Oilwick Lamps/Bluefield Hardware RSide Open

Oilwick Lamps

Bluefield Hardware RSide Open.JPG - BLUEFIELD HARDWARE CO - Hard to find brass cap lamp with ferrous hook, double spout with tin inner spout, marked on font BLUEFIELD HARDWARE CO, made by Trethaway Bros. and private labeled for Bluefield Hardware Co, 2 3/4 in. tall to lid, 1 5/8 in. base dia., 3 1/8 in. spout[The city of Bluefield is located in southern West Virginia, almost on the border with Virginia. It was developed in the late 1880s to support the local railroad and coal mining operations. Incorporated in December 1889, the town grew quickly as its vast coalfields expanded. One of the earliest businesses to locate in Bluefield was the Bluefield Hardware Company which would ultimately become one of the largest hardware businesses in West Virginia. Founded in 1898 by John W. Ruff the company was well known in the mining community. John William Ruff was born in Lexington, Virginia, June 16, 1860. He attended Washington and Lee University at Lexington, and at the age of twenty years commenced his business career as a clerk in the general merchandise store of Moore & Eades in Lexington. He remained with the firm for fifteen months and then entered the employ of Jones, Watts Brothers & Company, wholesale and retail hardware dealers, of Lynchburg, Virginia, as a clerk and traveling salesman, and remained in that position for five years. He then became a traveling salesman for Watkins, Cottrell & Company, wholesale hardware dealers, of Richmond, Virginia, and remained with them for twelve years. He then settled in Bluefield, West Virginia, and on February 1, 1898, organized the Bluefield Hardware Company, and was elected president of the company while also serving as president of the Logan Hardware Company in Logan, West Virginia. Charles B. Hancock was elected vice president serving in that position till 1918. The company dealt in heavy and shelf hardware, mining and mill supplies, and by 1912 had increased its volume of business to six hundred thousand dollars annually. Everett Alton Leonard Jr. replaced John Ruff as president in 1917 and continued in that position till his death on May 29, 1944 at the age of 67 years. The company continued in business into at least the 1980s. Trethaway Bros. in addition to their own lamps produced lamps under the labels of UMWA, Richards, Tracy Wells, Keystone Oil & Supply, Lennon, P.F. Lennon, Sanner Hardware Co., O'Keefe Patent, and Alex E. Hunt (see these lamps elsewhere in my pics); in 1918, a fire destroyed the firm's building and stock and Trethaway Bros. closed its business. Production of this lamp would have been prior to 1918. The Citizen Building Supply Co. purchased the old Bluefield Hardware Co. property in 1998.]

Bluefield Hardware RSide Open | BLUEFIELD HARDWARE CO - Hard to find brass cap lamp with ferrous hook, double spout with tin inner spout, marked on font BLUEFIELD HARDWARE CO, made by Trethaway Bros. and private labeled for Bluefield Hardware Co, 2 3/4 in. tall to lid, 1 5/8 in. base dia., 3 1/8 in. spout [The city of Bluefield is located in southern West Virginia, almost on the border with Virginia. It was developed in the late 1880s to support the local railroad and coal mining operations. Incorporated in December 1889, the town grew quickly as its vast coalfields expanded. One of the earliest businesses to locate in Bluefield was the Bluefield Hardware Company which would ultimately become one of the largest hardware businesses in West Virginia. Founded in 1898 by John W. Ruff the company was well known in the mining community. John William Ruff was born in Lexington, Virginia, June 16, 1860. He attended Washington and Lee University at Lexington, and at the age of twenty years commenced his business career as a clerk in the general merchandise store of Moore & Eades in Lexington. He remained with the firm for fifteen months and then entered the employ of Jones, Watts Brothers & Company, wholesale and retail hardware dealers, of Lynchburg, Virginia, as a clerk and traveling salesman, and remained in that position for five years. He then became a traveling salesman for Watkins, Cottrell & Company, wholesale hardware dealers, of Richmond, Virginia, and remained with them for twelve years. He then settled in Bluefield, West Virginia, and on February 1, 1898, organized the Bluefield Hardware Company, and was elected president of the company while also serving as president of the Logan Hardware Company in Logan, West Virginia. Charles B. Hancock was elected vice president serving in that position till 1918. The company dealt in heavy and shelf hardware, mining and mill supplies, and by 1912 had increased its volume of business to six hundred thousand dollars annually. Everett Alton Leonard Jr. replaced John Ruff as president in 1917 and continued in that position till his death on May 29, 1944 at the age of 67 years. The company continued in business into at least the 1980s. Trethaway Bros. in addition to their own lamps produced lamps under the labels of UMWA, Richards, Tracy Wells, Keystone Oil & Supply, Lennon, P.F. Lennon, Sanner Hardware Co., O'Keefe Patent, and Alex E. Hunt (see these lamps elsewhere in my pics); in 1918, a fire destroyed the firm's building and stock and Trethaway Bros. closed its business. Production of this lamp would have been prior to 1918. The Citizen Building Supply Co. purchased the old Bluefield Hardware Co. property in 1998.]

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