Miscellaneous Mining Items/Truax Denver tag 001

Miscellaneous Mining Items

Truax Denver tag 001.JPG - TRUAX ORE CAR TAG - Original brass ore care tag embossed BUILT BY THE TRUAX MFG. CO. 1117 WAZEE ST. DENVER, COLO and stamped on bottom ear with number 9230, 4 1/2 in. dia. to the outer edge of the ears (The Truax Manufacturing Co. of Denver was a well-known supplier of ore cars and other ore handling equipment from the late 1800s into the early 20th century. Incorporated on May 15, 1892 by George E. Truax, the Truax Manufacturing Co. was the sole manufacturer of the Silver State Automatic Ore Car (the patented Truax Automatic Ore Car) from a plant building at 1717, 1719 Wazee Street. An early 1893 ad notes that the plant at the time employed 8 full time workers with O. P. Grove as company secretary and treasurer and George E. Truax, originally from Michigan, as works superintendent. The Truax Automatic Ore Car is one of the better known ore cars in the history of western mining. As stated in the 1893 ad, “this is the best car of the kind and is made of the best quality of steel and malleable iron with cast chilled wheels which give strength and durability.” Invented by George E. Truax of Denver, CO and patented (No. 466,717) on January 5, 1892, the Truax ore car solved a major problem experienced by earlier ore cars. Unlike other cars whose door may not properly open as the car is tipped resulting in a shift in the load that carried the car and load over and down the dump, the Truax car automatically opens the door as the car is tipped and then relocks the door when the car is returned to the horizontal position. An 1895 patent (#545,433) was for an improvement in the door hinge and an 1898 patent (#607,785) was for an improvement in the door locking mechanism, both also awarded to George Truax. The brass ore car tags on these cars are coveted by collectors as an easily displayed piece of vintage heavy mining equipment. At least eight other Truax brass tag stampings similar to this one are known, some with flat backs and some with concave shaped backs. One concave shaped back tag shown elsewhere in my pics is stamped by the Globe Iron Works of Stockton, CA and manufactured under rights purchased from the Truax Mfg. Co. Two other concave back tags stamped Silver State ore cars were marked as manufactured by Truax in Denver as well as Truax in San Francisco, an additional manufacturing location opened prior to 1900 at 69 Stevenson St. These two plus the Globe marking all incorporate stampings of the three patents noted above as well as a Canadian patent dated June 21, 1898. A third concave back Silver State ore car marking with only the June 21, 1898 patent stamping was made by the Vancouver Engineering Works Ltd. Vancouver, B.C. with the addition of “Sole Makers in Canada.” And if these multiple manufacturing locations for Truax cars weren’t confusing enough, another ad in the April 1898 issue of The Mining and Metallurgical Journal lists the Chas. B. Boothe & Co. at 126-128 South Los Angeles St. in Los Angeles, CA as a manufacturer of the Truax Improved Patented Automatic Ore Car. No Tags have been identified as listing this address or manufacturer. The rarest tag is a smaller oval shape flat back tag, undoubtedly the earliest of the group (shown later in my pics). It is marked The Truax Ore Car Works 1717/1719 Wazee St. Denver, Colo and likely was used prior to The Truax Manufacturing Company incorporation date in 1892. Two Truax ore cars at the Silverton Museum in Colorado both display this oval tag. The next earliest tag begins the concave back circular pattern, although slightly smaller diameter than the later tags, and is marked Geo. E. Truax’s Silver State Ore Car with just the 1892 patent date. The next concave back tag marking adds the 1895 patent date and includes the first marking of The Truax Mfg. Co. Two other tag configurations, both with flat backs, have ears at both the top and bottom, as the one shown here, but differ in the company address. This one lists the address as 1117 Wazee while the other is marked with an address at 1723-1729 Wazee. Complicating the dating of the various tags is the changing address of the company on Wazee St. The earliest tag shows 1717/1719 Wazee St., while others show 1723-1729 Wazee St. and yet others show 1711 Wazee St. as the tag shown here. Using a variety of sources including ads, Denver Business Directories, and mining publications, some correlation of street address and dates can be established. By 1898, the company was still located at 1717/1719 Wazee St. Sometime around 1898, John T. Plummer became the manager of the Truax Manufacturing Company taking over from George Truax with J. J. Kearney as the company designer. By 1903, the Directory of Iron and Steel Works lists the company address as 1723-1725 Wazee St. The 1911 Denver Business Directory still shows the address as 1723 Wazee St. but by Sept. 1913, the company is listed at 1723-1729 Wazee. A 1915 Truax advertising brochure as well as the 1916 Mining and Engineering World lists the address as 1117 Wazee and later publications continue to list that address. Whether these address changes reflect actual moves by the company or some reassignment of street numbers by the city of Denver is unknown. Collecting these tags provides an interesting perspective as to the business of supplying the turn-of-the-century mining world. As a word of caution, reproductions of these original brass tags are known. Buyer beware!

