Figure 51. — Nickel torch with 

 nipple over tlie burner, 1888. 

 (Smitlisonian photo 49g26-E.) 



Figure 52. — Brass torch for cap, li 

 (Smithsonian photo 49927-6.) 



Figures 53 through 59: 



53. — Cap showing the nickel 

 torch, 1888, as it appears in a 

 sales catalog. 



54. — Nickel-plated helmet and 

 torch, 1888, as it appears in a 

 sales catalog. 



55. — Helmet flash torch, 

 circa 1888, as it appears in a 

 sales catalog. 



56. — Torchlight pin, 1888. 

 (Smithsonian photo 63323.) 



57. — Campaign torch, 1888, as 

 shown in patent 18585, issued 

 September 4, 1888. 



58. — "Tip-.\-canoe" torch, 

 1888, as shown in patent 18669, 

 issued October 2, 1888. 



59. — Metal torch, 1888, as 

 shown in patent 391669, issued 

 October 23, 1888. 



HELMET FLASH TORCH, CIRC.\ I 888 Figure 55 



No example found. 



A unique device was also patented whereby a torch 

 was affi.xed to the crown of the helmet and a rubber 

 tube passed from the torch as a chin strap and into the 

 mouth. By blowing into this tube, the parader could 

 produce a large flash, thus this device became known 

 as the "helmet flash torch." There were many 

 varieties of flash torches and they were very spectac- 

 ular in political parades. 



TORCHLIGHT PIN, 1 888 Figure 56 



USNM (Political History Collections) 



By 1888 the torchlight had become such an integral 

 part of political campaigning that stickpins bearing 

 a miniature torchlight were being sold by Robert 

 Sneider, manufacturer of campaign badges in New 

 York. Plated in gold or silver, these badges were 

 exact reproductions of the single swivel-type torch 

 with the pole forming a stickpin. The wick is made 

 of red, white and blue cotton. The overall length 

 is 3% inches. Just how many of these pins have 

 survived is not known. The pin illustrated is gold 

 plated. 



C.'iiMPAIGN TORCH, 1 888 Figure 57 



No example found. 



This torch in the shape of a human liust, another 

 of the suggestive types of this period, was patented by 

 Oliver Carmelia of Ottawa, Illinois. The oil reservoir 

 was shaped externally to represent a human head or 

 bust and was supported between the forks of a bi- 

 furcated torch stick. This was patented specifically 

 for a campaign torch and a patent inodel was sub- 

 mitted, but the model has not been located. 



"TIP-.A.-C.A.NOE" TORCH, 1 888 Figure 5S 



No example found. 



Made in the shape of a canoe, this torch is one 01 

 the most interesting of the patented torches. When 

 the canoe was tipped or tilted, it might suggest Benja- 

 min Harrison, grandson of the famed "Tippecanoe" 

 Harrison of 1840. This torch was patented by John 

 VV. Rohm of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Neither the 

 patent model nor an example of this torch have been 

 located bv the writer. 



36 



BULLETIN 24 1 : CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



