Iron Bed

[hosman321]

To save me the time of typing this all out again, I'll just copy and paste an email I wrote to an antique iron bed dealer. I cut some of it out.They haven't gotten back to me yet and I'm impatient so I'll just ask here, too.


I bought an old rusted bed a few days ago and I'm having a hard time figuring out if it's truly antique or just vintage. A few days after I bought mine, I saw the exact same one, the exact same size the next town over. So now I'm wondering if it is a common reproduction. From my pictures, can you tell if it's victorian era or newer? It was found many years ago in an outbuilding of an old ranch in Nebraska. Supposedly. Thank you for any input, I just don't know who else to ask and I trust your opinion. I am in the middle of restoring it and I don't want to go around saying it's victorian if it's really not!
Thanks, Jessica

P.S. It has the headboard, footboard and rails but the rails do not fit properly. A rail is also missing one piece.

[KC]

I tend to believe that it is an older bed.  Looks English.

However, down here in the south (near the Mexican border) they have tons of items that are stated as antique - and aren't.  You can go and find acres of items that are sprayed and permitted to rust/age!  They are then sold/dispersed all over the country.  I don't mind if they sell them as the "new" old - but it gets my goat to know that others sell them as "real" antiques!!!!!!

[talesofthesevenseas]

When you say that the rails don't fit, do you mean that they don't fit on a modern bed frame, or do they not seem to match the headboard and footboard?

Gang, are there any tell-tale signs of modern manufacture that hosman321 could look for to confirm that it is antique?

[hosman321]

Well, the antique bed dealer lady wrote back and said it is original and not a repro, circa 1900. I guess this just must be a fairly common antique, rather than a fairly common reproduction. Maybe it was the "cheap" model and was super mass produced. And something this large made of solid iron doesn't disappear easily. I guess I'm confident calling this bed an antique now. So, I'm happy with my modest $75 purchase.
The rails are bugging me.They were found with the bed, are the correct length and type but the drop pins don't fit into the frame. It's like they are just slightly too large. I'll probably have to have some metal-worker shave them down a bit or reshape them a little somehow? I'll also have to find/buy the missing rail end or have someone fabricate one. I just don't want to spend a fortune to get it into useable condition, I'm eager to set it up. As always, thanks for the responses guys! And gals.

[D&b antiques]

Your Rusty ''old'' bed is a ''Stickly Brandt'' it was originally a lovely White Enamel. the rail's will fit they should be a round wedge, shape just remove the rust. and repaint !

[hosman321]

Hey D&B,
I have been looking up Stickley & Brandt. All I can find is wood furniture by that company, I can't find any iron. There is however an Edgar Brandt from the same period that was an iron worker and his company sold all kinds of iron furniture. Did Edgar Brandt merge with Stickley? These companies are both confusing me so much because there were 5 Stickley brothers and so many different Stickley companies!

[D&b antiques]

Your looking for Charles Stickley 1871 -1921 supposedly the inventor of the first Electric Chair. affectionately known as old sparky in later years. sticklys are not well known for there iron work.

[KC]

I was fixing to say as well...that if all of your items are rusted...once the rust is removed (if originally with the bed) it should fit.

[hosman321]

I'll try the rails again right now but I don't think the rust removal did much good, it was pretty much surface rust. Maybe I'll try to get pics. Maybe even a few taps with a hammer. It just doesn't look like they'll be goin' in.

[hosman321]

Yeah, there's no way those fit. Which is frustrating but I knew they didn't fit when I bought it. Correct type of rails, found with the bed but don't fit. Sigh. 

[regularjoe2]

Cool project , hosman321 .

The iron fittings for the rails should both fit together flush , snug & firmly to the head & foot 'boards' mounts  .... if not , don't use 'em , since iron is fairly brittle & could lead to an 'accident' if the corners gave way .

There was no industry-wide standard for bedrail fittings , and they did vary quite a bit , size-wise , between manufacturers (been there did that with several bedframes , along my learning curve) .

[hosman321]

Yeah, they look like maybe they were even unique to each bed. The parts aren't perfect, even when they are on the same board/rail. One side will be slightly bigger or smaller or differently shaped. I may have to find some kind of adapter or even someone with the same issue as me. Sure, someone else with old bed rails that don't fit. That'll be an easy one. But they do have those adapters on ebay that make the bed one size larger. I may have to get them just to make these fit. Wonder if it would work...