muddpuppy
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- Jun 20, 2011
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Early this year, my brother found this award from: The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania, 1824 - Obverse: Reward of Skill and Ingenuity Hoopes and Townsend Philadelphia PA For Nuts, Bolts and Washers 1853. This was recovered from his yard in SW Franklin County Ohio.
History of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania and the Reward for Skill and Ingenuity.
On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and William H. Keating founded The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts.
The Franklin Institute Awards Program was launched in 1824 when the Institute began giving awards and premiums for superior products and inventions at the annual American Manufacturer's Exhibition. These exhibitions continued for the next 50 years.
In 1824 Christian Gobrecht prepared dies for the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania. It is signed GOBRECHT F. below the bust of Franklin.
Christian Gobrecht was the third person to occupy the post of chief engraver at the Philadelphia Mint. He is most famous for his silver dollar design of 1836, featuring the Liberty Seated which would soon become a staple in American numismatic history.
History of the Hoopes and Townsend Company - While his business operations began by 1849 in Wilmington, Delaware, Hoopes & Townsend (his early partner) moved to Philadelphia in July of 1852 to enlarge the manufacturing capacities of nuts, bolts, rivets, wood-screws, washers, chain-links, Etc.
Documentation received from THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE
The Franklin Institute holds a collection of papers (about four linear feet) from the American Manufacturers’ Exhibitions, from 1824 through 1874. Within the document boxes of the AMEs, we have found the following:
The Report of the Twenty-sixth Exhibition, 1858, states that in the category of Iron and Steel:
“No. 1808 Bolts, Nuts, Washers, Tank Rivets, Chain Links, &c. Hoopes & Townsend, Philadelphia. Worthy of special notice for great skill in manufacturing every good quality of material, in an article so important to machinists and mechanics. A First Class Premium.”
A note from the 1853 American Manufacturers’ Exhibition states:
“118. A large lot of Bolts, Nuts, and Washers by Hoopes and Townsend, Philadelphia. This is a very important article for machinists. The quality of the iron is good, and the work throughout is well executed—we consider them superior to any that has ever been exhibited in Philadelphia. and worthy of a 1st premium.”
The first-class premium means that Hoopes and Townsend received silver medals for each year that they entered their products into the exhibitions. In total, according to our card file, Hoopes and Townsend entered their products into the 1853 (bolts, nuts, & washers), 1858 (bolts, nuts, etc.), and 1874 (bolts, washers, & woodscrews), and received silver medals each time. I hope this gives you a little more information behind the medal that you and your brother found in Ohio!
Warm regards and happy hunting,
Susannah
SUSANNAH J. CARROLL
Curatorial Coordinator
THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE
222 NORTH 20TH STREET
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103
History of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania and the Reward for Skill and Ingenuity.
On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and William H. Keating founded The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts.
The Franklin Institute Awards Program was launched in 1824 when the Institute began giving awards and premiums for superior products and inventions at the annual American Manufacturer's Exhibition. These exhibitions continued for the next 50 years.
In 1824 Christian Gobrecht prepared dies for the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania. It is signed GOBRECHT F. below the bust of Franklin.
Christian Gobrecht was the third person to occupy the post of chief engraver at the Philadelphia Mint. He is most famous for his silver dollar design of 1836, featuring the Liberty Seated which would soon become a staple in American numismatic history.
History of the Hoopes and Townsend Company - While his business operations began by 1849 in Wilmington, Delaware, Hoopes & Townsend (his early partner) moved to Philadelphia in July of 1852 to enlarge the manufacturing capacities of nuts, bolts, rivets, wood-screws, washers, chain-links, Etc.
Documentation received from THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE
The Franklin Institute holds a collection of papers (about four linear feet) from the American Manufacturers’ Exhibitions, from 1824 through 1874. Within the document boxes of the AMEs, we have found the following:
The Report of the Twenty-sixth Exhibition, 1858, states that in the category of Iron and Steel:
“No. 1808 Bolts, Nuts, Washers, Tank Rivets, Chain Links, &c. Hoopes & Townsend, Philadelphia. Worthy of special notice for great skill in manufacturing every good quality of material, in an article so important to machinists and mechanics. A First Class Premium.”
A note from the 1853 American Manufacturers’ Exhibition states:
“118. A large lot of Bolts, Nuts, and Washers by Hoopes and Townsend, Philadelphia. This is a very important article for machinists. The quality of the iron is good, and the work throughout is well executed—we consider them superior to any that has ever been exhibited in Philadelphia. and worthy of a 1st premium.”
The first-class premium means that Hoopes and Townsend received silver medals for each year that they entered their products into the exhibitions. In total, according to our card file, Hoopes and Townsend entered their products into the 1853 (bolts, nuts, & washers), 1858 (bolts, nuts, etc.), and 1874 (bolts, washers, & woodscrews), and received silver medals each time. I hope this gives you a little more information behind the medal that you and your brother found in Ohio!
Warm regards and happy hunting,
Susannah
SUSANNAH J. CARROLL
Curatorial Coordinator
THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE
222 NORTH 20TH STREET
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103
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