Treasurer Engineers (1 results)
[An exceptional pair of salesman sample factory photo albums impressively displaying the facilities, and die cast products of the Cleveland, Ohio based Superior Die Casting Co. following World War I through World War II. Supplemented by additional pieces of ephemera, photographs, and company trade literature, this collection reveals the tremendous growth and need for alloy die cast parts to supply automotive, aviation, industrial, and hardware manufacturers during the Roaring 20's, through the Great Depression, and the vast expansion of World War II.]
[MANUFACTURING & TECHNOLOGY]. [WEISS, Harry Hawthorne & WEISS, Adrian Emmanuel (Pres. & Treasurer, Engineers); HEISER, Benjamin George & REBMAN, Herb (Photographers).]
Published by The Superior Die Casting Co., The Heiser Co., Commercial Photographers; Rebman Photo Service, [ca. 1925-1944]., [Cleveland, OH:, 1925
- Hardcover
Seller: Zephyr Used & Rare Books, Vancouver, WA, U.S.A.Zephyr Used & Rare Books
Contact seller5-star sellerTwelve items; 1st - Oblong 4to. 12.5 x 9 in. With 41 linen-backed silver gelatin photographs, sized 9.5 x 7.5 in., mounted on linen hinges at gutter margin, most with typescript inscriptions on linen versos, most dated, 2 images of promotional articles bound as folding double-page panoramic photo. Contemporary ribbed flexible ca…lf post-binder, gilt lettering stamped on front cover, Company logo of SuperCast in lower left corner margin (some chipping to head & foot of spine, edgewear, scuffing, minor soiling to rear pastedown), still a VG copy; 2nd - Folio. 12.5 x 14 in. Two parts in one vol. Left hand half features [32 pp (unpaginated).], w/ mylar sleeves, each w/ colour-tinted printed mylar film cell recto & verso of each, comprising an additional [64] leaves overlaying the 32 silver gelatin product images, sized 8.5 x 11 in. revealed below, carefully identifying the cast parts; [34 pp (unpaginated).], mylar sleeves holding 22 black & white silver gelatin photos, sized 8.5 x 11 in., on glossy photo stock, photographer's imprint stamped on verso, along with printed text & sales figures, tables for Superior Die Casting Co. Contemporary flexible pebbled cafl, facing 22-ring binders at gutter fore-edges, khaki-coloured zipper around fore-edges, gilt stamping & logo on front cover (minor scuffing, edgewear, some curling to mylar cell overlays), still a VG exemplar; 3rd-14th - 4to. [4]; [4]; [4]; [2]; [2]; [2]; [2]; [2]; [4], including three SuperCast product catalogues from the 1920's, a Better Methods catalogue; Die Casting Adler Bag, linen bag, leaf w/ 8 Superior Die Casting Co. business cards, dated in MS from 1925-1927, camera-ready add copies, envelopes, and even loose leaves touting the newly completed factory to be opened in 1928. These salesman sample photo albums and ancillary ephemera vividly document the die cast alloy products churned out by the fast growing Superior Die Casting Co. founded in 1919 following World War I by two intrepid Jewish-American engineers. The first album composed entirely of linen-backed photographs, open with images of the newly opened SuperCast Die Cast factory, and reproductions of trade magazines touting the company's new ally with 50,000 lbs. of tensile strength, with 25% greater permanency when subjected to extreme heat and steam, as well as greater strengths when subjected to sub-zero testing in 1930. The myriad of inventive and eye-catching product photographs depict oil pump bodies, Motometer mounts, partition castings, piston and crank assemblies, fans, rotors, pulls, speedometer drives, rumble seat arm rests, auto pedals, oil gauge parts, auto door panel glass holders, and more. Of particular interest are the photographs depicting the vast nearly surrealist collage product exhibits created for the 8th National Exposition of Power & Mechanical Engineering in Grand Central Palace, New York, 1929; the 1929 Cleveland Automobile Show at the Public Auditorium, or the 1927 Cleveland Industrial Exposition. The second sales album featuring 54 silver gelatin photographs, and 32 of them designed with a nearly avante-garde creativity, with ingeniously arranged product collages, augmented with colour-tinted overlays. The SuperCast castings display a wide range of Wartime products, including gun sight components, computer cams for targeting gun turrets, flight instruments, Army Air Force automatic pilot and bomb sight parts, and more. In addition, a myriad of ticket marking machines, metering instruments, auto heaters, refrigerator parts, vending machine frames, hair dryers, T.V. antenna rotators, pump impellers, railroad speed recorders and much more spill across the large photos. This sales album focuses on the SuperCast zinc alloy die castings, some with electro-plating, along with machined aluminum alloy castings. A few of the Wartime Homefront factory photographs show a significant number of women working to aid the War effort in the packing and shipping department, and the factory production floor. Harry Weiss (1882-1975) and Adrian Weiss (1894-1964) were both machinists and engineers, with Adrian serving as engineer in the AEF in Europe from 1917-Dec., 1919, while Harry Weiss arranged financing and began producing the initial products of iron and steel castings, sheet metal, steel wire, and steel products. From the 1920's until after World War II, the company produced die castings for automobiles, electric motors, appliances, engines, phonographs, calculating machines, mechanical toys, motion picture projectors, and more. Heiser (1881-1938) was art and commercial photographer in Cleveland, OH who maintained a large staff of photographers, and engravers. He frequently taught classes in and around Cleveland along with W.H. Bass of Indianapolis on how to build successful commercial photography businesses, and detailing how to prepare product photos. Rebman (1910-1962) formed his commercial studio during World War II after leaving his job working as pressman and photographer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and his commercial Rebman Photo Service expanded, and continued operating as a family business following his death. Family tradition would be continued later by his nephew Mort Tucker, who had enhanced the business of Rebman Photo by focusing more on department store and fashion photography, as well as architects, financial institutions, and more. This cataloguer could find almost no remaining historical reference, or physical presence of any photographs related to the company, and in fact the sole portfolio of undated company trade literature under SuperCast Die Castings is held by Cleveland State.