Standard Churn Company of Wapakoneta, Ohio
Beekeeping & Farm Equipment, Ohio Maker, Ohio Foundry Corridor, SSC Museum Collection Steve Thaman Beekeeping & Farm Equipment, Ohio Maker, Ohio Foundry Corridor, SSC Museum Collection Steve Thaman

Standard Churn Company of Wapakoneta, Ohio

A cast iron honey extractor drive unit from the Standard Churn Company of Wapakoneta, Ohio — a firm whose business records are held in the Smithsonian's Warshaw Collection — carries a rack-and-pinion gear mechanism, two iron frame-holder arms, and the marks THE STANDARD CHURN CO. / WAPAKONETA, OHIO. / PATENTED, plus the numbers 12 and 14 above the patent mark. This post explains what the piece actually is (most people won't recognize it on sight), documents what can be confirmed about the company, and lays out the open questions — including a still-unlocated patent number — for further research.

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The Ney Mfg. Co. No. 403 Barn Hay Pulley
Ohio Foundry Corridor, Blog Posts, Collection Acquisition, Museum Collection Steve Thaman Ohio Foundry Corridor, Blog Posts, Collection Acquisition, Museum Collection Steve Thaman

The Ney Mfg. Co. No. 403 Barn Hay Pulley

Before the hay baler. Before the tractor. There was a rope, a pulley, and a man with a pitchfork. The Ney Manufacturing Company of Canton, Ohio built its business on the hardware that moved hay from wagon to loft — and this No. 403 barn pulley carries Jacob Ney's original 1879 patent date, the invention that launched the company.

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