Did
You Know - Cane Facts
Why were
particular gemstones or other materials chosen for use in creating canes
and walking sticks? What magical properties did their makers believe these
materials possessed? Who were some of the major cane manufacturers in
the 19th century? Below is a collection of facts gleaned from Canes through
the Ages antique cane auction catalogues, 11/98 to the present time.
Amethyst
Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz and is a popular gemstone. If
not for its widespread availability, amethyst would be very expensive.
The name “amethyst” comes from the Greek and means “not
drunken.” This was possibly due to a belief that amethyst would
ward off the effects of alcohol, but most likely the Greeks were referring
to the almost wine-like color of some stones that they may have encountered.
Its color is unparalleled, and even other, more expensive purple gemstones
are often compared to the color and beauty of amethyst. Although it must
always be purple to be amethyst, it can and does have a wide range of
purple shades. Throughout history, amethyst’s importance has been
recognized around the world, and more than any other stone, there are
many religious and cultural references from ancient societies to the New
Age movement with descriptions for its use in jewelry and ceremonial items.
Amethyst is the stone of humility, piece of mind, piety and resignation.
It was associated with Bacchus, god of wine, and was thought to cure drunkenness.
It became a symbol of sobriety, possibly because water in an amethyst
jug looked like wine, but had no intoxicating effect.
Blue Chalcedony
Blue Chalcedony is most commonly thought to give physical strength, endurance
and beauty to the wearer. Revelations states that Chalcedony is the 3rd
layer in the City of Heaven. Rabainus Maurus, Archbishop of Mainz, believed
Chalcedony was the 2nd apocalyptic gemstone, representing inner charity.
As a protector, it has healing properties and is said to ward off negative
magic and psychic attack. It is also thought to provide protection during
political upset and while traveling.
Britannia alloy
Britannia alloy was first manufactured in Great Britain, hence the name,
and can be easily cast in sand, plaster of Paris, metal or rubber molds.
It is typically used in pewter containers holding food where lead- free
service is required, and because of its bright color, often utilized for
low cost cane handles and knobs.
Coquilla nut/vegetable
ivory
The coquilla nut is the fruit of a South American palm (Attalea Funifera),
closely related to the coconut palm. It is generally 3 to 4 in. long,
very hard, and of a richly streaked brown color, capable of taking a fine
polish. It was often used for small carvings, including cane handles.
The close, hard grain and dense structure, similar to that of ivory, gave
it the name vegetable ivory.
Garnet
Born to the house of Mars and the month of January, the garnet is the
stone of inspiration and energy, its red stones are like the ripe round
polyps of a pomegranate. And fittingly, that is where garnet derives its
name, from the Latin word “Granatum” meaning “seed-like,”
like the seeds of a pomegranate. Its value lies in its purity of color
and lack of inclusions. Healer and protector, it promotes loyalty, devotion,
and sincerity. In the thirteenth century, the blood red Pyrope garnet
was thought to be effective insect repellents. To prove the authenticity
of a garnet, owners would take off their clothes and smear their bodies
with honey. If insects did not swarm them, the garnet was real!
Jade
A gemstone known for over 7,000 years, jade was actually proved in 1863
in France to consist of two separate, distinct minerals, namely Jadeite
and Nephrite. However telling the two apart is very difficult, and this
may be the reason why the word jade is used as a description of both.
Nephrite comes in several qualities, although the best is rare and very
expensive. It was one of Fabergé’s favorite stones and embodies
the epitome of Russian taste.
Kelp
Kelp is seaweed that grows to great lengths in shallow ocean waters. It
has broad leaves and hollow shafts, which were threaded over bamboo and
then sun dried to give a wrinkled skin-like surface. (Kelp is a material
that has been used in stick making, specifically in marine-related canes.)
Malachite
Malachite helps clear and activate the chakras and clears the path to
your desired goal. It brings fidelity in love and friendship and is a
protective stone for the aviation field. It brings tolerance, flexibility
and patience, and a stabilizing influence. Steady, pulsing electromagnetic
energy.
Narwhal
Narwhal canes are extremely rare. Traditionally they were reserved for
royalty and upper aristocracy. Francis H. Monek writes in his book Canes
Through The Ages, “So fraught with mystery and superstition in the
middle ages was the sea unicorn that it was reputed to counter the effects
of poison. As a result, many emperors, kings, popes and aristocrats owned
goblets carved from narwhal tusks. It makes a most desirable cane shaft,
but it is hard to find.”
Paper canes
In the second part of the 19th century, due to delivery shortages of exotic
woods, canes made of paper appeared on the market for a brief period,
and several of their manufacturing processes were patented. One method
employed paper washers of different colors, which were held tightly together
on a steel rod.
Precious stone shafts
Canes with precious stone shafts are extremely rare, the few known examples
made of malachite, and an unprecedented example made from lapis lazuli.
Lapis lazuli was always highly prized. In Mesopotamia, this blue stone
symbolized the heavens and so was used to decorate the ceilings of temples.
In Egypt, it was used to adorn statues of the gods, while in Europe, viewed
as a cure for melancholy and fever, it was reserved for the very wealthy
people and one of the Fabergé’s favorite precious stones.
Rhino
Rhino horn was one of the most precious organic materials used in canes.
Its extremely high price made it affordable for the very few. To manufacture
a cane of average length, one needed a giant horn with a large base, which
could only come from what would be today almost an extinct, white or square
mouth rhino. The core of the horn has a dark, rather black color over
its entire length. The edges of the reversed funnel-shaped, wider base
are generally honey-toned.
