I just purchased 14 clamps from a resident in St Charles, MO that came from her great grandfather who apparently built furniture. She didn't have any more information on them except that I purchased 14 of them and a few went to another family member.
Most of the screw clamps are from the R. Bliss Mfg Co, one from the Dodge Mfg Co, and the rest are stamped "GAR No.6" which I've been unable to decipher. According to clamp enthusiast websites on, these were built in the latter half of the 1800s. They're all in surprisingly good condition and work pretty well minus the need for some lubrication and well deserved cleaning.
All of the clamps are stamped with "Seidel" or "Seidel & Winkler"
Seidel & Winkler
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| 1887 Seidel & Winkler Advertisement [1] |
Google's archive of digitized and searchable books was the best method to finding out where these clamps came from. I found about a dozen documents that mentioned the business name at least in passing, most were directories, but one had an old advertisement which I've included above. The earliest reference to the business I can find is from 1866 and the latest was from 1889. I discovered both their full names in Volume 8 of Gould's St Louis Directory; Ernst L. Seidel and Frederick A. Winkler who were both carpenters [2].
According to the above 1887 advertisement from a book entitled "The Industries of Saint Louis" by John W. Leonard, Seidel & Winkler built fixtures for businesses. The ad explicitly mentions railings, mantels, shelving, and mirrors. Their office was located at 517 Locust St, an area which has been redeveloped multiple times and currently is a parking garage, and their factory at the southeast corner of Linn and Soulard St [1]. Another document placed their factory on the 1700 block of Linn Street [2].
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| 1903 Rand McNally and Company Map Image Source: David Rumsey Map Collection |
Linn Street no longer exists but "The Revised Ordinance City of St. Louis" from 1893 sheds some light on where it would've been. It ran North to South and was bordered at the north by Park Avenue and at the south by Geyer Avenue. Based on my amateur detective work piecing together old maps, I figure it would be situated at present day South 14th Street [4][5]. The area has been redeveloped extensively and is currently a residential neighborhood.
Later
In 1954, the Seidel Furniture Company was established in St Louis with the Seidel Coal & Coke Company having 100% interest in the business. They were located at 3524 Washington Blvd in St Louis. It is unclear when the company ceased to exist but I presume they were from the same family as the earlier Seidel's. [3]
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