Farrel, Herring & Co Phila Safe

Citydweller

I picked up this Farrel, Herring & Co Phila safe a couple years ago at an estate auction. It has the original key and works, although it’s missing the escutcheon. I haven’t done anything to it except dust it off, and it needs a good cleaning, and maybe a new paint job.

Can anyone tell me the relative date of this piece, and whether it has any value? I had planned to clean it up and keep it, but priorities change and it could be for sale. Weighs 600-700 pounds.

Citydweller

Nothing???

wylk

A successor company, Herring-Hall-Marvin, was founded in 1896. My notes suggest Farrell & Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1856. But I had not heard of Farrell, Herring & Co. before. So, latter-half of 1800s seems a good initial guess as to date of manufacture.

wylk

The very nice brass plate lists a date of May 18, 1852. This is probably US patent 8,952, “Improvement in Iron Safes” by William Alford and John D. Spear of Philadelphia, for a new form of fire-proofing insulation. The patent does not mention Farrel or Herring so we are left to presume that Alford and Spear either worked for them, or they bought rights to the patent. This also establishes May 18, 1852 as a no-earlier-than date for the safe.

Citydweller

An 1858 Philadelphia directory lists Farrel, Herring & Co at 130 Walnut St, as my plate says, and then a later 1867 directory has them at 629 Chestnut.

The American Mining Gazette and Geological Magazine, Volume 2, Issue 1, 1865 also lists the Chestnut Street address.

Appletons’ Illustrated Railway and Steam Navigation Guide, 1859 has this ad with the Chestnut address:

So I think we can say the safe was likely made prior to 1859.