J. Wiss & Sons Pinking Shears

Pinking shears were patented in 1893 by Louise Austin. Pinking involves cutting decorative openings in the body of fabric or cutting a decorative edge for squares and blocks for quilting.  

Pinking shears create a sawtooth or zigzag pattern. Woven fabrics with a straight cut along the grain with normal scissors often fray, resulting in seams ripping out and that stringy look.   Not to get too technical, but pinking shears cut fabric on what is referred to as "the bias".  Basically at a 45 degree angle to warp and weft (woof) threads.  To illistrate this, the warp threads are the horizontal threads and the weft/woof threads are the vertical or filler threads. 

Cutting the fabric on the bias, as pinking shears do, reduces the potential for fraying.  Wow, I bet you didn't realize you would become an expert in pinking shears.

In 1931, Samuel Briskman, of Brooklyn, invented pinking shears and submitted 3 patents for them in 1931 & 1932 and he received patient approval in 1934.  After that, he formed the Pinking Shears Corporation, which milled the teeth into the blades.   The J. Wiss & Sons Company, who was founded in 1848 by Jacob Wiss, had exclusive rights to sell the new pinking shears in the US.

The 1931 & 1932 patents included what would be known as the  J. Wiss & Sons Pinking Shears model A and Model C. 

The Model A 1934 shears pictured below is Approx. 10.5" long overall.  It has large and comfortable handles.  Cutting blades are replaceable by simply removing 3 screws. 

The Model 3 is slightly shorter in length measuring approximately 9".    While both scissors were made starting in the mid to late 30's, the Model A tends to be harder to find.  Finding these for under $20 is a great deal.

Underwood Typewritters

The Underwood Typewriter was created through the genus of a German-American inventor named Franz X. Wagner who owned   The actual "Underwood" name comes from John T. Underwood, who was funding and eventually purchased Wagner's company early in its history.

The first production typewriter was produced in 1865 and went into full production in 1870.  It was created by Rev. Rasmus Malling-Hansen of Denmark.  He invented what was referred to as the Hansen Writing Ball.  It look nothing like what people refer to as a typewriter, looking more spherical in shape.

In 1874, Underwood started a manufacturing company producing ribbon and carbon paper and one of their clients was  E. Remington and Sons.  When Remington started producing ribbons and carbon paper themselves, Underwood made the jump into the typewriter business funding the Wagner Typewriter Company, which eventually became Underwood.

The first typewriters produced under Wagner/Underwood where in 1896 and 1900,  these early typewriters had "Wagner Typewriter Co." printed on the back.  When looking for Underwood Typewriters, finding a model # 1 or 2 is an amazing find indeed.  There were only about 12,000 of these models produced, so they are very rare.  Later versions, like the one I purchased (Model 6-11), were made in the early 1930's can be found for $50-$200 depending on condition.  My fiance (Kathleen), purchased mine for $50, which is a heck of a deal considering the condition it was in.

Pictured above and below is my Underwood typewriter model 6-11.  The number 6 and 11 are displayed to the left and right of the Underwood logo