What a ?OONOMIST?

[tabdog]

I found this in the woods in central arkansas in an area of early settlements.

There is a paten but the number broke off. Paten date is August 23, 19? the rest is broke off.

I think it is to be put in coals and liquid put into to blow a mist through nozzle. It probably had a handle opposite nozzle end.

 

[Steve(Can)]

looking closely at your pic, it appears that the first letter is a "C" not an "O"

making it ?conomist

I flipped the lid to count the number of letters that would have fit before the "conomist":
[attachment 68760 oonomist-3.jpg]

...and it appears there would be room for 6 characters at the front: "_ _ _ _ _ _ C O N O M I S T"

Suggestions (counting a space as a character)... "HOME_ECONOMIST" "SEED_ECONOMIST" "FARM_ECONOMIST

 

[Jim West Pa]

n/t

 

[tabdog]

Thanks for your reply. I am uploading a few more photos for inspection.

I'm sure it says "OONOMIST". It is made of cast iron.

This device was intended to be put into a bed of hot coals and removed when hot. A liquid, probably medicine, would then be poured inside when opened by the door handle. The liquid would them boil and a mist would escape through a nozzle on one end. The other end had a handle to handle the hot device with.

There was a handle or knob on the lid so there probably wasn't room for more than one or two more letters on the lid.

It shows that it had a patten but the number broke off. It also had a date but the year broke off with the number.

Don't know what it is but I got one.

Keep on keepen on

david

 

[SteveC (CntrlFla)]

You might be able to find the original U.S. Patent for the device.

Since patents are issued once a week on Tuesday and you've got the month & day (i.e. 23 August) and a partial of the year (i.e. 19??).

I can narrow it down for you to the following years & Patent No.s, because the 23[sup]rd[/sup] of August fell on a Tuesday only in those specific years.

[pre] Year    Patent No. Range Issued 23[sup]rd[/sup] August
 1904              768021 ~ 768575
 1910              967874 ~ 968518
 1921           1,388,155 ~ 1,388,838
 1927           1,639,646 ~ 1,640,339
 1932           1,872,644 ~ 1,873,948
 1938           2,127,492 ~ 2,128,215
[/pre]
The following is a direct link to the Patent Number search screen of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Note you can only search by Patent No for any patent issued prior to 1976.

USPTO - Patent Number Search Screen
Hope the above is found to be of help

 

[tabdog]

Hi Steve,

The date on the _OONOMIST device could be in the 1800s because the 8 or 9 broke off.

The patient number apears to start with a "D".

Thanks for your help and advice,

david

 

[SteveC (CntrlFla)]

[quote Originally posted by: tabdog]

<snip...> The date on the _OONOMIST device could be in the 1800s because the 8 or 9 broke off.

The patent number appears to start with a "D".<snip...>

OK, if the patent number does start with a "D" that narrows it down to only Design Patents, in that case use the following list to look for the patent.

[pre] Year    Patent Range Issued: 23 August.
[size=x-small](No Design Patents issued for 23 August prior to 1853)[/size]
 1853               D000592
 1859             None Issued
 1864             None Issued
 1870          D004298 ~ D004304
 1881          D012425 ~ D012433
 1887          D017641 ~ D017664
 1892          D021781 ~ D021801
 1898          D028113 ~ D029915
 1904          D037094 ~ D037105
 1910          D040829 ~ D040839
 1921             None Issued
 1927          D073275 ~ D073362
 1932          D087613 ~ D087659
 1938          D110952 ~ D111056
 1949          D154892 ~ D154971
[/pre]
[/quote]

UPTO - Patent Number Search Screen

 

[tabdog]

Hay Steve,

Does this look like the right patient?

Could there be another patient where they called it a __OONOMIST?

It would appear to be a Sad Iron.

Boy, thanks for your help.

It's great being able to find out stuff like this.

David

 

[SteveC (CntrlFla)]

David

It very well may be the patent for your find, however, I would think that a bit more research is needed to really nail it down. While visually it's close, it's not an exact match. Now that you've got what you believe is the patent for the item you found, in the patent you have the name to which the patent was issued (i.e. Horace P. Carver; Nebraska City, NE; & Carver, Sprague & Co. Racine, Wisconsin), and what the item's intended use was. With this additional information see if you can track down the company, brand name, etc. Flatirons are a fairly popular collectible item, the best of luck in your quest.

It's very rare that you'll find a patent that reflects a brand name of a product. A patent's intent is to protect for a specific period of time, a supposed unique process and/or method from unauthorised (i.e. licensed by the holder of the patent) by others. In exchange for a full disclosure of the said process and/or method.

