Housewife Question

[amazingkenneth]

Hello All,
I hope someone can help on this question for me. I am looking to buy a housewife from the site and I saw folding scissors in most of them. Were they used in the civilwar? I did a little research and found a company called MARX and they had folding scissors but the Pat. date was 1872. I found a pair last night as well on E-bay. They are the same as the ones that are on the site. Can anyone give me info on them or a location that I can research them?

Your Servant,
K.J. Reihl
23rd North Carolina Infantry, Co. D
The PEE DEE Guard

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Housewife Question

Hello All,
I hope someone can help on this question for me. I am looking to buy a housewife from the site and I saw folding scissors in most of them. Were they used in the civilwar? I did a little research and found a company called MARX and they had folding scissors but the Pat. date was 1872. I found a pair last night as well on E-bay. They are the same as the ones that are on the site. Can anyone give me info on them or a location that I can research them?

Your Servant,
K.J. Reihl
23rd North Carolina Infantry, Co. D
The PEE DEE Guard

I looked in a period hardware catalogue and did not find folding scissors. They did show very small embroidery or lace scissors.

I just did a quick search on the Patent office website and found the first folding scissors were patented in the US in 1861 (#31,032) and I also found the 1872 patent you mentioned (#127,207). With the 1861 folding scissors, the blades were attached to a "U" shaped spring and the spring was squeezed to perform the cutting action. The design is very similar to simple kindergarten scissors, except in the 1861 design, the blades would fold into the the spring. I do not know if or when this type of folding scissors were first produced commercially.

The 1872 patent is very similar to the folding scissors today and the patent drawing looks just like the folding scissors used today.

[markj]

Re: Housewife Question

Hello All,
I hope someone can help on this question for me. I am looking to buy a housewife from the site and I saw folding scissors in most of them. Were they used in the civilwar? I did a little research and found a company called MARX and they had folding scissors but the Pat. date was 1872. I found a pair last night as well on E-bay. They are the same as the ones that are on the site. Can anyone give me info on them or a location that I can research them?

Your Servant,
K.J. Reihl
23rd North Carolina Infantry, Co. D
The PEE DEE Guard

Hi,

I can't add much to what Virginia has already said but, in my opinion, you should probably think long and hard before you use them. With this in mind, here is a scanned version of the November 1864 "Godey's" housewife pattern. As you will see, it does NOT show folding scissors. WARNING: This file is 1.69 megs so you might have trouble downloading it.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[markj]

Re: Housewife Question

Oh, by the way, I have attached color images of a housewife I "commissioned" according to the Godey pattern stated above.

Enjoy,

Mark Jaeger

[amazingkenneth]

Re: Housewife Question

Thanks,
I want to make sure that I am correct with everything.

Your Servant,
K.J. Reihl

Oh, by the way, I have attached color images of a housewife I "commissioned" according to the Godey pattern stated above.

Enjoy,

Mark Jaeger

[amazingkenneth]

Re: Housewife Question

Great info. Do you know if the look is close to the 1872 style?

Thanks,
K.J. Reihl

I looked in a period hardware catalogue and did not find folding scissors. They did show very small embroidery or lace scissors.

I just did a quick search on the Patent office website and found the first folding scissors were patented in the US in 1861 (#31,032) and I also found the 1872 patent you mentioned (#127,207). With the 1861 folding scissors, the blades were attached to a "U" shaped spring and the spring was squeezed to perform the cutting action. The design is very similar to simple kindergarten scissors, except in the 1861 design, the blades would fold into the the spring. I do not know if or when this type of folding scissors were first produced commercially.

The 1872 patent is very similar to the folding scissors today and the patent drawing looks just like the folding scissors used today.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Housewife Question

Hello All,
I hope someone can help on this question for me. I am looking to buy a housewife from the site and I saw folding scissors in most of them. Were they used in the civilwar? I did a little research and found a company called MARX and they had folding scissors but the Pat. date was 1872. I found a pair last night as well on E-bay. They are the same as the ones that are on the site. Can anyone give me info on them or a location that I can research them?

