My Vintage Collection - Torque's Garage

Object History: The Oliver “Batwing” Typewriter

Posted on January 12, 2023 by rosysophia

The Oliver typewriter is one of my favorite machines: Invented by Thomas Oliver, who was born in 1852, the machine has a “down strike” design with type slugs that move from above instead of below, which is where the “batwing” nickname comes from.

Because these were “visible print” machines with strong key-striking power, they were often used for specialty work, like stencil cutting or making copies using carbon paper.

The Oliver typewriter company liquidated in 1928 and was purchased by folks who made “The British Oliver Typewriter Company.” The Oliver typewriters were manufactured until this company closed, too. The last machine was made in 1959.

The Oliver No. 5 shown here is my own machine. It needs some work.

Recently, my partner and I discovered an empty case at a flea market and sold it on eBay. Somewhere, a happy Oliver owner is getting ready to reunite their machine with a case!

Object History: The DuPont Blasting Ohmmeter

Posted on March 27, 2022April 8, 2022 by rosysophia

When I first came across this vintage DuPont blasting ohmmeter, I knew very little about the history of the DuPont family and the DuPont company which grew to become one of the largest corporations in America.

In reading about the company, I learned that its founder, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours, was enthusiastic about learning as a child and had an interest in explosives. He was born in 1771. After studying advanced explosive techniques and becoming a chemist, he started assisting his father at the family’s publishing house in France in 1791.

I don’t know much about the political parties of the day in France, but it seems DuPont was a member of the pro-Revolution national guard. However, in 1792, both he and his father guarded the escape of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette when the palace was stormed. It seems to me they were moderate politically; I have to admire the fact that they were against the execution, but still believed in the need for change.

The decision led to his father’s arrest and the ransacking of the family’s publishing house, but fortunately, neither of them were executed. They made the decision to leave France and arrived in the United States in 1800, settling in New Jersey.

DuPont, having been trained in gunpowder making, recognized that American methods paled in comparison to how French gunpowder was manufactured. He saw a need and went into business in 1802 near Wilmington, Delaware.

I think it’s especially interesting that DuPont provided one-third to one-half of the gunpowder used by the Union Army during the Civil War.

In 1914, a grandson of the DuPonts, Pierre, bought stock in General Motors. For a time, the carmaker had been struggling, but under his leadership as president of GM in 1920, it became the biggest automobile company in the world.

Over the years, DuPont has had its hand in some interesting inventions, many of which proved to have negative impacts on the environment over time. Of course, no one knew it then. The company introduced insecticides in 1935 and had a hand in creating a hydrogen bomb.

DuPont is even responsible for the body armor worn by police and military.

The company also invented Teflon. Today, we know how bad Teflon is, even though we frequently cook with it. Nevertheless, despite any negatives, it’s interesting to look back and see how one man’s influence can impact so many facets of daily life.

Every object has a story, and this one brought us all the way back to the French Revolution.

Object History: “Just a Hair”

Posted on March 8, 2022March 27, 2022 by rosysophia

A good hairbrush has always been important to me. You might ask why: At present, my hair reaches just above my ankles. Usually, the first question people ask me is, “When was the last time you cut your hair?” In 2015, when my brother Miles (author of Sphere of Influence: An Approach to Self-Defense) committed suicide, I cut my hair for him. It just felt like the right thing to do. While it felt strange for a while not feeling my hair touching the backs of my calves, it’s returned to its previous length. Still, it was never so short that I didn’t need my trusty hairbrush.

I still have my first hairbrush….

I was raised not to waste. (I write a little bit about this in a poem I’m currently trying to get published, a poem called “Miles,” which was recently a semifinalist in the Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry.)

When I was in seventh grade, I saw a hairbrush lying in the lobby at Indian Valley Middle School. It was white, with a green band around the middle. I picked it up and tucked it into my backpack. When I mentioned it to classmates, they grimaced and said it was gross and I replied with, “What? I rinsed it off in the bathroom.”

Despite their warnings of lice, nothing ever happened, and I’ve used the hairbrush ever since. (I’m 36 now. It’s in the picture. Although, it’s lost the green band.)

My grandmother’s hairbrush….

When my Grandma Polly passed away last April, one of her many belongings I kept, and treasured, was her purple hairbrush with black bristles. It just so happens my white hairbrush from Middle School is a bit warn out (surprised?) so Grandma’s brush is a good replacement.

I don’t know how old the hairbrush is. It could be 15 years old or 20, or maybe not even 10. Grandma’s brush is on the right in the photo below. Mine, from middle school, is on the left.

I’ve learned telling the exact age of a hairbrush can be difficult….

Today, hairbrushes are made of plastic or wood with bristles made of some type of plastic (I imagine the bristles are plastic but do correct me if I’m wrong). Now that I’m looking for more and more ways to use less plastic, I’m not sure how to handle hairbrushes or toothbrushes, for that matter. Even some bamboo toothbrushes still have nylon bristles. Others have bamboo bristles which are soaked in water before use.

I’ve always been committed about using something until it falls apart, because I’ve never been able to stop thinking about where it ends up after I’m done with it. I suppose that’s one of the reasons I like vintage items: They seem to last a lot longer, or they wouldn’t have made it into my possession in the first place.

Here’s a beautiful set that I figure is probably from the 1940s, due to the nylon bristles, but I’m not absolutely sure. It has a nice weight to it.

But what are the bristles made of on vintage hairbrushes?

It’s a mix: Nylon was first commercially made in a toothbrush in 1938. I have a couple vintage hairbrushes that say “Nylon USA” on the easy-to-remove and clean brush area. So, while the body of the brush and its matching mirror are made of metal materials, the brush itself is made of plastic. From the research I’ve done, I’ve concluded that I have a couple of sets from the 1940s. Here’s another:

In the days of antiquity, brushes were made from animal hair, porcupine quills and shells while the handles were made of wood, bronze or copper.

The earliest patent for a hairbrush in the United States was in 1854. Until the invention of nylon, the bristles were made of animal hair, usually boars’ hair. Interestingly, I discovered brushes are still made with boars’ hair, and you can find them online.

There are also hairbrushes made of ivory, but they’re illegal to sell in the United States. (While I believe there are exceptions for antiques, I think it has to be appraised.) Here’s my ivory hairbrush with boars’ hair bristles, with my Bakelite brush with boars’ hair bristles.

Do I actually use these hairbrushes?

Yes! Although, I’ve found the Bakelite brush has lost a few bristles…so I go a bit easier on it.

Finally, here’s my favorite: A set my fiancé, Walter, gave me for our two-year anniversary….

I’m always happy to hear about history, so if there’s something I left out, please comment and let readers know.

Next time you brush your hair, consider the fascinating history of this simple implement!

Where Would These Vintage Treasures Be, if Not for My Grandmother?

Posted on January 23, 2022March 27, 2022 by rosysophia

My mother sews bibs for people in hospice care, and recently received a card thanking her for her service. She told me she threw the card away.

I thought of my grandmother, who passed away in April, and who kept greeting cards for so long that she still had cards dated back to the 1950s. Now, I have them.

I keep them in decorative boxes I bought for that purpose, stored in my closet.

Grandma Polly kept them in clear storage containers under her bed. In those containers, I also found my great-grandmother’s sister’s World War II era ration stamps.

Where would these vintage treasures be, if not for my grandmother?

My mother fetched her thank you card from the trash and gave it to me when I told her I wanted to save it.

I said, half-joking, “Imagine how much fun someone’s going to have going through my stuff when I’m dead!”

The whole conversation I had with my mother this morning made me think of George Carlin’s bit about “stuff,” so I include it here for your enjoyment.