If you go back to the first page displayed after you typed in a patent number to search for. In the middle of the screen you'll see the following information (i.e. US Patent, Issue Date, & Current US Class). The "Current US Class" shows the classification (i.e. process/method) that the patent would fall under if the patent were applied for today. The information below that are the descriptions from the current U.S. Patent Classification Guide, for the respective class and subclass categories.

[pre]United States Patent                      D17,642
Issue Date:                               August 23, 1887
Current U.S. Class:                       D32/68

--*****--​

Class D32 WASHING, CLEANING, OR DRYING MACHINE
  Subclass: 68 Flatiron:
               This subclass is indented under subclass 35. Design
               for instrument used to iron textiles or apparel.
                  (1) Note. Includes flatiron combined with holder.[/pre]

 

[SteveC (CntrlFla)]

H. P. Carver Racine, Wisconsin

 

[SteveC (CntrlFla)]

"Sad Iron" (From the English 'sadd' meaning heavy)
"Box Iron"

Also found reference to "box type" sad irons, which were hollow and had a cover so that charcoal could be placed inside to keep it hot. Some were designed with an opening where a bellows could be attached and there by used to raise the temperature.

Keep in mind that the old irons had detachable handles, so that as the one in use cooled down it could be placed back on the heating device, the handle detached and placed on another that was up to temperature.

 

[adam in cal]

n/t

 

[adam in cal]

At least a piece of one....... I believe thats what it is, but I may be off base , but it looks like one .......I am trying to find a pic of the handheld one...

 

[tabdog]

It's great to be able to learn about the things I find.

I'll be able to learn much more thanks to you guys.

A quarter of a century ago I was digging up things of interest but out of ignorance I would just discard them.

I should regret it, and in a way I do but I feel fortunate to have had the opertunity to learn what I did.

Metal detecting has tought me a lot of things about history and things in general. The thing I do regret is that I didn't more MDing.

Thanks again

david

 

[adam in cal]

They made a light economist planer as well, being as it was found in the woods i do lean toward the wood working tool , or a piece of one.......that was perhaps manafactured by the Victory company .......Its a tough id and a wonderful piece of history .....

 

[adam in cal]

it must have been from a piece of milling equipment (steam powered) ....but I imagine anything is plausible

 

[Steve(Can)]

n/t

 

[Steve(Can)]

From the link below:

>>> The Carver Patent "Majestic" Revolving Box Iron with Fluter This iron was patented by an enterprising fellow named Horace Carver, who obviously realized he could increase his market share by giving the consumer an array of different choices when it came to choosing an iron. (Would you like a Carver iron or would you like a Carver iron?) He made a number of different irons of the same basic design. All were revolving, slug heated, multi-function irons---but each had slightly different features and each one had a different name, including the "Family Laundry Iron", the "Victor", the "Ladies Friend", the "Economist", and this one, the "Majestic". The design of this iron was quite complex and must have been fairly expensive to produce judging from how few are found today. The spring-loaded handle releases to allow the iron to revolve and then lock into position so that ironing could be done on three of the four faces. The fourth face is a hinged door that could be un-latched by revolving the handle to the appropriate position to allow it to open so the heated slug could be be inserted or removed. The special feature of the Majestic was that it functioned as a fluting iron as well as a flat iron, with a built-in fluted plate designed into one of the edges. Without having to have multiple irons one could simply turn the iron on this side and use it on top of a fluting bed to easily switch from flat work to fluting. This example is in good condition, still retaining its original slug. Oftentimes when this iron is found the vulnerable tab on the door is broken, but this example is damage-free. Most of the nickel plating is worn away and there is slight texture to the surface, but overall it displays well. Excellent ............$495.00 SOLD<<<

http://www.patented-antiques.com/Backpages/All_Archives/IRONS_ARCHIVE/combo_irons.htm

 

[SteveC (CntrlFla)]

n/t

 

[tabdog]

Ha Steve

Great job, thanks for helping me unravel some of these mysteries I've come up with.

The site that yielded my Economist iron also has many interesting items. Here's some: horseshoes and tack items, barrel stay, wagon parts, log splitting chisels, old wood working machine parts, plow point, stove parts, metal part of carosine lamp, mason jar lids, and I found two mini balls, one unfired and the other smashed, A few musket balls only one is still round. Some of the things are what sits.

This little adventure is painting a hands on glimpse of life in central Arkansas in the nineteenth century. Thank you.

Keep up the great work

david in AR