It is understood that the United States Whip Company recently received a load of rattan, which has been since last fall on the way somewhere between Massachusetts and San Francisco. It is current report also that had it not been for the United States Company this last winter, some of the smaller whip concerns might have lacked a supply of rattan.

The story of the rattan market is another war story. Crude rattan comes from the Orient. The Germans had evolved the industry of getting it and making it into reeds and in form for use in various ways, as for examples, baby carriages and whips. Germany practically did the rattan business of the world. Now the crude rattan has to be brought from the Orient, and is even more bulky than the former finished German product, and because of this, and the need of cheap tonnage, it is sometimes brought by sailing craft. The whip men now have to fix it themselves, most of them having installed machines for this purpose. It is firmly believed that this rattan business has now been so well developed in America that when the Germans get through fighting they will find they have lost it. It can be done as cheaply and as well here as in Germany.

One of the big items in good whips is pigskin. There are no porkless days in the whip business. Skins which used to cost around 18 cents a foot are now to be had at 60 cents. There used to be a bamboo whip used in the West in connection with driving big teams on the harvesters. Bamboo is even more bulky than rattan and comes from Japan, usually by sailing vessels. Its shipment now has been cut out entirely, so far as the whip industry goes, at least. Whip makers get a lot of Government business. They make the 4½-foot hickory stock, and the 10-foot ambulance lash, for the so-called ambulance whip, which is, of course, used also as a better class of team whip. There have been Government orders for 350,000 to 500,000 of these for use on both sides of the water. There is also a Government order for 80,000 artillery whips or short jockey whips. There is a big whip trade with Australia, South America and Mexico. A large part of this was formerly held by Germany, but the American manufacturer now literally holds the whip hand.

The United States Whip Company alone, before its absorption of the Independent, showed quick assets, including some Liberty Bonds, of $812,000. Fixed assets are enough to cover the funded indebtedness. Because of conditions as stated, these whip companies cannot show an enormous earning power, under present circumstances, but they do show commendable diligence in trying to keep the conditions adjusted to the trade, and in making the most of the world's whip business, which ought to assure Westfleld a good business for years to come and as trade conditions grow better, an increasing business, tat the farm and country demand is still enormous.

Source: United States Investor - 20th April 1918

Trev.

[dognose]

JOHN RUBERY

6, Newhall Street, and, 37, Union Street, and, 3, Bull Street, Birmingham




John Rubery - Birmingham - 1864

The business of John Jeremiah Rubery.

Trev.

[dognose]

W. HILLIER

Ryrie Street, Geelong, Victoria




W. Hillier - Geelong - 1891

Trev.

[dognose]

WILLIAM SHAMMON & SONS

208, Moseley Street, Birmingham




Wm. Shammon & Sons - Birmingham - 1895


Wm. Shammon & Sons - Birmingham - 1898

Established in 1850.

William Shammon & Sons entered their mark 'W.S & S' contained within an oblong punch with clipped corners, at the Birmingham Assay Office in September 1895.

Trev.

[dognose]

ISAAC SMITH'S SON & Co.

257, Pearl Street and 3, Park Row, later, 405, Broadway, New York


Isaac Smith's Sons & Co. - New York - 1856


Isaac Smith's Son & Co. - New York - 1871


Isaac Smith's Son & Co. - New York - 1872


Isaac Smith's Son & Co. - New York - 1872


Isaac Smith's Son & Co. - New York - 1884

Trev.

[dognose]

O. HEINEMANN & Co.

14, Wool Exchange, Coleman Street, London




O. Heinemann & Co. - London - 1895

Trev.