Stuff from back then!
The Sussex based toy factory Nicoltoys, produced a large amount of toys, ranging from wooden cars to fine brass microscopes. Their factory was located in Robertsbridge, Sussex, where it had the telephone number “Robertsbridge 11” We are as always, very curious and would love to know about Nicoltoys and their history. If you know more […]
The Wagner Pencil Company uses eastern white pine for it’s pencils, and not cedar like most of it’s American competitors. Wagner is still in production, and has specialized itself in making pencils with digital art for corporations, as well as scented pencils.They have also made pencils that change colour, at different temperatures. Their largest customer […]
There used to be a lot of small pencil factories, that made pencils in most larger towns. Some quickly closed again, while others found success and grew to large corporations. Denmark Viking Pencil Company Copenhagen England Alpco Pencils London Eagle Pencil Company Produced pencils in Tottenham and Norfolk, from 1907. Pencils Limited London United States […]
Before the combustion engine became a household item, you had to get your gasoline at shops and farmacies. Today Oil Companies are huge multinational companies, with departments and petrol stations world wide. Amoco British Petroleum – BP Buffalo Lubricating Oil Company Was sabotaged by one of the founders of competing company Vacuum Oil Company and […]
McCaw, Stevenson & Orr, Limited was a printing company that ended up creating one of the best known glue brands Seccotine. The company printed books, placards and postcards. Seccotine The company didn’t stick to their main product as a printing house. In 1894 Sohn Stevensen got a patent for their refined liquid fish glue Seccotine. […]
The first of the muffler men was a giant Paul Bunyan, with a giant Axe, built for the “Paul Bunyan Café” by Bob Prewitt in 1962. Bob owned the company Prewitt Fiberglass, but sold it a year later to Steve Dashew in 1963, who renamed it “International Fibreglass”. In the next decade thousands of these […]
Before computers took over, there was a typewriter on almost every desk, and hundreds of thousands of typewriters were built and sold every year. Adler Adler built it’s first typewriters in 1898, and continued production until the business closed in 1995. Brother IBM IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) started building electric typewriters in the 1930’s, […]
Back in the day, cars were built in back yards and garages. While some were one-offs, others evolved into large scale production. Asia India Vehicle Factory Jabalpur Jonga Europe Denmark Hope Whisper Mini-El Sommer Zenvo England British Motor Boat Manufacturing Company Commer Cars Limited Rolls-Royce Triumph Germany Blitz Corona Fahrradwerke und Metallindustrie Corona Fahhradwerke und […]
Airport Surface Friction Tester This Saab was used at the airport in Bornholm for many years. The boot has been converted with a fifth wheel, that can be lowered onto the runway. A brake is applied, in order to measure the surfaces friction. Before an incoming plane arrived, the car could be deployed to see […]
Most people see the Chain of Rocks Bridge, while driving the world famous Route 66, as the bridge crosses the Mississippi river. The bridge has a very distinct 22 degree bend, in the middle, that gave truck and bus drivers a few surprises during it’s active years. The bridge was opened in 1929, and closed […]
