Wand's Patent Water-Proof Camp Rugs

[vbetts]

Would anyone happen to know the process for manufacturing "Wand's Patent Water-Proof Camp Rugs"?

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], May 24, 1861, p. 2, c. 6

May 23d, 1861.
To Military Men
Speed, Donoho & Strange
314 Main Street, Memphis,
Are Now Having Manufactured
In the City of Memphis,
Wand's Patent Water-Proof
Camp Rug.
Answers all the Purposes of India Rub-
ber, and at One-third the Cost.
Now Manufacturing about 500 Rugs
per day, and shall soon be
able to increase the
number to 1000
per day.
Contracts for Fifty Rugs and upward
at $1 each. Less number
$1.25 each.
First Orders First Served.
Fine Assortment
of
Staple and Fancy Dry Goods.
Speed, Donoho & Strange.

[markj]

Re: Wand's Patent Water-Proof Camp Rugs

Hi Vicki,

I'll send the ad to Bruce "Mr. Military Contract" Bazelon to see what he can provide.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Yellowhammer]

Re: Wand's Patent Water-Proof Camp Rugs

You can also try the USPO Database:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/search-bool.html

[markj]

Re: Wand's Patent Water-Proof Camp Rugs

Indeed. But unless the USPTO search engine has changed, the problem is that the only way you can find a particular 19th Century patent application is to know the number first. Products marked as "Patented" back in the 1860's invariably carried only the date of patent, not the number.

Here at Purdue, the Engineering Library does have a searchable CD-Rom patent database so, if all else fails, I could probably look through that. However, again, the "camp rug" in question may well have been patented through the Confederate States Patent Office and surviving records for it are "spotty to none."

To wit:

http://www.adamspat.com/confederate_patent_office.htm

Also this:

Scientific American, v 14 (ns), no 21, p 340, 19 May 1866

Confederate States Patent Office

Messrs. Editors: -- I made application to the Patent Office of the Confederate States, at Richmond, for an improved machine for turning irregular forms, for which a patent was granted me. The model and papers all went up, I suppose, in the evacuation and surrender. If the papers or models are in possession of the Patent Office at Washington, and if you can give me any information about them, I will be very thankful.

If it could be obtained I do not know whether it would be worth making application to the Patent Office at Washington or not, under the circumstances. Please give me all the information you can consistently, with your views on the matter.

John L. Hudson
Cumming, April 25, 1866

[As much curiosity has been expressed in regard to the Confederate States Patent Office, and the records accumulated by that defunct institution, we have made some inquiries, the result of which is as follows: The Commissioner of the United States Patent Office, in June last, sent a commissioner to Richmond, Va., under the charge of Ex-Governor Farwell, of Wisconsin, one of the Principal Examiners of the Patent Office. He was furnished with orders from Major Generals Halleck and Terry, and thoroughly examined the matter, but without finding any specifications, drawings or models. They, together with the other records, are presume to have been destroyed in the fire which desolated the city. -- Eds.

Also see: TUCKER, MAX W., "The Patent Office of the Confederacy", Journal of the Patent Office Society 3:596-600 (1921)

The "camp rug" patent may well be still extant but the search might be tantamount to "looking for a needle in a stack of needles."

Good luck!

Mark Jaeger

[markj]

Re: Wand's Patent Water-Proof Camp Rugs

Greetings,

The following information is provided courtesy of Bruce Bazelon:

Speed (John H), Donoho (Wm B) & Strange (John P). Memphis. Flags. Made Confederate flags. In 1849 J H Speed appears as a merchant at home address. The firm appears as Speed & Strange dry goods at 264 Main in 1855 and 1856. In 1859 Speed, Donoho & Strange are listed as dry goods at 314 Main. They appear in the 1860 cd as "Wholesale and retail dealers in Dry Goods, Carpeting, Rugs & C" at 314 Main. The Memphis Avalanche of 4/23/1861 notes a reception at Pensacola of a flag given to the Mississippi Vols. at Speed, Donoho & Strange described as a silk CS flag with unit name. The same paper on 5/27/61 states that the firm was now manufacturing a "camp rug" at the rate of about 500 a day. An article in the Memphis Daily Appeal 4/9/61 mentions as flag for the 9th Miss. Inf. made by J. A. Cameron (see). The flag is described as the gift of Speed, Donoho & Strange who could have furnished the materials (?) Howard M. Madaus/Greg Biggs notes. They are not listed together as a firm in 1865 but in 1866 Speed (John), Donoho (Wm B) & Foute (Augustus) appear as cotton and tobacco factors on Madison. They do not appear in the 1860 census. Speed appears in the 1870 US census as a merchant age 57 born in KY w/o ppy listed. John Strange appears there as age 46 and born in VA.

