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![IXL.JPG - IXL - Rare forged steel stick, 9 in. long, marked on the inside of handle I. X. L. either cast or cold rolled into the bar stock when made, with tight-bend Midwestern-style hook, thimble brazed on with brass, came from an underground mine near Hibbing, MN (#21 in Wilson’s Candlestick Guide) [The I.X.L. marking on the inside of the handle is likely associated with the Witte Hardware Company of St. Louis and its I.X.L. brand trademark. The origins of Witte Hardware date to 1849 with the founding of the Schmieding and Wulfing hardware business in St. Louis. In 1874 the firm’s name became F. A. Witte and Co. The company was incorporated on December 29, 1880 and renamed the Witte Hardware Co. with Otto H. Witte as its president. Originally located at No 706 North Third Street in St. Louis, the company expanded rapidly and by 1886, the company occupied an adjoining building at No. 704 North Third Street as well as two warehouse buildings at Nos. 705 and 707 North Second Street. The company carried a wide selection of tools, sporting goods, cutlery and hardware supplies, many labelled with the Witte I.X.L. Square trade-mark. As noted by the company, “the I.X.L. brand trade-mark is placed on only good, honest, reliable hardware and is an indicator to the trade of such merchandise, and the dealer when selling a tool which bears this trade-mark know that the customer will have lasting satisfaction and will never regret having purchased anything that bears this well-known mark.“ Little is known of the company after the early 1900s.]](IXL.JPG) |
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| IXL | IXL - Rare forged steel stick, 9 in. long, marked on the inside of handle I. X. L. either cast or cold rolled into the bar stock when made, with tight-bend Midwestern-style hook, thimble brazed on with brass, came from an underground mine near Hibbing, MN (#21 in Wilson’s Candlestick Guide) [The I.X.L. marking on the inside of the handle is likely associated with the Witte Hardware Company of St. Louis and its I.X.L. brand trademark. The origins of Witte Hardware date to 1849 with the founding of the Schmieding and Wulfing hardware business in St. Louis. In 1874 the firm’s name became F. A. Witte and Co. The company was incorporated on December 29, 1880 and renamed the Witte Hardware Co. with Otto H. Witte as its president. Originally located at No 706 North Third Street in St. Louis, the company expanded rapidly and by 1886, the company occupied an adjoining building at No. 704 North Third Street as well as two warehouse buildings at Nos. 705 and 707 North Second Street. The company carried a wide selection of tools, sporting goods, cutlery and hardware supplies, many labelled with the Witte I.X.L. Square trade-mark. As noted by the company, “the I.X.L. brand trade-mark is placed on only good, honest, reliable hardware and is an indicator to the trade of such merchandise, and the dealer when selling a tool which bears this trade-mark know that the customer will have lasting satisfaction and will never regret having purchased anything that bears this well-known mark.“ Little is known of the company after the early 1900s.] |  Original Image |
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