Hebblewhite Mfg Co

[robertk]

Bottle Vitals​

	Date	Color	Shape	Size (Height x Width x Depth)	Value*
Hebblewhite Mfg Co	1890s	Aqua	Rectangular	4.75" x 1.5" x 1.5"	$15.00

Bottle Views (click to enlarge):

Front	Back	Side	Side	Bottom
Hebblewhite Mfg Co Buffalo N. Y.				(maker's mark, Diamond O)

The Hebblewhite Manufacturing Company got its start in 1886 as Stinson & Hebblewhite, and manufactured stove black and shoe polish. In 1889, the factory burned, Stimson left the picture and the company became the Hebblewhite Manufacturing Company. It moved to a 30 x 90 foot building on Staats Street in Buffalo, New York, where it employed 38 people. The building and its equipment ran on steam power, and produced goods that were sold throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, South America, and even Australia.

Their factory burned again in 1897, sparked by friction from one the belts running a machine.

The damage was estimated at $10,000, $15,000, or $17,000, depending on which newspaper you read. Apparently Mr Hebblewhite had to sue one of his insurance companies to get them to pay up (which they eventually did). It is interesting that this happened, given that just before the company was renamed, the former company of Stinson & Hebblewhite had also burned -- twice in the same day, apparently. The fire originally started in the evening but was put out, then started up again during the night to cause extensive damage. Were shoe polish factories prone to fires, or was this company just particularly unlucky?

Here is an article about the first company's fire. Click to enlarge if you want to read it.



And here is the lengthy article about the second company's fire. Again, click to enlarge if you like.



This particular bottle was made in the 1890's, and would have contained shoe polish, which would have been made from plumbago, turpentine, and varnish (and perhaps naphtha?). Nasty stuff to put on your shoes, if you ask me. There is a maker's mark on the bottom of the bottle, which is a diamond with an "O" in it, but none of the references I could find knew anything about it.

Here are the before and after pics. Soap, water, brushes, and a wooden scraper were used for cleaning.


*Value is based on sold eBay listings at the time of posting and vary considerably with condition.+

 

[Limitool]

Another great post Robert..! Your probably running out of large bottles by now...? Those fires sure seem a little suspicious with this post. You haven't done those large brown bottles yet have you. I think there were 5-6 of them...? But great job again on this bottle guy.

 

[robertk]

Yep those large brown ones (six of them) are still waiting. They have no identifying marks at all so they’ll be tougher.