Your Servant,
K.J. Reihl
23rd North Carolina Infantry, Co. D
The PEE DEE Guard

The folding scissors offered in most housewifes I have seen, are stainless steel, and unacceptable regardless. An easy way to tell stainless from "normal" steel is by sticking it with a magnet. If the magnet sticks it is steel, if it doesnt stick it is stainless.

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Housewife Question

Great info. Do you know if the look is close to the 1872 style?

Thanks,
K.J. Reihl

If you go to the patent office website and do a search on the two patent numbers, you will see the shapes. The folding scissors on ebay look very similar to the modern folding scissors, but the 1861 patent is totally different. I've seen kindergarten scissors that have the two blades attached to a "U" shaped piece of springy plastic; you squeeze the plastic handle and the blades operate. The blades of the kindergarten scissors don't fold into the "U" shaped handle.

The patent office website is easy to navigate but you will need to download the free image viewer in order to see any of the images. Patents issued before 1975 are only searchable by patent number or classification number.

Since there is no indication that the 1872 folding scissors were available before the patent date, you would be better off purchasing a pair of repro of Ginger small scissors. They are copies of early 19th century scissors and look exactly like what I've seen in period catalogues.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Housewife Question

I was curious are these the folding scissors contained in this months bully buy? If so has anyone thought of asking Skillet Licker about information he must have? He is well respected by many and must have some reason for including them in the housewives.

Paul B. Boulden Jr.

RAH VA MIL '04

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Housewife Question

I was curious are these the folding scissors contained in this months bully buy? If so has anyone thought of asking Skillet Licker about information he must have? He is well respected by many and must have some reason for including them in the housewives.

Paul B. Boulden Jr.

RAH VA MIL '04

I, too, would be interested in his documentation of the folding scissors. It could have been that they were available in Europe and imported but lacking US documentation for the CW period, I would hesitate to use them.

[Rear Rank 2]

Re: Housewife Question

Markj,
Please forgive my ignorance on the subject. What are the other two items in your housewife that flank the scissors?

[Richmond Depot]

Re: Housewife Question

I have a better source for a more correct type of period scissor. If anyone is interested contact me off line. The folding variety mentioned above are made by Singer and available from any Wal-Mart Super Center. :)

[markj]

Re: Housewife Question

Markj,
Please forgive my ignorance on the subject. What are the other two items in your housewife that flank the scissors?

Hi,

The item on the left of the scissors is a "bodkin." The item on the right is a fabric awl/punch. Both are antiques that I bought on eBay and appear to be made of bone. The bodkin (which has an eyelet) was used, for example, to thread draw strings in bags. The punch, of course, can be used to make holes in fabric and even thin leather. Both of these items are illustrated, along with the scissors, in the original Godey illustration.

If you would like more details about how this housewife was made, please contact me at:

markj@purdue.edu

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[JerseySkilletLicker]

Re: Housewife Question

All,
When Mike Anderson and I began offering his sewing kits the scissors in question were not included. Mike found these and threw them in every kit as an add on at no extra charge. Far from being perfect, they are not stainless and are a nice copy of English scissors of the 1801 period. Lords CW Collectors Encyclopedia; Volume 4; Page 154 pictures them. True, they were not patented in the US until 1872 but many sewing implements of the period before that were imported.
I own and use one of Mike's kits and replaced the scissors with an original pair I was lucky enough to purchase. For Mike and myself to find original scissors to include with the kits could be done but the cost would be substantially greater. It seemed to me that while someone was looking for an original pair, these could certainly be used in a pinch.

Joe

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Housewife Question

All,
When Mike Anderson and I began offering his sewing kits the scissors in question were not included. Mike found these and threw them in every kit as an add on at no extra charge. Far from being perfect, they are not stainless and are a nice copy of English scissors of the 1801 period. Lords CW Collectors Encyclopedia; Volume 4; Page 154 pictures them.

Joe

Thank you for your explanation about the folding scissors. I will be sure to add it to my research notes. Do you have a picture of the 1801 scissors or are the very similar to the ones from 1872?

Thank you for your time.