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Varney Clean Cut
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  Varney III.JPG - VARNEY 12 IN. - Length 12 in; marked VARNEY (The VARNEY is the most common and widely collected of the brand-name candlesticks. It was invented in the 1880s by Nathan E. Varney and dominated the candlestick market until carbide lamps and electricity made them obsolete. In 1870, at age 20, Varney moved from Maine to Creede, CO to open one of the first assay offices there. After 15 years of moving about the Colorado mining camps including Boulder and Cripple Creek, he moved to Denver and in 1885 started a manufacturing business where he produced his one-piece candlestick design. Although he filed no patent on his popular design, he did file a patent in 1911 for an intricate folding model highly sought by collectors. It is believed that all the Varney sticks, even those with other brand names stamped on them, were manufactured in the Denver facility with one exception. Nathan's son, Charles E. Varney of Milford, Delaware, also manufactured some candlesticks through a company named L. A. Sayre Co. in Newark, NJ. The stick design is simple yet quite sophisticated. Starting with 1/4 in. bar stock, the end that is the shaft was forged into a square point; the spike shaft was left square while the section that was bent for the handle was forged into an octagonal cross-section; the thimble was formed to be wide and flat and the hook portion was forged into a round cross-section; special forming equipment bent the resulting sections into the stick shape and a name (although a large number of Varney sticks are not marked) was stamped on the shaft just forward of the thimble. Three lengths of Varney sticks were advertised - 8, 10 and 12 in. - although other lengths have been found. Altogether, at least 18 different brand names including VARNEY have been found. These include BONANZA, CLEANCUT, CLEANCUT/TRADEMARK, COLONIAL, DENVER, IMPERIAL, MENLO, OCCIDENT, ROYAL, RUSSELL, L.A.SAYRE & SON NEWARK NJ, L.A.SAYRE & CO NEWARK NJ, SIERRA, SIERRA UHM & CO (Union Hardware and Metal Co), SPARKLE, TRIUMPH and L.A.SAYRE & SON (square stock); see Bobrink, Mining Artifact Collector #5, p 11)  
Varney Royal
Varney Sayre & Son
Varney Sierra
Walker Patent LSide
Walker Patent

Varney III | VARNEY 12 IN. - Length 12 in; marked VARNEY (The VARNEY is the most common and widely collected of the brand-name candlesticks. It was invented in the 1880s by Nathan E. Varney and dominated the candlestick market until carbide lamps and electricity made them obsolete. In 1870, at age 20, Varney moved from Maine to Creede, CO to open one of the first assay offices there. After 15 years of moving about the Colorado mining camps including Boulder and Cripple Creek, he moved to Denver and in 1885 started a manufacturing business where he produced his one-piece candlestick design. Although he filed no patent on his popular design, he did file a patent in 1911 for an intricate folding model highly sought by collectors. It is believed that all the Varney sticks, even those with other brand names stamped on them, were manufactured in the Denver facility with one exception. Nathan's son, Charles E. Varney of Milford, Delaware, also manufactured some candlesticks through a company named L. A. Sayre Co. in Newark, NJ. The stick design is simple yet quite sophisticated. Starting with 1/4 in. bar stock, the end that is the shaft was forged into a square point; the spike shaft was left square while the section that was bent for the handle was forged into an octagonal cross-section; the thimble was formed to be wide and flat and the hook portion was forged into a round cross-section; special forming equipment bent the resulting sections into the stick shape and a name (although a large number of Varney sticks are not marked) was stamped on the shaft just forward of the thimble. Three lengths of Varney sticks were advertised - 8, 10 and 12 in. - although other lengths have been found. Altogether, at least 18 different brand names including VARNEY have been found. These include BONANZA, CLEANCUT, CLEANCUT/TRADEMARK, COLONIAL, DENVER, IMPERIAL, MENLO, OCCIDENT, ROYAL, RUSSELL, L.A.SAYRE & SON NEWARK NJ, L.A.SAYRE & CO NEWARK NJ, SIERRA, SIERRA UHM & CO (Union Hardware and Metal Co), SPARKLE, TRIUMPH and L.A.SAYRE & SON (square stock); see Bobrink, Mining Artifact Collector #5, p 11) Download Original Image
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