historic NEw englandSUMMER 2018
PLUMED TALES Stories of a Bird Art Collector BUILDING KNOWLEDGE Erecting Liberia College
SUPPORT YOUR PASSION Pressed for Success The glass doorknobs of Enoch Robinson
by RHETT BUTLER Founder, E. R. Butler & Co.
The model submitted for US Patent 65, filed October 20, 1836, described as “Ferrule Knob for Doors, &c.” and signed by Enoch Robinson, Francis Draper, and Joseph H. Lord.
he listing in Historic New pany in Massachusetts. Finding this eloped about a decade after the England’s collections data- particular doorknob in Historic New War of 1812 ended. The inscribed Tbase was startling: it indicat- England’s collection was remark- names on the knobs document when ed that there was a group of pressed able. Signed by the inventors—Rob- this technology eclipsed the expen- glass doorknobs that included an inson, Draper, Lord—it had never sive, labor-intensive production actual patent model from the hands been identified as a patent model. method of using mold-blown and of Boston-born machinist and inven- Dated 1836, it is an artifact of the hand-cut glass forms that had been tor Enoch Robinson (1801-1888), a transformation of the United States created by premier manufacturers pioneer of the glass industry in the from an agrarian British territory to like New England Glass Company. United States. a rapidly industrializing society. The first “finished” article exported It had taken me several years to This model and others in the from America, pressed glass helped confirm Robinson’s leading role in group are part of a small collection make the United States a major ex- the development of pressed glass, of glass doorknobs that the Smith- porter of manufactured goods, and as the history of glass manufac- sonian Institution donated to His- the glass press machine revolution- turing is dominated by names like toric New England in 1927. Pressed ized glass manufacturing around Bakewell Glass of Pittsburgh, Penn- glass objects such as door and the world. sylvania, and Deming Jarves and the cabinet knobs were products of Clear glass knobs offered a glis- Boston and Sandwich Glass Com- cutting-edge technology that dev- tening object of curiosity and won-
HistoricNewEngland.org 25 TOP Engraved “Francis Draper, E. Cambridge, Mass.,” this doorknob may have served as a model for Draper’s US Patent 1,784, dated December 10, 1840. ABOVE: LEFT Robinson, Draper, and Lord signed this “Socket Knob for Door, Commode, &c.” model for US Patent 98, filed September 2, 1836. RIGHT Robinson crafted this glass doorknob using a Benjamin Franklin cameo modeled and signed by Christian Gobrecht (1785-1844), who served as the third chief engraver of the United States Mint 1840-44.
der at a time when most knobs were made of wood, where his father worked building machinery, putting cast iron, or imported English brass. Mold-blown and cotton through a bale breaker to loosen the tightly hand-cut glass knobs were laborious to make and could matted bales for a dollar and a half a week. Later, when be afforded only by the wealthy. Robinson’s glass press, his father made tools and machinery for Norton Mills, a machine that efficiently pressed molten glass into a button manufacturer in Attleboro, Massachusetts, molds patterned with designs, transformed the industry. Enoch apprenticed with him as a glass cutter, making Ten years before Robinson, Draper, and Lord’s 1836 pat- glass buttons and small glass spangles. He fulfilled an ent, Robinson and Henry Whitney of New England Glass order of spangles for New England Glass and then, hired filed for a patent on their glass press: US Patent 4,553X by Henry Whitney, began working for that firm in 1825. for “Making Glass Knobs for Doors.” Recognized as the A restless innovator, Robinson cast about for glass earliest surviving patent for pressed glass, it establishes products to experiment with, settling on furniture knobs; Robinson as the creator of this revolutionary process. these small, simple forms allowed him to try out more Robinson came from a long line of machinists. He cost-effective manufacturing techniques. This led to the got his start as an eight-year-old in the cotton factory historic US Patent 4,553X of 1826 and his machine, which
