Ticket punch
patented by L.O. Crocker.
Price: $125.00
plus shipping.
Misc-06
The first of Luther
Crocker's three punch designs; this one
is covered by U.S.
Patents No.'s 64,286, 95,091, and 261,138,
granted April 30,
1867, September 21, 1869, and July 18, 1882.
These are selectively
illustrated in the first set of drawings below. The later patents
are illustrated in the bottom set of drawings. The first two patents
are remarkably similar; I've included the claims for each so you try to
figure out exactly what are the improvements ... Incredibly, the final
patent rendition is nearly identical to the first design.
My general impression
is that Mr. Crocker kept on getting his design re-patented in order to
stretch the period of protection from 1867 to 1908: forty-one years !
The condition of
this example is excellent, but well used by (or for) BC.
It's as well used as the proverbial regimental condom, considering how
many times the handle has been stamped, REPAIRED.
The manufacturing
date was probably between 1882 (the last
of the first three
patent dates) and 1884 (the expiration date
of the earliest
of those three) and certainly no later than 1886
(the patent date
of the second of Crocker's three designs).
