Cliff Peterson, a civil engineer who collects patent models,
made the buy of his life when he bought more then 40,000 of them
for half a million dollars in 1979.
Now he’s opening the more than 800 crates they came in and
putting prices on them. Some of the models deal with steam
inventions.
Here are samples of drawings and papers from a package Cliff
sent IMA:
Steam engine valve gear, by P. W. Gates, D. R. Fraser and Thomas
Chalmers, all of Chicago, patented July 5, 1859’a new and
improved valve cut-off gear.’
Improvement for feeding boiler in locomotive, marine and
stationary steam engines, by William H. Hubbell and David Matthew,
Philadelphia, PA, patented May 29, 1855.
Means for taking the side strain from the rotative shaft and
avoiding soft or elastic packing from coming in contact with the
shaft, on rotary steam engines, by Matthew Fletcher, Louisville,
Kentucky, September 18, 1866.
Improvement for rotary steam engines, Frank Rhind, Brooklyn, New
York, November 3, 1869.
Improvement in anti-friction balanced valves, by William
Seiffert, and Matthew T. Kane, both of New York City, March 28,
1871.
Peterson is cataloging some of the models at his California
home. The rest are at Peterson’s Garrison Inn, West Point, New
York.
When the U.S. Patent Office was set up in 1790, models were
required of all inventors who sought patents. The model requirement
was dropped in 1793, but made law again in 1836. A fire at
Christmas 1836, ruined the Blodgett Hotel, interim headquarters,
and destroyed all Patent Office records and most models.
Congress appropriated $100,000 to restore 3,000 of the most
important models. Very few survive; Peterson has a dozen.
Despite another fire, in 1877, which destroyed about 76,000
models, the flood of models continued to rise. Congress decreed in
1907 that no more models would be required. The Smithsonian
Institute obtained 1,000 by famous inventors such as Edison and
Whitney, and received some more later.
The bulk of the wooden crates containing the models was sold to
a wealthy Briton who planned a patent model museum, but whose hopes
were dashed by the 1929 stock market crash. Several buyers later
owned the crates for various periods. Peterson, who had been
collecting models since 1973 then bought the crates, some of which
had not been opened since 1926.
Peterson, trying to find good homes for the models, publishes
illustrated catalogs. Some of the models are very choice in
fabrication. Peterson is also trying to locate descendants of
inventors, to return models to them.
Catalog listings include pictures, numbers, brief summaries on
purpose, estimates of condition, inventors’ names, materials in
the model, and prices.
To see the collection, an appointment is necessary. Write Cliff
Petersen, Suite 400, 2444 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, California
90403. His telephone number is (213) 828-6041.