Truax Denver tag 001 | TRUAX ORE CAR TAG - Original brass ore care tag embossed BUILT BY THE TRUAX MFG. CO. 1117 WAZEE ST. DENVER, COLO and stamped on bottom ear with number 9230, 4 1/2 in. dia. to the outer edge of the ears (The Truax Manufacturing Co. of Denver was a well-known supplier of ore cars and other ore handling equipment from the late 1800s into the early 20th century. Incorporated on May 15, 1892 by George E. Truax, the Truax Manufacturing Co. was the sole manufacturer of the Silver State Automatic Ore Car (the patented Truax Automatic Ore Car) from a plant building at 1717, 1719 Wazee Street. An early 1893 ad notes that the plant at the time employed 8 full time workers with O. P. Grove as company secretary and treasurer and George E. Truax, originally from Michigan, as works superintendent. The Truax Automatic Ore Car is one of the better known ore cars in the history of western mining. As stated in the 1893 ad, “this is the best car of the kind and is made of the best quality of steel and malleable iron with cast chilled wheels which give strength and durability.” Invented by George E. Truax of Denver, CO and patented (No. 466,717) on January 5, 1892, the Truax ore car solved a major problem experienced by earlier ore cars. Unlike other cars whose door may not properly open as the car is tipped resulting in a shift in the load that carried the car and load over and down the dump, the Truax car automatically opens the door as the car is tipped and then relocks the door when the car is returned to the horizontal position. An 1895 patent (#545,433) was for an improvement in the door hinge and an 1898 patent (#607,785) was for an improvement in the door locking mechanism, both also awarded to George Truax. The brass ore car tags on these cars are coveted by collectors as an easily displayed piece of vintage heavy mining equipment. At least eight other Truax brass tag stampings similar to this one are known, some with flat backs and some with concave shaped backs. One concave shaped back tag shown elsewhere in my pics is stamped by the Globe Iron Works of Stockton, CA and manufactured under rights purchased from the Truax Mfg. Co. Two other concave back tags stamped Silver State ore cars were marked as manufactured by Truax in Denver as well as Truax in San Francisco, an additional manufacturing location opened prior to 1900 at 69 Stevenson St. These two plus the Globe marking all incorporate stampings of the three patents noted above as well as a Canadian patent dated June 21, 1898. A third concave back Silver State ore car marking with only the June 21, 1898 patent stamping was made by the Vancouver Engineering Works Ltd. Vancouver, B.C. with the addition of “Sole Makers in Canada.” And if these multiple manufacturing locations for Truax cars weren’t confusing enough, another ad in the April 1898 issue of The Mining and Metallurgical Journal lists the Chas. B. Boothe & Co. at 126-128 South Los Angeles St. in Los Angeles, CA as a manufacturer of the Truax Improved Patented Automatic Ore Car. No Tags have been identified as listing this address or manufacturer. The rarest tag is a smaller oval shape flat back tag, undoubtedly the earliest of the group (shown later in my pics). It is marked The Truax Ore Car Works 1717/1719 Wazee St. Denver, Colo and likely was used prior to The Truax Manufacturing Company incorporation date in 1892. Two Truax ore cars at the Silverton Museum in Colorado both display this oval tag. The next earliest tag begins the concave back circular pattern, although slightly smaller diameter than the later tags, and is marked Geo. E. Truax’s Silver State Ore Car with just the 1892 patent date. The next concave back tag marking adds the 1895 patent date and includes the first marking of The Truax Mfg. Co. Two other tag configurations, both with flat backs, have ears at both the top and bottom, as the one shown here, but differ in the company address. This one lists the address as 1117 Wazee while the other is marked with an address at 1723-1729 Wazee. Complicating the dating of the various tags is the changing address of the company on Wazee St. The earliest tag shows 1717/1719 Wazee St., while others show 1723-1729 Wazee St. and yet others show 1711 Wazee St. as the tag shown here. Using a variety of sources including ads, Denver Business Directories, and mining publications, some correlation of street address and dates can be established. By 1898, the company was still located at 1717/1719 Wazee St. Sometime around 1898, John T. Plummer became the manager of the Truax Manufacturing Company taking over from George Truax with J. J. Kearney as the company designer. By 1903, the Directory of Iron and Steel Works lists the company address as 1723-1725 Wazee St. The 1911 Denver Business Directory still shows the address as 1723 Wazee St. but by Sept. 1913, the company is listed at 1723-1729 Wazee. A 1915 Truax advertising brochure as well as the 1916 Mining and Engineering World lists the address as 1117 Wazee and later publications continue to list that address. Whether these address changes reflect actual moves by the company or some reassignment of street numbers by the city of Denver is unknown. Collecting these tags provides an interesting perspective as to the business of supplying the turn-of-the-century mining world. As a word of caution, reproductions of these original brass tags are known. Buyer beware!

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