Notary Stamp Machines-Part I

Notary Stamp Machines
From the base to top of handle
10 1/2"
9 1/2
6 1/4"

In this post I will show the machines. In Part II, I will show the notary stamps produced by these machines.

I picked up these three notary stamp machines. There's a large, medium and small size. The smallest one has a stamp of 3 initials. The medium one has a labor union stamp? (**Mystery Solved! See updated information in Part II.**)
And the largest is from a lumber company.

All three machines show remains of beautiful gold pinstriping. The largest machines has a hand painted flower motif on the sides. And the upper portion has red paint surrounding the pivot pin for the handle, complemented by 2 gold stripes that flow rearward until they merge together. This upper shape with the striping is reminiscent of an old Harley or Indian motorcycle gas tank.

I may decide to take these to my Hall Of Fame and master pinstriper friend JR "Junior" Nelson. I know he could really makes these machines look really cool.

WHAT IS A NOTARY?
That is a long exhausting explanation. The short answer...A notary's main functions is to validate the signature of a person (for purposes of signing a document) or to validate a document.

DOCS LIKE AN EGYPTIAN (2750-2250 B.C.)
"Ancient Egyptian "sesh," or "scribes," were established in the Old Kingdom and were the earliest known chroniclers of official communications in recorded history. Scribes made up an entire level of the ancient Egyptian bureaucracy. Personal letters, official proclamations, tax records, and other documents all went through their hands. The recording of events was so highly valued that Pharaoh Tutankhamen even included writing equipment in his tomb for the afterlife."

WHEN IN ROME, DOCS LIKE THE ROMAN
"The office of a public notary is a public office. It has a long and distinguished history. The office has its origin in the civil institutions of ancient Rome. Public officials, called scribae, that is to say, scribes, rose in rank from being mere recorders of facts and judicial proceedings, copiers and transcribers to a learned profession prominent in private and public affairs."

Order of the Knights Templar: 1099-1307
"From humble beginnings, within two centuries they had become powerful enough to defy all but the Papal throne, and created the modern system of banking, mortgages and loans. The Clergy of the Order were highly educated and became the critically important Notaries for all Templar business, official documents, orders and proclamations."

Conquests of Columbus: 15th Century
"Notaries accompanied Columbus on all of his voyages to ensure to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella that all discovered treasures were accounted for."

To Be Or Not To Be.
"There is considerable evidence that Shakespeare once worked for a Warwickshire Notary and later had repeated contact with other English Notaries."

First American Notary And ...Forger!
"The American Colonies' first Notary, Thomas Fugill, appointed in 1639 in the New Haven Colony, miserably failed to live up to his duties and was thrown out of office for falsifying documents."

**There's many more interesting facts related to notarys. I will add the links in the comments**