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Author Topic: 1866 whatzit-- Paperweight? magnifier? ID = Cover for medallion paperweight  (Read 28657 times)

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Offline ian.macky

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[Mod: This thread contains varied discussion on Patents, glass blocks etc. The details are left as they are since it would be difficult to separate into discreet topics. This note added Oct 2011]

Can anyone ID this piece of glass?  It's clear, round, 2 1/8" diameter by 1 15/16" high, embossed (upside-down when the flat base is down) "PATD OCT 2ND 1866".  Not fully solid, the base has a depression.  Seems like a desk magnifier-- works well for viewing non-flat objects since they can occupy the space-- good for coins, bugs, etc.  Alas, the USPTO still cannot search for anything but patent# and classification for old patents, and there are a couple hundred issued on that day.



Thanks for your time!

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Offline Bernard C

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Identify this 1866 whatzit-- Paperweight? Desk magnifier?
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2005, 07:56:25 AM »
Hi Ian,

Welcome to the GMB.   I am delighted that you have become a member.

To those not acquainted with Ian, just browse around his amazing website.

As to your eclectic object, could it be some form of focussing device for concentrating light on a small area, like a lacemaker's lamp?

You are probably more familiar with lettering punched into moulds than most.   I take it that there is no evidence in the font that would help determine its origin.   Don't forget that various countries in the old British Empire had patent offices, including your native Australia, although the early date of 1866 could eliminate some of them.

You will be pleased to know I have re-opened my eBay account after a thorough security review of my systems and procedures.

Bernard C.  8)
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Offline KevinH

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Identify this 1866 whatzit-- Paperweight? Desk magnifier?
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2005, 03:10:53 PM »
Since it has Patent info embossed I would suggest it's not a paperweight as patented items tend to have rather more "intended functionality" than paperweights.

Of course, these days, collectors and other folk might buy such items as paperweights, or claim them to be "paperweight-related".
KevinH

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Offline ian.macky

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Identify this 1866 whatzit-- Paperweight? Desk magnifier?
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2005, 03:51:01 PM »
Hi Bernard, Frank, David, et al....   glad you find my site interesting.  it's an entirely different area of glass, something we're usually familiar with but overlook.  People here don't recognize insulators on the shelf, but take them outsite and point at a telephone/power pole and they get it.  In the UK, porcelain was king so you'll not see any glass telegraph or telephone insulators; suspension insulators yes (Pilkington, EIV, Sediver, etc).  Likewise a vault light in captivity draws a blank, but "remember those grids of square purple glass blocks set in downtown sidewalks" almost always rings a bell.

Bernard, back in the eBay saddle again, good.  I have a hexagonal Hayward Bros. vault light wending its way from Canada right this minute, so yours will have a friend.  Also have a St. Pancras light now, so the UK collection is starting to shape up (everything's up from NIL).

Re the thingy: the embossing is hand engraved in a typical save-effort sans-serif font, very much like insulators of the period.  Yes, it's strange that a paperweight/magnifier would have the patent date on it, especially upside-down.  I am assuming it's a US patent-- the form of the patent declaration is typical, and don't they say "Registered" in the UK?  Of course there are other countries too, but it smells American to me.  The original owner thought it was a paperweight, but then changed his mind when he got it.  I thought it might be a vault light, so bought it from him.  Seems we're both wrong, but it's an interesting  piece nonetheless.  Seems optical one way or another, but isn't designed to be attached easily, which is why I'm leaning toward desk magnifier.

I will go the library and use their fast connection to page through all 200+ patents of that date and see what I find.  I did check the optics classes I could identify, but didn't find anything from the right time-period.  When I win the lottery I will pay a big team to make a proper patent#/date/inventor/title index of the USPO, all N millions of them.

Cheers...

--ian

P.S. Chips in vault lights are not a problem, usually it's a dream to find any new pattern, even a specimen (Bernard's light is slobber-inducing to all 3 of us who collect them).  I only have a dozen  or so different kinds out of the hundreds patented.  They are very rare and getting more so, since the old ones are just smashed when removed, not saved.  They're usually set in steel and concrete, so removal is very difficult.  In the UK you can find entire panels of the set-in-iron kind at architectural salvage places, but they typically want £500+ for them.  (salvo.co.uk has some Haywards listed, and retrouvius.com has some  unidentified types).  The cost of shipping entire panels to the US would be just a bit stiff, alas.

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Offline Max

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Identify this 1866 whatzit-- Paperweight? Desk magnifier?
« Reply #4 on: March 27, 2005, 03:56:58 PM »
Quote
(Bernard's light is slobber-inducing to all 3 of us who collect them


Is that a Hayward Bros. vault light?  I'm only quoting that name from Ian, and have no idea what one is.  Bernard?  Is there any chance of a pic of the mystical item?
I am not a man

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Offline ian.macky

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Identify this 1866 whatzit-- Paperweight? Desk magnifier?
« Reply #5 on: March 27, 2005, 04:07:00 PM »
Pictures of Bernard's Hayward Bros light are still up in the Garage Sale.  --ian

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Offline Bernard C

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Identify this 1866 whatzit-- Paperweight? Desk magnifier?
« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2005, 05:23:16 PM »
More photographs at http://www.peninsulators.org —> Prism Glass —> UK —> Hayward —> Product Pics.   Click on any of these images in either location to enlarge.

Please note that the Light Flow Diagram is an approximation drawn from observation, and does not take into account light entering the top at other angles.

Bernard C.  8)
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Offline Max

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Identify this 1866 whatzit-- Paperweight? Desk magnifier?
« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2005, 06:05:13 PM »
Thanks Ian and Bernard   :D

So...pavement lights.  Is Bernards' Hayward one special because it's semi prismatic?  Otherwise, surely they're quite common, aren't they?  I hope I'm not being rude - it's just a mystery to me!
I am not a man

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Offline Bernard C

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Identify this 1866 whatzit-- Paperweight? Desk magnifier?
« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2005, 07:17:50 PM »
Max — it's not like that at all.   Most people have no concept of beauty or heritage when it comes to street furniture and external architectural fittings.   When dug up or removed, usually unnecessarily, they get smashed up, go in the skip and get dumped in land fill.

Does your town or village have a complete inventory of all such items?   I bet it doesn't.   Does your community offer grant assistance towards the cost of restoration?    No, of course not.   Much better to spend your local taxes on new Victorian rubbish bins and twee brick paving that won't last five years.

Bernard C.  :(
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Identify this 1866 whatzit-- Paperweight? Desk magnifier?
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2005, 09:03:36 PM »
Max--

Vault/pavement lights are not common any more, and becoming scarcer all the time.  The older type set in iron can be removed as a unit and you see those at salvage yards sometimes, but the type set in concrete (locked in with steel) can't be removed as easily.  Usually, the demo contractor just bashes them to bits and throws them out!  Occasionally you find NOS ones, leftover from the initial installations.  In general, they are very hard to come by.  Bernard's piece is quite unusual, the first of its kind I've seen.  But, it's still early for me in the research phase, so many patterns are still new to me.  Hayward Bros was very big in vault lights, a pioneer, so their glass is particularly desirable.  Don't know why I'm talking it up like this since I'm just going to make life harder when bidding time comes!

--ian

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