Nye Odorless Crematory Co. Plate...

BigWaveDave

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2013
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Mountain Maryland
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Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, AT Max, Minelab
Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I think it's brass, the coolest relic I've found in months...:headbang:
Measures 2" by 3 1/2" inches...
Left side says Garbage for Municipalities, right side says Crematories, Macon, GA
The middle has an ornate picture of an incinerator...
Found in the back yard of a 1925 permission.

When I first found it, the dirt and my eyesight forced me to pocket it until my smoke break. When I first took a close look, the word Crematory was only visible, my heart sank.
Then I saw the word Odorless....huh?
Cleaned it up, spent an hour on the google, got nowhere.

Best guess, this plate was cemented on a backyard garbage incinerator, but can't find anything on what it would have looked like. The company itself was 1915 to 1930, give or take a few years.
All I can find is the giant factory innovations back in the day, nothing on small units...the research I did puts me at a dead end, begging for more info.
image.jpegimage.jpeg

Thanks for looking!:hello:
 

Upvote 12
cool relic you probably wont find another one of those eve again!

strick
 

cool relic you probably wont find another one of those eve again!

strick

I don't know if one has ever been found....can't find one like it anywhere.
 

BWD...It could be as simple as ......A guy works at a place for years running that...Oven? Then when he retires he peels the tag as a memento?

Who knows...What makes me think of that....My dad!!:laughing7: When he retired he brought a handful of name plates home that he peeled off of the machines he maintained for years!:laughing7:
 

Hmmm...dunno...possible I guess....info so hard to find about this company...
This is baffling me....
 

Did you see this? It might be a lead...I didn't watch it...so have no clue of content.....Yet
 

Yes I did, over 17 mins of excruciating video...black and white silent film, made in 1930....
Actually, I could only watch about 10 mins....then I fell asleep.
Did you see anything about my plate?
 

If you're going to have a Crematory it may as well be odorless. Nice find Dave.
 

Might as well strap that baby to your bbq grill
 

THATS A HECK OF A FIND YOU GOT THERE .I USED TO BE AN UNDERTAKERS HELPER AND MADE VISITS TO THE CREMATORY QUITE OFTEN , MOONLIGHTING ID SAY . ITS A HELL OF A WAY TO GO OUT , BUT CIVIL .
 

What I've learned, the word "crematory"' I had always and only associated with the funeral process...
Had no clue that this word was descriptive in the infancy of municipal garbage disposal. Never really thought of the process....
Privys in the back yard, bottle dumps, and buried trash in the back yard...we've all seen it. But there wasn't an immediate jump to mountainous landfills, and electric generating incinerators that we see today. This plate represents progress, and the research shows the struggle to address solid waste issues a hundred years ago. I am convinced that this plate came off a small unit, manufactured for the homeowner...
But it must of been a high end appliance, that only the well-off could afford, as well as a very small number made, as I can't find anything, anywhere, that would have this plate.
 

Cool plate Dave, :thumbsup: I watched tid bits of the same video, I have the attention span of a 5 year old at times, and slid the arrow forward many times to get through it. I think I'd polish that baby up and epoxy it to the oven door in the kitchen. Makes for a great conversation piece. I did a search at the Library of Congress, and 8 newspapers were selected. I did peruse one, but did not feel like reading last night. Good luck on getting the info you seek.
 

What I've learned, the word "crematory"' I had always and only associated with the funeral process...
Had no clue that this word was descriptive in the infancy of municipal garbage disposal. Never really thought of the process....
Privys in the back yard, bottle dumps, and buried trash in the back yard...we've all seen it. But there wasn't an immediate jump to mountainous landfills, and electric generating incinerators that we see today. This plate represents progress, and the research shows the struggle to address solid waste issues a hundred years ago. I am convinced that this plate came off a small unit, manufactured for the homeowner...
But it must of been a high end appliance, that only the well-off could afford, as well as a very small number made, as I can't find anything, anywhere, that would have this plate.

I think your right BWD.....After thinking about this... it hit me, my one grandfather always had one in his garage. He used it when I was a kid...Newspapers,junk mail, anything burnable went in there. It was about 4 ft high maybe 2 feet wide.(roughly, I was young, everything looked bigger then.:laughing7:)....Then If I remember right? It became illegal to use them? It's still in his garage buried under stuff, but hasn't been used in years.......I haven't even been in his garage in years...:laughing7: It was gas,(i think) and hooked into like a vent pipe for a stove or hot water tank size. 3 or 4 in... I know it was in use through the 80's, I lived there in 92, and he was still using it here and there...
 

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That's an oddball find, Pretty cool though. I kinda like Loco's idea about putting on your oven
 

Hello BWD. Definitely one of the odder finds I have seen. Looked at the vid and other link and like you I could not see your plate anywhere but it was likely affixed somewhere on their apparatus.

Nice relic my friend. HH C9
 

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