Rose quartz
Rose quartz is the most powerful stone for dealing with affairs of the
heart and opens the heart for giving and receiving love. This stone is
believed useful for dealing with issues on an emotional level, and soothes
negative influences. A stone from the heart and for the heart, it can
also allow one to communicate internally with their spirit guides; you
may or may not be aware of them but they are teaching you all the same.
Ruby
Ruby belongs to the category of costly gemstones. Wearers of the unblemished
ruby enjoys wealth and property and is blessed with children. He becomes
fearless, and is protected from afflictions, sorrow and disasters. He
becomes virile and his willpower and spirit are strengthened. He occupies
a respected position in society.
Shagreen
Shagreen was used in Europe for furniture and decorative purposes. It
came back in fashion the last quarter of the 19th century, having earlier
disappeared for over a hundred years. The nicest shagreen has large spots
and comes from the back skin of a ray called Dasyatis Sephen, which lives
in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.
Split
bamboo shaft
Split bamboo shafts are rarely seen. They are light, extremely hard, remain
straight, and are not affected by air moisture. They were individually
manufactured and exported to destinations where normal wood suffered from
extreme weather conditions.
Stanhopes
A Stanhope is a viewing lens with a microscopic Collodion photographic
image attached on a glass. Antoine Rochard obtained a French patent in
1867 for objects fitted with Stanhopes. Stanhopes with a variety of photographic
images, often erotic, were fitted to canes for the amusement of the wearer.
Cane
manufacturers/retailers
Brigg of London
Brigg was the United Kingdom’s most prestigious cane and umbrella
retailer in the 19th century, with dependencies in most European capitals.
Besides his domestic production, he imported handles from all over and
had them mounted in London on canes and umbrellas.
Henry
Howell
Henry Howell was one of the leading English cane makers, and supplied
the specialized trade from his factory at Old St, London which was 60,000
sq. ft. and employed 550 people. He offered many ivory canes with hippo
ivory handles and collaborated quite often with H. C. Meyer of Hamburg.
He ceased his activities during the first world war.
M. Cazal
M. Cazal was reputed for his elegant accessories and one-of-a-kind canes
and umbrellas. He was a famous French manufacturer who exhibited at the
Great Exhibition and created the parasols for the Empress Eugenie. He
patented a spring for parasols in France in 1839, which is found in most
Cazal parasols. Cazal also wrote a book in 1884 entitled, “Umbrellas,
Parasols and Walkingsticks.”
R.F. Simmons Company
R.F. Simmons Company, Attleboro, MA. was founded in 1873 by Robert Fitz
Simmons, a chaser who conducted a small shop. Simmons struck up a friendship
with Joseph Lyman Sweet who used to drive grain from the Sweet Farm in
West Mansfield to Attleboro's town sales near Simmons' shop. In 1875 Sweet,
Simmons and Edgar L. Hixon formed a partnership, each investing $2,500
in the new business. In 1887 the organization had grown from 8-10 employees
to more than 200, with offices in New York and agents in Rio de Janiero,
Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Berlin, Barcelona and Sydney. Simmons' best
known product was its watch chains, but other items were soon added to
its line including chatelaine pins, eyeglass chains, fobs, bracelets and
walking stick handles. It was around Simmons' 40th anniversary that it
laid claim to numerous firsts in the industry, among them: First house
to issue a chain catalogue—1881, first to stamp goods with the manufacturer's
initials for identification, first to adopt the definite and responsible
guarantee of satisfaction to the wearer--1880s, first to use a safety
fastener in connection with chains and fobs--in the early 1890s, first
to produce a practical lock bracelet--the Marlow in 1899, etc. (See Dorothy
T. Rainwater's American Jewelry Manufacturers for more information on
R.F. Simmons.) R.F. Simmons Company was active until 1952.
Dual
purpose
Automated/glove holder
canes
There is good reason to believe that almost all automated canes offered
for sale in Europe in the 19th century were exclusively manufactured in
Vienna, and some of the big cane dealers of the period had exclusivity
for some of the models. Far more models of the “glove holder”
variety were produced with a moving jaw when depressing a lever underneath
the chin, although some models had both moving jaw and moving ears.
Cheroot canes
Cheroot canes could actually fire a small ball when the projectile and
powder were tapped into the barrel. The ignition was usually accomplished
with a cigarette, hence the name.
Golfer cane/Sunday
canes
The name “Sunday cane” comes from the fact that golfers, who
could not play golf on Sundays in England because of “Blue Laws,”
could carry a cane whose handle was a golf head, and surreptitiously practice
their shots!
Map canes
Map canes, that had been sold to conventioneers and tourists at American
Legion conventions, World Fairs, etc., usually have a crook handle and
the shaft is constructed like a window shade roller. An almost indiscernible
tab midway down the shaft is pulled at right angels and a cloth map unrolls
from inside to depict all the cities’ streets and other points of
interest. Upon pulling the map further and releasing it, it snap rolls
back into the shaft.
Remington gun canes
Remington dog head gun canes are amongst the rarest of their kind, and
are the finest and best known of the American gun canes. In the U.S.,
the most widely acclaimed cap and ball canes were made by the Remington
Arms Company from 1858. These were designed by J.F. Thomas, who obtained
a patent February 9, 1858. Remington also produced a cartridge gun cane
through 1889. The latter are prized items and were made of Gutta Percha
over steel. Gutta Percha is the sap of a tree and served as a forerunner
of hard rubber and plastics. The most desirable of the Remington gun canes
is the dog head model in both cap and cartridge types. These were made
for .22 caliber short or .32 caliber short rimfire cartridges. Remington
discontinued making these gun canes about 1910.
Vesta
canes
Smoker gadget canes, the name “Vesta” comes from the old Roman
mythology where it was linked to fire.
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