Alas, we're no closer to solving the mystery of how these "camp rugs" actually appeared but we do now know that the firm of "Speed, Donoho & Strange" did make or, at least, present at least two flags to Mississippi units. I'll see if I can dig up anything about a "camp rug" in the available reports of the U. S. Patent Commissioner. I suspect they did get a U.S. patent (assuming they were telling the truth in their ad) since the C. S. Patent Office was not formally created by Act of the Confederate Congress until 21 May 1861.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Wand's Patent Water-Proof Camp Rugs

Indeed. But unless the USPTO search engine has changed, the problem is that the only way you can find a particular 19th Century patent application is to know the number first. Products marked as "Patented" back in the 1860's invariably carried only the date of patent, not the number.


Mark Jaeger

Mark,

One can search pre-1975 patents by number or classification number only. With a great deal of patience and trial and error it is possible to use the classification index to search for patents pre-1975 but it is ofter frustrating. If one can find the classification for waterproofing and which kind of waterproofing used, it is possible to locate the waterproof camp rug.

In addition, the Series 5 of 19th Century Masterfile has the _Subject Matter Index of United States Patents Issued from 1790-1873_ . Masterfile provides a searchable database for the _Subject Matter Index_ but the transcribers made a great many mistakes with the patent numbers that one can't depend on finding the correct patent number.

There are a few copies of the _Subject Matter Index_ in libraries but they are few and far between. It is a three volume set and the patents are listed alphabetically, with the date, patent number, the name of the patentee, and the llocation if the patentee is listed.

[JerseySkilletLicker]

Re: Wand's Patent Water-Proof Camp Rugs

http://www.cwreenactors.com/dcforum/Howto/1846.html

[markj]

Re: Wand's Patent Water-Proof Camp Rugs

Mark,

One can search pre-1975 patents by number or classification number only. With a great deal of patience and trial and error it is possible to use the classification index to search for patents pre-1975 but it is ofter frustrating. If one can find the classification for waterproofing and which kind of waterproofing used, it is possible to locate the waterproof camp rug.

In addition, the Series 5 of 19th Century Masterfile has the _Subject Matter Index of United States Patents Issued from 1790-1873_ . Masterfile provides a searchable database for the _Subject Matter Index_ but the transcribers made a great many mistakes with the patent numbers that one can't depend on finding the correct patent number.

There are a few copies of the _Subject Matter Index_ in libraries but they are few and far between. It is a three volume set and the patents are listed alphabetically, with the date, patent number, the name of the patentee, and the llocation if the patentee is listed.

Actually, the Purdue Engineering Library does have a searchable database in CD-Rom format that allows one to conduct keyword searches for patents. I know this because I've used it for other searches including one during which I located all patents applicable to "press-dyeing" techniques used for 19th Century flag manufacturing (e.g., making regimental flank markers, guidons, and camp colors). Found some other interesting stuff as well including a water-shower system patented, as I recall, in the late 1840's.

The post by Joe Hofmann confirms my suspicion that the "camp rug" received a C.S. patent, rather than its U.S. counterpart. It certainly indicates the makers used the word "patented" in a very *ahem* "loose" sense in their ad since their product did not receive a C.S. patent until several months later and they never received one at all from the U.S. Too bad almost all the documentation for the C.S. Patent Office either went up in smoke or was scattered and subsequently lost.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[vbetts]

Re: Wand's Patent Water-Proof Camp Rugs

Thanks to everybody on their feedback. I was hoping for something applicable to the western theatre, but alas! it has evidently gone up in ashes. Curses on that Richmond fire, and the Confederate paperwork reported to be drifting through the streets of Shreveport (for us Trans-Miss types) after the surrender.

I'm pulling a ton of stuff out of the 1861 (April on) Memphis Appeal of possible interest to military and civilians, but it's slow going for a daily newspaper of four large pages. It will be a while before I can get it posted.

Vicki Betts
vbetts@gower.net