26 Historic New England Summer 2018 could make pressed glass knobs ries of patents starting in 1836 that tion glass doorknob in Historic New for a quarter of the price of blown- show his evolution of discovery and England’s collection was modeled glass ones. technology. In 1837 he and his broth- and signed by Christian Gobrecht Robinson’s pressed glass set the er, George Washington Robinson, (1785-1844), the third chief engraver standard—as soon as the knobs hit filed a patent that would become of the United States Mint. the market companies seeking to the standard for making glass knobs. Robinson moved on to work with emulate the success of New En- Robinson’s work won many metal, inventing locks and security gland Glass began copying them. commendations, including gold and systems, windlasses (hoisting equip- An 1831 court case documented silver medals at the Third Triennial ment), and even perpetual motion evidence of patent infringement on Exhibition of the Massachusetts machines. The New York Farmer and Robinson and Whitney’s invention, Charitable Mechanic Association in Mechanic proclaimed in an article with the verdict being so important 1841. Exhibition committee members about America’s first National Exhi- to the glass industry that Bakewell stated that they were “unanimous in bition of 1846 that Robinson and his Glass had representatives in the their opinion that those [knobs], of work remain “pre-eminent, both for courtroom waiting to hear the de- both high and low cost, are better quality and price, in which he cannot cision. Robinson and Whitney won adapted to the wants of their fellow be surpassed.” His story—and that the case and immediately began ne- countrymen, than those from any of American manufacturing—can be gotiating to grant Bakewell rights to other manufactory in the world.” found in the pressed glass door- use the glass press west of the Al- Building on his success, Robin- knobs at many historic houses in legheny Mountains. son began exploring using blown New England. Octagonal or circular, Partnering with machinist Fran- glass to create medallion doorknobs intricately detailed or with a smooth cis Draper of New England Glass that portrayed spectacular cameos mushroom shape, each knob serves and Joseph H. Lord, an agent for of notables in American history. The as a record of Robinson’s legacy and the company, Robinson filed a se- Benjamin Franklin cameo incrusta- early American ingenuity.
The significance of a 1927 donation becomes clear The day I found information about three glass doorknob Appleton had a hunch about the maker of the artifacts, patent models in Historic New England’s online collection much in the same way that I had concerning the Historic database, it wasn't so much what I didn't find—it was what I New England database attribution for the doorknobs. In couldn't see. There were no photographs of the doorknobs, penning an acknowledgment of receipt to the donor, the only the description “Doorknob” for each of the three Smithsonian Institution, Appleton expressed his delight artifacts. In all three descriptions, the knobs were ascribed to in the gift by mentioning that “we have come across just “Robinson, Draper and Lord (Maker).” Knowing that there such door handles as these in the old Robinson house, never was a firm or a maker that did business as “Robinson, built perfectly round, in Somerville, Mass., and I notice that Draper and Lord,” I became very interested in learning more Robinson, Draper and Lord were the patentees. Doubtless about these artifacts. investigation would show that this is the same Robinson.” Historic New England kindly fulfilled my request for Indeed, Appleton was correct in making the connection images of the doorknobs. The photographs showed that the that Enoch Robinson was the architect of the Round signatures—Enoch Robinson, Francis Draper, and Joseph House (1856), which still stands in Somerville. Likewise, H. Lord—were inscribed under the knobs. This confirmed a my supposition that Historic New England’s collection hunch I had about the attribution in the database: signatures contained a Robinson doorknob patent model was precise. such as these would only be required for submission of a — Rhett Butler model to the United States Patent Office in Washington, D.C. Rhett Butler is researching a book on the legacy of American “Robinson, Draper and Lord” existed only as a patentee trio. architectural hardware manufacturers E. Robinson & Co., Wm Hall These patent models had come to Historic New England & Co., L.S. Hall & Co., John Tein Co., W.C. Vaughan Co., and as a donation, care of founder William Sumner Appleton. E.R. Butler & Co., to be published in 2019.
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