1902 Sears Catalog stoves

 
Paned
Member
Posts: 177
Joined: Wed. Mar. 25, 2015 10:37 am
Location: Ohio
Baseburners & Antiques: Florence 153, 151; Imperial Acorn, Alert Acorn, Acme Carbon, Favorite 261, Favorite 416, Estate Square Oak

Post by Paned » Sat. Oct. 07, 2017 7:55 pm

I see they have an Acme Carbon 14 double heater listed for $13.40. Wow I really over paid for mine. But it was worth it.


 
User avatar
Sunny Boy
Member
Posts: 25547
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Sun. Oct. 08, 2017 7:48 am

Have a reproduction Sears catalog from the early 1900's around here somewhere. Very interesting to see the thousands of items for sale. But with some of the items we'd collect, like the stoves, the prices could almost make one cry.

Everytime I see the movie "Time Machine" I think that thing should have had a bed on it like a pickup truck so you could bring stuff back from a cheaper time period. :D

Paul

 
User avatar
Pauliewog
Member
Posts: 1824
Joined: Mon. Dec. 02, 2013 12:15 am
Location: Pittston, Pennsylvania
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Alaska 140 Dual Paddle Feed
Baseburners & Antiques: Fame Rosemont #20, Home Stove Works #25, Glenwood #6, Happy Thought Oak, Merry Bride #214, Sunnyside, Worlds Argand #114, New Golden Sun , & About 30 others.
Coal Size/Type: Stove, Chesnut, Pea, Rice / Anthracite

Post by Pauliewog » Tue. Oct. 10, 2017 6:50 am

That Acme Oakling direct draft for $2.98 with the nickel footrests would have been my choice at the time if I couldn't scrape up the $7.10 for a base burner.

Paulie

 
gardener
Member
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu. Nov. 20, 2014 1:41 pm
Location: southwest Ohio

Post by gardener » Fri. Feb. 07, 2020 9:41 am

I was looking through a digital copy of a Sears Roebuck 'Stoves for 1904' catalog. Nearly all of the stoves and ranges had as part of their name "ACME" something. I had seen on this forum reference to Acme Stove Company of Portland, and that Wehrle sold stoves under the Acme brand. Then I noticed in the Sears catalog talking about them owning the largest stove factory in Newark Ohio. As I recall Wehrle was out of Newark. A quick internet search got me to:

https://goodtimestove.blogspot.com/2008/07/learn- ... belly.html
The ACME Stove Company was one of the premiere manufacturers of potbelly stoves. They sold their stoves in the Sears Roebuck mail order catalogs.

In addition to the regular Sears Roebuck catalogs that sold everything from clothes to farm equipment, Sears Roebuck distributed catalogs dedicated entirely to heating stoves and kitchen ranges.

Sears also sold their own stoves, the Wehrle stoves, as well as the Acme stoves.

Sears Roebuck purchased, what they claimed to be, “the largest stove factory in the world,” in Newark, Ohio.

The mammoth stove foundry was operated by the Wehrle brothers, William and August. The Wehrle brothers had an exemplary reputation for crafting quality heating stoves and ranges.

In addition to the Wehrle stoves, the Sears and Roebuck Company highlighted a couple of potbelly stoves in their catalogs, the Acme Cannon Heating Stove and the Acme Giant.

Both potbelly stoves lived up to their name, Acme, which means “the peak or top of something.”

Acme was a generic brand name used for a wide variety of products back in the first half of the 1900’s. The word was used like a proper name much like “American” and “National” are used today.
I took this to mean that Sears bought Wehrle's operation, and when in their catalog they say they own and operated the largest stove plant which is located in Newark, I assumed they meant the Wehrle's operation. Another link:

http://wiki.lickingcountylibrary.info/Wehrle_Stove_Company
In 1936 the company changed its name to the Florence-Wehrle Co. after the factory was purchased by the Florence Stove Co. and Sears Roebuck. 1939 saw yet another name change when the business became known as Newark Stove.

Sears bought a controlling interest in the company in 1944,
In the 1904 Sears stove catalog it says
OUR STOVE FOUNDRY is located at Newark, Ohio. It is the largest stove foundry in the world and the only stove foundry in America that runs as full capacity every working day in the year. We take the entire output of this foundry, every stove made is sold by us, ... DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER STOVE FOUNDRIES, we do not sell to wholesalers,
So did Sears have a separate stove plant in Newark apart from Wehrle until 1936?
If so, then in the 1904 Sears stove catalog, the Acme stoves and ranges came from Wehrle, Sears, and Acme Stove Co.?

 
franco b
Site Moderator
Posts: 11416
Joined: Wed. Nov. 05, 2008 5:11 pm
Location: Kent CT
Hand Fed Coal Stove: V ermont Castings 2310, Franco Belge 262
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood Modern Oak 114
Coal Size/Type: nut and pea

Post by franco b » Fri. Feb. 07, 2020 10:26 am

Before getting too excited about the low prices, consider that a skilled worker was paid two dollars per day and the unskilled one dollar.

 
User avatar
Sunny Boy
Member
Posts: 25547
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Fri. Feb. 07, 2020 10:29 am

To my knowledge, Sears never had a manufacturing plant for anything. They always had other companies make items for them, sometimes to Sears special specifications, and put the Sears brand names on the items.

