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A. Smith & Co Patentees Princes St Leicester Square London

7/21/2018

4 Comments

 
I have written a great deal about the Smiths floor spring on this blog and today I will write a little more.

In the English Mechanic and World of Science - Volume 3 - Page 556 from 1866 you will find the advertisement below.

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By 1869 we can see in Atchleys Price Book. page 27 none are warranted unless having Smiths name stamped into the decor plate along with the caution against purchasing spurious and inferior "copies."
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Seven years later in Spon's Engineers and Contractor's Illustrated Book of Prices of Machines, Tools, Ironwork and Contractors Material for 1876 you will find the this advertisement where as you can see upwards of 40'000 floor springs were in use and you are able to see an accurate rendering of the Trade Mark and address.
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Considering the Smiths door spring was still being manufactured in the 1950's and possibly later (you may well have one controlling the door or doors, in your home, your place of worship, your place of study or your place of work) like the one on the right in the first picture below. However if you have one with Smiths name and address stamped in the brass cover plate as on the left, you have a bona fide, guaranteed door spring of some considerable age and character.

In my humble opinion you have a piece of history beneath your feet, something more than a mechanism to control a door, the longevity of which it does so is astounding (as highlighted in previous posts), is of historical importance, should be a source of National pride (along with others) and we should therefore be doing the utmost to restore, protect and ensure its continued use not only as a  method of door control but for future generations to wonder over.

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If you agree, disagree, like this post or simply want to acknowledge you have a Smiths or any other floor spring for that matter please feel free to comment.
4 Comments
William Castro
7/21/2018 04:17:29 pm

I like to have information about history of floor spring

Reply
Rod Fathers link
7/21/2018 04:39:19 pm

Hi Will,

Nice to hear from you again Sir. I am really pleased you have found this post interesting, I to find the history of these devices fascinating along with the repair of them and of course the fantastic buildings I am fortunate enough to find them in. Please feel free to explore my blog and you will find as much information as I believe is available (and then some) with regard to the inventors, manufacturers, distributors etc. Do you come across many old floor springs and door closers in Brazil? As you know I am always on the look out for more information to share with the world and would be very grateful if you have any to share.

Reply
Shushil
8/1/2018 02:23:59 pm

Hi.we have a church building worth wh Slave mechanism but we need it serviced is this something you can do or guid as at all how to fix the issues we have?

Thanks

Jess the door closer doctor
7/21/2018 06:47:15 pm

Hello William and Rod,

What a small world William! Surprized to see you left a comment here!

Rod: fountain of knowledge when it comes to these old british floor springs as always! Loved what i read about their history!

-Jess

Reply



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    As there is so little information out there with regard to door closers, especially vintage and antique model floor springs, I thought I would start this blog.

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