discovery of a building pipe fitting fragment sheds light on its fabricator

it's always rewarding when you are able to readily demystify antiquated architectural building materials - whether on the jobsite, or discovering manufacturer markings at a later point in time when documenting the extracted components.

identifying the maker of key elements (e.g., plumbing, electrical, stonecutter) used during construction can strengthen the structure's narrative and/or provide a road map for pinpointing the parts or services when offered during that time period - typically in trade catalogs, etc., which can assist in establishing the exact date or an approximation of the structure's construction (if not already known). this proves incredibly helpful with chicago structures constructed prior to the great chicago fire of 1871, where  virtually no records remain on file.

so discovering this l. wolff company pipe joint today was a pleasant surprise to say the least. not only do i now know what company outfitted the building's plumbing, but in addition, i can analyze the materials used, how there were configured and document the company's earliest embossed markings (the company was founded the same year the building is believed to be constructed).

founder ludwig wolff emigrated with his family from germany to chicago in 1854, when he was 18 years of age. the following year, he launched a small plumbing business with partner torrence mcguire that specialized in the fabrication of copper and brass plumbing devices for candy and alcohol manufacturers.

by 1876, wolff had evolved into one of chicago's largest plumbing supply companies, outfitting commercial and residential structures alike. the l. wolff manufacturing company (renamed in 1876) experienced rapid growth over the next decade that led to the construction of a massive chicago-based factory complex (extant) located at carroll and fulton streets in 1887. wolff's facility contained a workforce of nearly a thousand men and produced $1.5 million worth of goods a year.

as indoor plumbing became more common by the late nineteenth century, wolff began producing a wider array of plumbing fixtures for homes, hospitals, businesses, and schools. by 1910, the company had grown considerably, with a greater workforce and two chicago-area plants, along with sales and service operations in several other cities across the nation.

the company's operations began to dwindle around the time of the great depression, with a substantial decrease in sales, staff and product lines. the wolff company ceased all operations shortly after the second world war.

the incredibly frustrating and dreaded flip side involves finding architectural artifacts with absolutely no identification of any sort. granted there are many other ways to identify these fragments without having the company's name prominently displayed in the form of logos, labels, embossed lettering and so on, but in this particular case, using a sash weight and pulley as an example, there are no manufacturer markings found anywhere.

so with absolute certainty (and all to common), i cannot identify the manufacturer. since the other existing hardware in the building is not original to the time of construction, i have very little to work with - at least on the jobsite. from my salvage experience, which often involves lengthy research i can generate possible candidates, but nailing down an exact fabricator (at least in this case) is likely not going to be accurately identified.

in 1876, several well-established hardware manufacturers throughout the country  were producing massive amounts of door and window trimmings, along with just about anything else they could fabricate in metal for the home and office. so i wouldn't feel comfortable making an attribution or even an educated guess as to who made the sash window weight assembly.

unfortunately, this happens all to often, so it can be very difficult to put together a complete picture of all the companies involved in the fabrication of the parts that made this building what it is. whether it is a simple square nail or the vast amount of lumber used to frame out the interior, a manufacturer or supplier was involved. having the opportunity to discover or identify the maker of one of the components, greatly enhances the building's narrative - at least from the perspective of building materials used in its construction. in this case a fragmented pipe fitting provided a piece to the "certainty" puzzle, but like the sash hardware, the identity of the great majority of materials remains unknown.