Antique Fahnestock Paint Bucket: 19th Century Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Antique Fahnestock Haslett & Schwarts Paint Bucket for your consideration. The bucket measures approx. 6 1/2 inches tall plus handle … Read more Antique Fahnestock Haslett & Schwarts Paint Bucket for your consideration. The bucket measures approx. 6 1/2 inches tall plus handle and approx. 6 inches in diameter. American Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 19th Century. Stave constructed barrel shaped bucket with steel bands and wire bale handle. Diamond shaped brass label. Three leaf clover with "H.F. & S., Originally B. A. Fannestock, Trade Mark Registered 1883., Estab. 1844". Very good antique condition. Shows wear commensurate with age and use. See photos. Displays handsomely, Scarce!

History: John Haslett Jr. was born around 1820 in Pennsylvania. The family successfully ran a white lead factory described as being located at Bank Lane and North Viaduct in Pittsburgh. The white lead would be processed and sold as paint, eventually leading to the well-known brand Dutch Boy Pure White Lead Paint.
John would join up with B. A. Fahnestock Son & Co. and James E. Schwartz, a local druggist, in 1866 as Fahnestock, Haslett & Schwartz. They were listed as white lead manufacturers specializing in the manufacturing and distribution of paints and oils produced at the Haslett factory and with an office at First Avenue and Wood Streets in Pittsburgh. Fahnestock & Co. were well-known importers and wholesale dealers in drugs, patent medicines, paints, oils, dye-stuffs, glassware, and many other items, with offices in Philadelphia and New York.
Benjamin A. Fahnestock first marketed a Vermifuge in Pittsburgh about 1830 and subsequently described the product in an advertisement as “There can not be any better evidence offered of its efficacy, than its constantly increasing reputation…its remedial virtues are not confined to the United States, but there is constant demand for it from England, South America, West Indies, etc., where it is extensively used.” Fahnestock’s Vermifuge contained castor oil, wormseed, anise, turpentine, and tincture of myrrh. Fahnestock also served as a general agent for other proprietary medicines, including Dr. Alfred Gale’s Anodyne of Opium and Burnett’s Extracts. Upon the death of B. A. Fahnestock in 1863, George Fahnestock operated the company as B. A. Fahnestock’s Son & Co. until he died in 1868.
Fahnestock, Haslett & Schwartz would continue to operate up to 1875, making white and red lead. During this period, James E. Schwartz and John Haslett Jr. ran a parallel business and partnered under the banner Schwartz & Haslett, making and selling medicines in 1870. They were listed in the Pittsburgh city directory in two places; as druggists located at Wood & First Ave. and Paints and Oils at the same address.

Sourced- Virtual Museum of Historical Bottles & Glass; Reference to Schwartz & Haslett. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, January 1870-October 1870 – Archival Collections at Hagley Museum & Library. Reference to The Fahnestock Companies by Bill Lockhart, Beau Schriever, Bill Lindsey, and Carol Serr with contributions by Jay Hawkins and David Whitten. Reference to Holcombe, Henry W., Weekly Philatelic Gossip, 28: 453-455 July 8, 1939; 28: 564, 566, August 5, 1939 See less