I cannot say THANK YOU enough,ironlord,for all your help an the research,which you did not have to do.I found this,which i am sure repeats most of what you found,however you can see were it talks of candlesticks,and it speaks of the original candlesticks having the''Flagg & Homan'' inside an oval.Maybe if you read it,you will understand it a little better than me.
I think i am going to hold on to this item until I find out something out for sure.I am going to continue to search.
Thanks again,ironlord and others for your help.Read it,let me know what you think.
God bless,Keith
Flagg and Homan Pewter
by
Gary D. Wiggins
The Homan Manufacturing Company has a history dating back to 1847 when Henry H. Homan (b. 1825 in Prussia) formed a partnership in Cincinnati, Ohio with an English potter named Asa F. Flagg. “Pewter” Flagg, as he was known, retired from the partnership in 1854 and was replaced by M. Miller, who remained a partner until Henry’s death in 1865. Although Asa Flagg and Henry Homan were both dead by 1865, the company continued to produce pewter and silverplate well into the 20th century. After Henry died, his widow, Margaret, and three sons (Frank, d. 1880; Louis B., d. February 6, 1944; and Joseph Theodore Homan, d. February 12, 1941) ran the firm until 1887. Joseph T. Homan and Louis Homan were listed in the 1915 Annual Report of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.
Initially the company made Britannia Wares and some molded pewter. Homan and Company, the first designation of the firm, made Britannia metal wares until around 1864. In 1859, the company employed twenty-eight workers, and the value of their products was listed at $85,000. Homan & Co. pieces were often marked "Flagg & Homan" at that time. It is not known when Homan began to use only his name as the touchmark. However, pewter items with the Flagg & Homan mark were also made in the later history of the company. See the Homan Manufacturing Company’s 1929 Supplementary Catalog no. 56 for examples.
During the decades of the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s, the company moved their production to electroplating with silver and sometimes gold, and virtually stopped making pewter. Sometime during this period, it was re-named “The Homan Silver Plate Company.” In 1888, they employed from 75-100 people, and business was so brisk in the fall of 1887 that they ran night and day shifts to keep up with the orders. Plans were afoot shortly thereafter to double their capacity and the number of people employed. Until just after the turn of the century, the company had limited its manufactures to articles plated on a Britannia metal base, but around 1913, it added a complete assortment of patterns plated on nickel silver or German silver, and popularly known as Sheffield goods.
The factory was originally located at 10 -18 East Seventh Street in Cincinnati. (In 1859, the address was listed as No. 11 East Seventh Street between Main and Sycamore, north side.) In 1906, a new factory was erected on Findlay Street and Western and Hulbert Avenues (1050 Findlay Street). At the time, the new plant was the largest west of New England, and had the most modern and efficient equipment in the United States. From1904 until they went out of business before 1941, they were known as The Homan Manufacturing Company. The Homan Patent Improved Candle Moulding Machine (originally, Willis Humiston’s patent candle mould machine), first made from pewter, then from tin, was very popular and was shipped all over the world. By 1888, there was scarcely a candle-making company in the world that did not use Homan machines. By 1898, that part of the business was separated from the plating business under the name Homan and Company. The plating business became known as The Homan Silver Plating Company at the same time. Homan & Co., Inc. made trailer truck parts during World War II, and it was still in business in 1950.
In the 1888 Centennial Review of Cincinnati, it is stated that the company was preparing for a complete exhibit of their manufactures in an upcoming exposition, the “Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States,” which took place in Cincinnati from July 4 to October 27, 1888. It is therefore puzzling that the company did not participate in this event, but apparently that was the case. Neither the catalog of exhibitions nor the Report of the President of the Board of Executive Commissioners mentions the company. Perhaps the change in management of the company at the time had something to do with the decision not to participate.
Homan & Co. specialized in making items for ecclesiastical use such as chalices, patens, baptismal bowls, alms dishes, and candlesticks. Homan marked some of its ecclesiastical wares "Sick Call" as a kind of company trademark. These were items intended for priests to take with them when they visited sick people in their homes. They also had commissions from Mississippi and Ohio River boat companies for equipment ranging from swivel lamps to chargers, bowls, and water pitchers. In addition, they made items for bars and taverns. Other items produced by the firm for the general trade included such wares as chargers, plates, pitchers, tea sets, combs, spectacle frames, syrup jugs with pewter tops, and many other types of items.
It seems that the production of candlesticks was their specialty. These were produced in seven sizes, most often in the 8” and 10” varieties. They were very popular and were reproduced in the 20th century. The reproductions can be identified by their lack of push-up candle ejectors, as well as a stamped mark with the word “pewter”. Most of the original candlesticks were unmarked, though some occasionally had the Flagg & Homan mark in an oval.
