12.12-3: 1950 Polished Stainless-Steel Mirror

HHCC Accession No. 2006.126	HHCC Classification Code: 12.12-3

Description:

Polished stainless steel mirror on 24 inch flexible handle used by service technician for monitoring the condition and juxtaposition of oil burner nose cone, nozzle and ignition electrodes on high pressure, gun style oil burners of the 1930’s through 60’s, part of the kit of increasingly specialized tools required by the trade, Circa 1950.

Group:

12.12 Pressure Atomizing Oil Burner Equipment and Systems - Installation, Test and Repair

Make:

Manufacturer:

Model:

Serial No.:

Size:

4 inch dia. mirror on 24 inch flexible handle

Weight:

O.5 lbs.

Circa:

1950

Rating:

Exhibit, education, and research quality, illustrating the specialized tools required by oil burner service technicians in the 1930, through 60’s, part of a newly emerging service economy in Canada.

Patent Date/Number:

Provenance:

From York County (York Region) Ontario, once a rich agricultural hinterlands, attracting early settlement in the last years of the 18th century. Located on the north slopes of the Oak Ridges Moraine, within 20 miles of Toronto, the County would also attract early ex-urban development, to be come a wealthy market place for the emerging household and consumer technologies of the early and mid 20th century.

This artifact was discovered in the 1950’s in the used stock of T. H. Oliver, Refrigeration and Electric Sales and Service, Aurora, Ontario, an early worker in the field of agricultural, industrial and consumer technology.

Type and Design:

Polished stainless steel mirror 3/8 inch, segmented stainless steel flexible handle

Construction:

Material:

Special Features:

Accessories:

Capacities:

Performance Characteristics:

Operation:

Control and Regulation:

Targeted Market Segment:

Consumer Acceptance:

Merchandising:

Market Price:

Technological Significance:

Polished stainless steel mirror on 24 inch flexible handle represents stands as a marker of manufacturing and metallurgy of the period Used by the service man for monitoring the condition and juxtaposition of the oil burner nose cone, nozzle and ignition electrodes on high pressure, gun style oil burners of the 1930’s through 60’s, this tool stands as a marker of the increasingly specialized equipment required by the automatic oil heating service trade, as equipment performance standards increased and as the technology itself became more sophisticated.

Industrial Significance:

Socio-economic Significance:

It was the 1930’s and as Canada slowly emerged from the economic depression of the period, so too would a new economic sector emerge, the service sector, one which would grow to dominate, contributing much of the country’s economic strength well before the end of the century. The home service trades grew rapidly during this immediate pre W.W.II period and on into the 1950’s, plumber, electrician, heating and refrigeration.