posted 09-09-1999 09:28 AM            

Winged Hammer Mark - Who is the maker?

Ben Randolph forwarded this question to me. So far, my casual research hasn't turned up anything. Are the "wings" and the "G. S." an indication that this maker may have a relationship to George Shiebler or is this just an interesting coincidence? Do you know who this mark belongs to?

posted 09-26-1999 11:19 AM            

The original Gaylord Farm Sanatorium has evolved into the Gaylord Hospital. In 2002 the hospital will be celebrating their 100th birthday. They would like to receive donations of Gaylord Silvercraft silver for inclusion in the celebration.

For more information on the Gaylord Silvercraft Shop and William Waldo Dodge see:

Silversmithing as a
Treatment for Tuberculosis:
William Waldo Dodge, Jr.
and the Beginnings of
Gaylord Silvercraft
by
W. Scott Braznell
The Connecticut
Historical Society
Bulletin
summer/fall 1992

William Waldo Dodge:
The Asheville Craftsman
by
Bruce Johnson
Silver Magazine
July 1994

posted 10-02-1999 10:02 PM            

October 2, 1999

To: SMP
Re: Gaylord Silvercraft

In regard to your request for information on the "Gaylord Craft Shop", the name I found was Gaylord Silvercraft, and the workshop was part of the Gaylord Farm Sanatorium, Wallingford, CT, run by the New Haven County Anti-Tuberculosis Association. The following information is taken from an annual report for Gaylord Farm Sanatorium for 1923.

The silver working was done as part of the vocational training and occupational therapy for the tuberculosis patients. After the Federal Board for Vocational Education ceased funding this work at Gaylord, the board feeling that the silverwork would pay for itself persuaded Mrs. W. W. Dodge, Jr. of Meriden to come on board at a nominal salary to develop this workshop.

Mr. W. W. Dodge was one of the U.S. servicemen who was at the sanitorium during WWI, assigned by the War Risk Insurance Bureau. He also, as well as his wife, gave great assistance to setting up the workshop, in fact giving many of the designs that were made into silver pieces by the workshop.

Dodge also wrote the bit of verse that opens the chapter in the report on the Gaylord silvercraft:

This piece of work I fashioned, saw it grow;
Endowed it with my personality:
Gave it the Life God gave me, long ago,
When first He made my forebears, in eternity.

And so, each piece of work, each bit of art,
That Man makes in his narrow span on earth,
Is God's; and every living part
Harks back through myriad ages to its birth.

The information mentions a registered trademark for the silver work but does not describe it, but the name is Gaylord Silvercraft.

There is still a Gaylord Farm Rehabilitation Center listed in the Wallingford directory as well as a Gaylord Hospital, which is on Gaylord Farms Rd.

Sincerely,

Martha H. Smart
Connecticut Historical Society

posted 06-30-2013 08:43 PM            

I just got this serving fork and was very interested after reading this post. I thought I would share this with everyone and ask a question:

(I tried to post a pic of the mark and a close-up of the hammered surface but Photobucket isn't cooperating today. Is anyone else having problems?)

This piece doesn't have the GS initials so is it still a Gaylord piece or another maker?

posted 07-01-2013 08:28 PM            

I see there is another post about image hosts so I will peruse that topic.