Often, the manufacture would also sell the same item with their own brand name.

Paul

 
User avatar
cntbill
Member
Posts: 333
Joined: Thu. Nov. 12, 2009 1:00 pm
Location: Reading PA
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: EFM AF-150
Baseburners & Antiques: Radiant Gem 22 & Queen Bengal both by Floyd, Wells Co.
Coal Size/Type: Rice / Buck - Nut and Stove
Other Heating: Fireplace
Contact:

Post by cntbill » Fri. Feb. 07, 2020 11:19 am

My wife is from Newark Ohio and tells me that her father worked in Newark building stoves for Sears, how ever she doesn't remember if the name of the place was Wehrle or not. It will be interesting to find out...


 
gardener
Member
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu. Nov. 20, 2014 1:41 pm
Location: southwest Ohio

Post by gardener » Fri. Feb. 07, 2020 1:29 pm

https://www.nerkahia.com/august-wehrle.html
The Wehrle Company made stoves exclusively for Sears Roebuck and Company.
Of course that does not answer whether Sears operated its own plant.

 
D.lapan
Member
Posts: 771
Joined: Sun. Jan. 18, 2015 9:40 pm
Location: plainfield NH
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: newmac wood,coal,oil como
Baseburners & Antiques: 20th century laurel, glenwood hickory,crawford fairy
Coal Size/Type: nut, stove
Contact:

Post by D.lapan » Fri. Feb. 07, 2020 8:12 pm

I missed out on a 1900 acme grand range a few years ago, guy told me $200 I said I’ll be back tomorrow and his brother came and wanted it that night, it was some of the most beautiful castings I have seen on a stove.

Attachments


 
Holdencoal
Member
Posts: 673
Joined: Sun. Nov. 17, 2019 2:17 pm

Post by Holdencoal » Fri. Feb. 07, 2020 8:41 pm


 
gardener
Member
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu. Nov. 20, 2014 1:41 pm
Location: southwest Ohio

Post by gardener » Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 8:57 am

Holdencoal,

I agree the factories are the same. Either Sears bought Wehrle sooner or maybe as part of their arrangement of Sears taking all of Wehrle's production they got to claim the Wehrle factory as Sears. At the end of the Sears 1904 catalog is an illustration of their supposed factory, which has a similar layout but not identical. I figure it was an artistic rendering rather than a portrait like you linked.

Sears1904.png
.PNG | 1.1MB | Sears1904.png

 
Holdencoal
Member
Posts: 673
Joined: Sun. Nov. 17, 2019 2:17 pm

Post by Holdencoal » Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 9:57 am

In a lot of foundries now you rent time to have your products poured. That’s unless you can own your own foundry.

 
Holdencoal
Member
Posts: 673
Joined: Sun. Nov. 17, 2019 2:17 pm

Post by Holdencoal » Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 10:31 am

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roper_(company)
....” By 1933, the company had become the largest stove producer in the United States. The plant occupied a 40-acre site that included two miles of railroad sidings. In 1936, 60% of the company was bought by Sears, Roebuck, and Co. with the rest of its stock being purchased by the Florence Stove Company. For three years, the company name was the Florence-Wehrle Company, later being renamed to the Newark Stove Company in 1939. At that point, the company was the largest stove producer in the world.[2] The company also produced artillery shells during World War II while producing stoves at the same time.[2]

Sears purchased the remaining 40% of the company in 1943 and during this period, the building was remodeled for $750,000. In 1951, the company produced artillery shells for the Korean War while the stoves were produced at the same time. The company started manufacturing lawnmowers in 1953. In 1958, the company was renamed to Newark Ohio Company. The company merged with the George D. Roper Company in 1964, later being named Roper. After the merger, Sears owned 33% of the company.[2]....”

 
gardener
Member
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu. Nov. 20, 2014 1:41 pm
Location: southwest Ohio

Post by gardener » Thu. Mar. 26, 2020 7:58 am

Saw this posting of a Sears, Roebuck & Co. stove, nice looking, one of the photos I can make out the second word on the load door as Brilliant, wonder if the first word is Acme. When did the ornate stoves like these stop being sold by Sears? late 1920s? cause the circulators started being sold in the 1930s?

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/atq/d/el-sobrant ... 21606.html

 
User avatar
lsayre
Member
Posts: 21781
Joined: Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 9:17 pm
Location: Ohio
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75

Post by lsayre » Thu. Mar. 26, 2020 8:06 am

gardener wrote:
Thu. Mar. 26, 2020 7:58 am
Saw this posting of a Sears, Roebuck & Co. stove, nice looking, one of the photos I can make out the second word on the load door as Brilliant, wonder if the first word is Acme. When did the ornate stoves like these stop being sold by Sears? late 1920s? cause the circulators started being sold in the 1930s?

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/atq/d/el-sobrant ... 21606.html

SearsRoebuck_00202_6DUizJU607M_1200x900.jpg

Eeww, the add says it's got isinglass windows. That's a sticky gelatin that comes from fish bladders. Why would Sears do that? :baby:


Post Reply

Return to “Antiques, Baseburners, Kitchen Stoves, Restorations & Modern Reproductions”