Victorian Glass Horse Rosette - c.1882

[ANTIQUARIAN]

On Tuesday I went back to the site where I found the military breastplates last year, unfortunately I didn’t find any this trip. Although, I did find an 1882 glass bridle rosette, 6 Isaac Campbell Knapsack Loops and a heavy brass reins guide. The rosette has patent dates of Mar. 14, 82 & Aug. 12, 84 stamped into the back. Through online research I found this rosette was made by the Enterprise Manufacturing Company. Bridle rosettes have existed since ancient times. However, in the United States, the Enterprise Manufacturing Company owned by the Pfleuger family of Akron, Ohio produced the greatest number and types of bridle rosettes. I've also included a picture here of what some of the other rosettes looked like that Enterprise produced.

The Enterprise Manufacturing Company was founded by Earnest F. Pfleuger, an orphaned German immigrant born in 1843. At age 6, the young Pfleuger, like many children of that era was working, first in a bakery and then, between the ages of eight and 14, in a stove foundry. It was there that he apprenticed in the molder’s trade. In 1860, Pfleuger moved to Akron, Ohio and worked as a grocer. However, the grocery business was not to be the innovative Pfleuger’s only career as he spent his spare time working on inventions. Along with a horse headlight, Ernest Pfleuger invented horse harness and bridle rosettes. Eventually, he began traveling around the country selling his homemade inventions and making enough money to start the Enterprise Manufacturing Company. By 1880, the inventive Pfleuger had patents on more than 50 original devices.

As time went on, the Enterprise Manufacturing Company, which formally incorporated in 1886, started producing other items in addition to harness and bridle rosettes, such as fishing lures and tackle and springs attached to the sweat pads for horse collars. On February 18, 1891, the Enterprise Manufacturing Company was nearly completely destroyed by a fire. The fire claimed the life of Miss Nettie Cruse, a forewoman who was pouring alcohol into a pan of melted wax which ignited. It quickly spread from the second floor of the factory and destroyed all but the walls of the building.


Thanks for looking,
Dave

 

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[rodarian]

Awesome! Picking up right where you left off.

 

[Old Dude]

Good finds Dave. We really need to figure out a good usage for those hooks. You'd have a monopoly on them!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Awesome! Picking up right where you left off.

Thanks very much for your post buddy!
Dave

Good finds Dave. We really need to figure out a good usage for those hooks. You'd have a monopoly on them!

I hear you Dave!
Including these 6 loops, I've now found over 70 at this site!

Best of luck to you my friend,
Dave

 

[Gridwalker306]

Nice to see you digging again after this crap winter! And hey congrats, I saw your finds made W&ETreasures best finds!!!

 

[texjim]

Nice job..

 

[Evolution]

Very interesting rosette find. I'm amazed she held together so nicely after that long in the ground.

 

[Ahab8]

Very cool find brother. Good to see you woke up and crawled out of your cave . You must be hungry....and thirsty for the Sea Dog

 

[CRUSADER]

Did you know you had part of a gunter's chain?
Rushden Research Group: The Gunter's Chain for Land Measurement

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice to see you digging again after this crap winter! And hey congrats, I saw your finds made W&E Treasures best finds!!!

Thanks buddy, it's great to be out again, definitely been a long cold winter!
Best of luck to you this year as well my friend,
Dave

Nice job..

Thanks Jim!

Very interesting rosette find. I'm amazed she held together so nicely after that long in the ground.

I couldn't believe it either when I realized it was made of glass! It's obviously been stepped on by a horse or run over by a tractor as the back is pushed in.
Thanks for your post,
Dave

Very cool find brother. Good to see you woke up and crawled out of your cave . You must be hungry....and thirsty for the Sea Dog

Thanks Abe! I've been checking the ground diligently here for the past few weeks waiting for the thaw.
The grass covered areas of ground were still frozen as of Tuesday, but the rain and warm temps here yesterday will fix that!

I'm headed to Germany on Saturday on company business, so I'll have a nice 'basement temperature' beer for you while I'm there!

Hope you have a great year bud,
Dave

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Did you know you had part of a gunter's chain?
Rushden Research Group: The Gunter's Chain for Land Measurement

Thank you so much for this information Cru!
I'd just assumed this was a plow related find, although I'd never seen anything like this before, hence I took the pic.

You're a wealth of information mate,
Dave

 

[CRUSADER]

Thank you so much for this information Cru!
I'd just assumed this was a plow related find, although I'd never seen anything like this before, hence I took the pic.

You're a wealth of information mate,
Dave

When I found my first one years ago I thought it was for scrapping decoration into clay...lol This chain was used by many of the farm workers at the time, as they got paid by area, so it was important for them to know the size of the area they were working.

 

[Carolina Tom]

Very nice finds. Can hardly wait to see what you get this year. GL&HH.

 

[Ahab8]

Now that is strange. One of my buddies was in Germany last week and sent me a pic from the Hofbräuhaus. Let's just say he had some very rough meetings in the am. I hope you will do the same

 

[RelicMedic]

That's awesome bro!! I found one identical to the middle one in the top row...but in bad shape. I thought it was 1930's lol.Oops

 

[pepperj]

Thanks Abe! I've been checking the ground diligently here for the past few weeks waiting for the thaw.
The grass covered areas of ground were still frozen as of Tuesday, but the rain and warm temps here yesterday will fix that!

I'm headed to Germany on Saturday on company business, so I'll have a nice 'basement temperature' beer for you while I'm there!

Hope you have a great year bud,
Dave

Great to see you got some digging in already Dave and with the warm temps. that are on the way everything will be drying out and just waiting to be dug shortly. Have a good trip and hopefully we can hook up in the near future when time allows.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Very nice finds. Can hardly wait to see what you get this year. GL&HH.

Thanks very much Tom, you're off to a great start too my friend!
Dave

Now that is strange. One of my buddies was in Germany last week and sent me a pic from the Hofbräuhaus. Let's just say he had some very rough meetings in the am. I hope you will do the same

I hear you Abe, but I am only there for 3 nights, then I'm back on Wednesday by 12noon.

I'm not a huge fan of room temperature beer, so I'll probably mostly drink red wine!
The Germans make fun of our beer here in North America being so cold that it numbs your taste buds, that way can't taste how bad it really is!

The way I've always looked at life is... you only live once, so I'll catch up on my sleep when I'm dead!
Dave

That's awesome bro!! I found one identical to the middle one in the top row...but in bad shape. I thought it was 1930's lol.Oops

Thanks for your post buddy!
I'm sure, like you I've found a few rosettes over the years, but none that were made of glass.

Dave

 

[metalev4]

Nice digs Dave, I really like the knapsack hooks.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice digs Dave, I really like the knapsack hooks.

Thanks very much for your post metalev4!
Best of luck to you,
Dave