If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Blood, Sweat, and Steel: My Afternoon with the Ace of Swords
'The Great Gatsby' Still Gets Flappers Wrong
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
Forget TV Pickers, Meet the Real Mavericks of the Antiques World
Coveting The Craziest Cat-People Collectibles
Posted 1 year ago
stefdesign
(81 items)
Surprisingly, this was a wedding present, given to us when we were married nearly 34 years ago. From a dear friend, who knew of my love for all things old and interesting!
It's a patent model for a steam engine valve, submitted for patent in 1867, and approved in 1868. It came with the tag too! Don't you love the awesome scripty handwriting?
Unfortunately, the valve nozzle (?) opening came to some untimely damage a few years ago, when something fell on it. But probably no one will ever notice. You didn't notice did you? LOL!
Tools and HardwareThe history of tools and hardware tells the story of two conflicting impuls…
Oh! By the way, when I posted this on my collector blog a few months ago, I did a bit of research on Mr. William G. Pike, and discovered a bit about him, including an old patent drawing for another steam valve he had patented. You can read about it here. http://copycatcollector.blogspot.com/2012/01/collection-150-antique-valve-prototype.html
I love patent models-- be sure to get the complete patent information at Google patents:
http://www.google.com/patents?id=u58AAAAAEBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=73381&hl=en&sa=X&ei=b9muT8rgIdS4twe63qTiCA&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA
Scott
Thanks Scott!
Great item stef, and all carved out of wood too. Mechanical models are fascinating.
Looks like some of the inlet/outlet part that broke are missing? Do you still have the pieces?
As far as I know, except for the little spout-like thing that I broke myself, this is the way it came. It looks from the patent drawings that there might have been some sort of lever or winder, that did not come with my model. But I still think it's pretty awesome.
That it is.