Barbed Wire Collection Display, Patents 1853-1911
Add to SetSummary
Inventors received hundreds of patents for barbed wire during the late 1800s. Some innovators created strands of fencing with sharp metal points cut into the wire; others incorporated small wire spurs twisted and attached to the wire to create a painful barrier. Each inventor believed their variation made the best fencing to keep livestock out of crop fields or confine them to pastures.
Inventors received hundreds of patents for barbed wire during the late 1800s. Some innovators created strands of fencing with sharp metal points cut into the wire; others incorporated small wire spurs twisted and attached to the wire to create a painful barrier. Each inventor believed their variation made the best fencing to keep livestock out of crop fields or confine them to pastures.
Artifact
Showcase
Date Made
1853-1911
Creators
Place of Creation
United States, Illinois, Hometown
Creator Notes
Display made by Ed Mulcrone of Hometown, Illinois. Barbed wires found in display made by numerous makers and patent date ranges from 1876-1894.
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
89.4.11
Material
Wood (Plant material)
Metal
Paint (Coating)
Color
Red
Orange (Color)
Green
White (Color)
Black (Color)
Dimensions
Height: 42 in (Closed)
Width: 22 in (Closed)
Length: 5 in (Closed)
Inscriptions
on left display board: THE GRANDADDY OF THEM ALL / "MERRIWEATHER" [sic] / PATENT 1853 NEW BRAUNFELS TEXAS / THE EARLIEST PATENT ON RECORD / SPECIAL WIRE / FIRST HAND MADE BARBED WIRE BY GLIDDEN OF DEKALB, ILL. / FACTORY "GOOF" MODERN TWO POINT TWISTED / "HISTORICAL" FROM ATOMIC WASTE DUMP PALOS HGTS, ILL. / "CORTEN STEEl" EXPERIMENTAL WIRE STEARLING, ILLINOIS / "MEXICO" FOUR POINT TWISTED TWO LINE / "SPAIN" ROUND UNDERBARB = SEMI-FLAT BETWEEN BARBS / SOUTH AFRICA "KENYA" FOUR POINT BARB TWISTED / OLD FORTRESS SAN JUAN PUERTO RICO BOB MULCRONE / WOODEN BARB FOUND EVERYWHERE on right side display board: RIBBON WIRE / CONNELLY'S RAIL PAT. 1881 ALLEGHENY, PA. / BRINKERHOFF'S LANCE PAT. 1879 AUBURN, N.Y. / BRINKERHOFF'S RIBBON AUBURN, N.Y. / BRINKERHOFF'S BUCKLE SABER VARIATION / BRINKERHOFF'S FRONT CUT BARB RIBBON / BRINKERHOFF'S WIDE CLAMP BARB N.Y. / KIRCHHOFFER'S-STRETCHER-1881-CHICAGO, ILL. / ELSEY'S CLAMP-ON PAT. 1882 SPRINGFIELD, MASS. / TWISTED METALLIC FENCING STRIP / SCUTT'S ROD-RAIL PAT. 1883 JOLIET, ILLINOIS / HARBAUGH'S TORN-RIBBON PAT. 1881 LAWRENCE, KANSAS / HARBAUGH'S CUT-RIBBON 1881 LAWRENCE, KANS. / JUDSON-CANADIAN RIBBON WIRE PAT. 1911. / FORD'S FLAT RIBBON PAT. 1875 PROVIDENCE, R.I. handwritten on side: SPECIAL WIRE / RIBBON WIRE
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