Posted 1 year ago
boomboomje…
(1 item)
I ran comps but could only find an extremely damaged one, from that research I came to: 1890’s Buffalo open car/sleigh lap blanket. The blanket I have is in extremely fabulous condition if it is that age. I’m wondering if anyone has info on the Wallace co. Like how long they manufactured these blankets, if I’m in the appropriate age frame. Any other fun info about this item, of course I’m wondering about value. But I’m also wondering if this is an item to put on eBay for sale, or if this has more historical value than just an every day item to be listed there. And if so, what do you think I should do with it?
Thanks so much for your feedback.
Hi, boomboomjessica. :-)
Here's a near twin (it sounds like it's a bit larger than yours):
https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/287030.html
What little I've been able to glean about the Hugh Wallace Company of Detroit is that it acquired that name in 1907:
Hugh Wallace:
(From the Googe Books copy of the Compendium of History and Biography of the City of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan (1908) Page 445.)
*snip*
Hugh Wallace was born in the city of Galt province of Ontario Canada on the 8th of October 1863 and is a son of James and Elizabeth Wells Wallace both of whom were likewise born in the province of Ontario.
*snip*
In 1883 he assumed the position of traveling salesman for the Galt Machine Knife & Edge Tool Works an incumbency which he retained until 1888 when he engaged in the retail hardware business in Galt where he built up a prosperous enterprise He disposed of his business and removed to Detroit where he engaged in the manufacturing of robes and various lines of cloth. This enterprise was conducted for a number of years under the title of the Western Robe Company and since 1907 the present corporate name the Hugh Wallace Company has obtained.
*snip*
https://books.google.com/books?id=IEk22rbVL9QC
He died in 1917:
https://generations.regionofwaterloo.ca/getperson.php?personID=I102510&tree=generations
As to the question of whether you should keep this carriage lap robe: do you like it? If so, keep it.
Hi again, boomboomjessica. :-)
A few more tidbits:
(From the Google Books e-copy of Compendium of History and Biography of the City of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan Clarence Monroe Burton H. Taylor & Company, 1908 - History - 719 pages)
*snip*
THE HUGH WALLACE COMPANY In the manufacturing of coats and robes this company controls a widely disseminated and important business and the enterprise contributes materially to the industrial supremacy of the city of Detroit The company was incorporated in 1906 with a capital stock of four hundred thousand dollars and the personnel of its official corps is as follows Hugh Wallace president Lewis H Ward vice president Floyd G Arms secretary Daniel McColl treasurer This company is the direct successor of the Western Robe Company which was incorporated in 1904 prior to which time the business had been conducted under the same title but without incorporation The business was founded in 1897 by Hugh Wallace who has been at its head from the inception to the present time and to whose progressive ideas and wise administrative policy the expansion of the enterprise to its present large proportions is primarily due.
*snip*
https://books.google.com/books?id=IEk22rbVL9QC
The piece goes on at length about the company, and if you want to read all of it, enter "western robe company detroit mi" as your search criteria at the link above.
A near twin blanket at Worthpoint:
*snip*
Offered here is an original vintage Buffalo Hide lap robe. Flannel label reads in part "The Montana Robe Western Robe Company, Detroit, Mich. Superior to Any Robe in the Market. Interlined with Rubber Drill." Hide measures 58" x 54". Likely dates to the 1890's or before. This is the type of lap robe given by stage companies for the drivers exposed to harsh winter winds. In fine condition, with no hair or fabric missing. Quite heavy at over fifiteen pounds. A real museum piece! Appears to have been edged with red flannel. Thanks for looking.
*snip*
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/buffalo-hide-lap-robe-1890s-western-169931710
The label is very similar to the one on yours, except that it has Western Robe Co. on it, instead of Hugh Wallace Co.
Per the Google Books pieces I've quoted earlier, the Worthpoint lap robe probably dates to no earlier than 1897 and no later than 1906.
I keep looking for something that will advance the Hugh Wallace Company beyond his death in 1917, but no joy. Must not be holding my mouth right. :-(
I did find a publication with a couple of Wallace fur motoring coats for men circa 1900 - 1909:
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-2077-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-2078-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
This blog has an undated ad for a Hugh Wallace Company Automobile Robe (scroll down):
https://simanaitissays.com/2022/04/22/have-i-got-a-deal-for-you/
The style of the woman's hat looks vaguely Edwardian to me. Dunno about the automobile.
Hi again, boomboomjessica. :-)
I think I've taken this about as far as I can. I haven't been able to find any post-1917 references to the Hugh Wallace Company. That doesn't mean they don't exist; I just haven't been able to find them. };-)
In looking around some more, I found Hugh Wallace's obituary at findagrave:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/163608874/hugh-wallace
It also has a copy of his death certificate, and it appears he was born in 1862, not 1863. What was his cause of death? Something that's still a scourge in the 21 century: diabetes. :-(
That same Google Books link above describes the "coat and robe manufactory" as being on "the south side of Grand Boulevard," and having been erected in "1906."
Grand Boulevard was originally a "ring" road, so the coat and robe factory was probably somewhere on the northern stretch, possibly on the north-eastern part (just a guess, based on some other reading I did).
Here is a 1928 map provided by a hotel (it's tough to follow Grand Boulevard on a modern map):
https://detroitography.com/2020/01/29/map-detroits-hotel-fort-wayne-in-city-directory-1928/
More reading that touches on the automotive history of East Grand Boulevard:
https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitmi.localhost/files/2018-08/Jam%20Handy%20North%20End%20East%20Grand%20Blvd_Final%20Report.pdf
As to your Hugh Wallace Company lap robe: if you don't want to keep it yourself, you might consider donating it to a museum.
You could contact the Detroit Historical Museum, and if they can't take it, they might know of a museum that will:
https://detroithistorical.org/ways-give/planned-giving
Good luck. :-)
boomboomjessica, I found a better contact at the Detroit Historical Museum for donation:
*snip*
Artifact Donation
Jeremy Dimick
P. 313.297.8391
jeremyd@detroithistorical.org
*snip*
https://detroithistorical.org/about-us/how-contact-us
It also occurs to me that the museum might have more information about the Hugh Wallace Company, although it might not be digitized.
You could ask them, but if you do it via email, you might want to give them a link to this post so that they wouldn't be needlessly duplicating effort:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/316655-buffalo-lap-blanket-56x-58
Again, good luck. :-)