Ab Kurk 2018-07-15 Ab Kurk 2018-07-15

Richard Hudnut Mirror/Blush Compact

A while back Carrie and I were in a town on the Sunshine Coast here in BC Canada called Sechelt. Sechelt is a town full of history as for the longest time it was a resort town for the people of Vancouver BC. They would arrive here by the Union Steam Ships at the dock. Here we found this 1930 compact made by Richard Hudnut

At the end of the promenade along the beach is an area where you can still see the original cottages that have been standing there since 1900-1930, and some might be a little older. This is where our story starts. One of the cottages was used as a Union Steam Ship office where you would buy your ticket to get on the ferry.

We started metal detecting in this area on public land. You can see that this is still all original. It started off good for me. I found 2 silver dimes from 1945 and 1947. I also found a crusty penny from 1928.

Then I found the Item this blog post is about a compact mirror/blush container from the 1930 nestled between the roots of a shrubs growing along the rocky outcrops you have to climb on to see the view of the ocean. Although the next part of my story is fictional but it is definitely possible. A young lady with her beau just came out of the Union Steam Ship office where they had bought passage back to the mainland Vancouver.

Just before she was helped up on one of the rocky outcrop by her beau she reapplied her blush and stuck it in her handbag. While climbing on to the rocks it slipped out of her handbag and fell to the ground and has been resting there until I came along and found it.

Richard Hudnut Mirror/Blush Compact Circa 1930's

Inside of Compact

Richard Alexander Hudnut (1855 to 1928) was the son of a pharmacist. After graduating from Princeton University, Richard Hudnut toured France and returned with the idea of introducing French-style perfumes and cosmetics to American women. In 1880 he registered his name as a trademark in both France and the United States.

Hudnut began by transforming the family drugstore into an elegant showroom. The makeover was such that the shop now became a tourist attraction, and Hudnut's business flourished. In time, Hudnut's products became so widely known that he closed the retail store and focused on marketing his product lines through wholesale distributors. One of the keys to Hudnut's success was that he sold his less expensive fragrances "on approval". After the consumer paid with postage stamps or a money order, Hudnut shipped the perfume. If the customer wasn't satisfied, Hudnut refunded their money.

Ab Kurk 2018-07-05 Ab Kurk 2018-07-05

The history behind the relic

We often find barely recognizable relics when metal detecting. It is important “if you like relics that is” to bring all this rusty gold home with you. The reason for this is that you never know what you might find underneath all that rust.

Take for instance our latest hunt. I found this padlock that was really encrusted in rust. But the shape of the relic and the location I found it in told me that it probably had some age to it.

We often find barely recognizable relics when metal detecting. It is important (if you like relics that is) to bring all this rusty gold home with you. The reason is that you never know what you might find underneath all that rust.

Take for instance our latest hunt. I found this padlock that was really encrusted in rust. But the shape of the relic and the location I found it in told me that it probably had some age to it. For items like that the fun starts at home. The first thing I do is scrub the item with a steal brush to take some of the surface rust of it. In the case it didn’t really make any impact.

Then the next step in the process is either using electrolysis to remove rust or use a rust removing liquid like Metal Rescue. I use Metal Rescue often for relics made out of thin sheet metal or if they have light surface rust. This lock needed more than that, so I used electrolysis to remove the rust. For an item like that it takes about 8 to 10 hours.

As you can see it really cleaned up. I used a steel brush on a drill to remove the last bit of surface rust and then use conservator’s wax to bring out the details. After this treatment the fun starts. Trying to find out what type of lock it is.

In the middle of the lock is a symbol with the letters F-S. After my research assistant (Google) told me that the F-S stands for the Fraim-Slaymaker Hardware Co. I was closing in on what it could be. The next search bear fruit and I found out that it is a spare tire lock.

The next step is trying to date the lock. I lucked out as the history of the Fraim-Slaymaker Hardware company tells me that this lock was produced somewhere between 1921 and 1930. In 1921 mister W.E. Fraim bought the majority of the shares in the Slaymaker Lock Company and changed the name into the Fraim-Slaymaker Hardware Company. It was sort off a hostile take over.

By the 1930’s mister S.R. Slaymaker had saved up his pennies and bought control back of the company and changed the name back to Slaymaker lock company. He passed the company on to his sons. In 1973 the Slaymaker Lock Company was sold to the American Home Products Corporation and made part of Ecko Housewares Division. In the 1980s the lock company suffered because the market had been flooded with cheap padlocks and the Slaymaker Lock Company was losing money. By 1986 the company officially decided to cash out and the company closed its doors at the manufacturing plant.

Picture from a auction site https://picclick.com/ where it is sold for $13.50

I always try to find a picture of a relic that shows what it looked like when it was in working order and to show what parts are missing (if the relic is incomplete). I found an auction site that is selling a complete tire lock.

To me, it is not only about finding a relic, but it is also about the history of the item. Now I can proudly display it in my collection and if somebody asks what it is I can show them the history behind the relic.

If you want to see us find the relic watch the video below