Sources:
Ask Reni.
http://www.livingvictorian.com/askrenipm/askrenijun03.html(Accessed: 1/1/2009) Her Reference: Rainwater, Dorothy T. & Redfield, Judy. The Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers. 4th ed., Schiffer, 1998.
Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A., July 4 to October 27, 1888. Celebrating the Settlement of the Ohio Valley—The Northwest Territory—The State of Ohio and the City of Cincinnati. Report of the President of the Board of Executive Commissioners, with Reports of the Committees, An Account of the Dedication and Opening Ceremonies, and Other Matters of Historic Interest. Cincinnati, Ohio, Press of Keating & Co., 311 Longworth St.
The Centennial Review of Cincinnati. One Hundred Years of Progress in Commerce, Manufacture, the Professions, and in Social and Municipal Life. Cincinnati, Ohio, J. M. Elstner & Co., Publisher, 1888, pp. 48-49.
Cincinnati “The Queen City” NEWSPAPER REFERENCE BOOK. Published by The Cuvier Press Club, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1914, p. 49.
Fendelman, Helaine; Rosson, Joe. “Valuing a ‘Sick Call’ Outfit.” ScrippsNews 4/28/2008.
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/32671 (Accessed: 1/1/2009)
“Founder Develops Candle Machinery.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, February 13, 1950, p 6 (or 5?).
“Homan Will, Dated 1893, Leaves Estate to Widow.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, February 20, 1941, p. 12.
Knittle, Rhea Mansfield. Early Ohio Silversmiths and Pewterers, 1787-1847. (The Ohio Frontier Series, 1787-1847) Printed by the Calvert-Hatch Co., Copyright 1943 by Rhea Mansfield Knittle, pp. 46, 54-56, 58.
“Long Illness Takes L. B. Homan.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, February 7, 1944, p. 8 (or 6?).
Official Guide of the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States. Cincinnati, John F.C. Mullen, Publisher, 1888.
Pewter by Flagg & Homan. Made as it was over 80 years ago by their successor The Homan Manufacturing Co. Founded in 1847, Findlay Street, Western and Hulbert Avenues, Cincinnati, Ohio. Supplementary Catalog No. 56, September 1929. C.W. Sweetland & Son, Inc. No. 171 Washington Street, Jewelers Building, Boston.
Richmond, Andrew. “The Ubiquitous Pewter Candlesticks of Flagg and Homan.” Dunham Tavern Museum News November 2008, 69(2), 1.
http://www.dunhamtavern.org/pdf/08DunhamTavernNewsletter_NOV.pdf (Accessed: 1/1/2009)
Sketches and Statistics of Cincinnati in 1859. By Charles Cist, p. 262.
They Built a City; 150 Years of Industrial Cincinnati. Compiled and written by the Cincinnati Federal Writers’ Project of the Works Progress Administration in Ohio. James Garfield Stewart, Mayor of Ckincinnati, cooperating sponsor. Published by The Cincinnati Post, 1938, p. 379.
Notes:
Pewter is a metal alloy of tin and lead. Some of the pewter made after 1840 has a slightly different composition and is called Britannia metal. Britannia is a spun pewter-like metal made from tin that is hardened with additions of small amounts of copper and antimony. This later type of pewter was worked by machine whereas the earlier pieces were made by hand. In the 1920s pewter came back into fashion and pieces were often marked “Genuine Pewter”.
1860 Ohio Census of Hamilton County 10-WD Cincinnati Series M653 Roll 974, Page 30, Entry 217/490 lists: Homan, Henry, age 35, with occupation “Master Brit. & W. Maker,” born in Prussia.
(Accessed 1/1/2008 on HeritageQuest Online)
The 1930 Census of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio has Joseph T. Homan (age 65, b. abt. 1865) married to Agatha Homan (age 62). In the same household are: Joseph T. Homan (age 34), Catherine P. Homan (age 31), Gertrude Homan (age 29), and Richard B. Homan (age 26). The 1920 census has all of them plus: Rudolph Homan (age 26) and Nellie Farrell (age 21). That census lists Joseph T. as being 54 years of age and born about 1866 with wife Agatha R. (for Rudolph, age 52). His father and mother are listed as having been born in Germany.
Asa Flagg was in Cincinnati by at least 1842. He is listed in the Morgan Index of Ohio People, Businesses and Institutions, 1796-1850 as a Britannia ware maker on page 34 and on page 308 of The Cincinnati Directory for 1842. Charles Cist, Compiler. Cincinnati: E. Morgan and Co., 1842. (Accessed 5/8/2009)
The Annual Report - Page 257 of the Cincinnati (Ohio) Chamber of Commerce and Merchant's Exchange, Cincinnati (Ohio), 1915 lists under “Plating”: Homan Manufacturing Co., 1050 Findlay st. Joseph T. Homan. Louis Homan.
Updated: 20 May 2009
