William R. Noe, circa 1880 Photo courtesy Patricia B. Noe

William R. Noe was a man of many talents. In addition to being a devoted husband and father, he was an accomplished businessman. He was quite diversified in the scope of his business ventures, being not only a merchant, both wholesale and retail, but also an important importer and manufacturer as well. He was also an avid inventor with ideas and interests going well beyond the realm of lamps and lighting. He obtained patent number 350,499, granted October 12, 1886, for a medicine spoon with and integrated cork-screw. He is credited with a number of lighting patents as well, two of the kerosene-era patents assigned to Holmes, Booth & Haydens while in their employ are listed in the patent table below.

Illustrated Billhead from 1897, features the German Student Lamp, Imperial Burner and Columbia Burner [click here to view entire billhead]

William R. Noe was an importer and manufacturer of lamp goods of every description, but he seemed to have a penchant for night lamps. Both of the illustrated billheads in the collection note "Specialties in Night Lamps." In her book, The Evolution of the Night Lamp, Ann G. McDonald lists a wide variety of glass and metal night lamps that were manufactured, imported or sold by William R. Noe. These include the Vienna and Empress, the Little Beauty and The Twinkle, the New Art night lamp, the Little Buttercup, the Noxall, the Golden, the Sparkle, the Jewel skater's lantern, the Comet lamp with beehive shade, and the Handy night lamp. These lamps were produced in practically every color of the rainbow, including some art glass varieties. Some of these are depicted in the left margin.

Illustrated Billhead from 1902, features the German Student Lamp and the Vienna night lamp. [click here to view entire billhead]

From the the April 13, 1889 illustrated billhead, L.P. Mahler purchased 6 dozen Little Buttercup lamps for $5.25. That's just a little over 7 cents each! This, and other advertisements in The Crockery and Glass Journal and other period trade publications, shed some light on the marketing prowess exhibited by Noe. It would seem that his goal was for every household to have a number of his night lamps - and from the pricing of his lamps and his pattern of creative advertising, it seems reasonable to assume that he accomplished his goal! McDonald notes that many of his lamps could be bought at the retail level for a dime - quite affordable for the times.

William R. Noe advertising postal cover Featuring Three Feathers Chimneys [click here to view a larger image]

Noe was known to have imported lighting from Germany. Among the German imports were the Vienna night lamp, the German Student Lamp, and a full line of Three Feathers Brand lamp chimneys. The German Student Lamp appears on both the 1897 and 1902 billheads, so it must have been a popular item. The Imperial burner also appears on the 1897 billhead and was a popular and well constructed burner manufactured by Wild & Wessel of Berlin. He certainly imported other items as well. William R. Noe suffered significant losses from a military munitions explosion and resulting fires on Black Tom Island on July 30, 1916. Noe had leased storage space from the National Storage Warehouse Company, which took heavy losses from blast and fire damage. Much of the loss related to glass items, perhaps lamp shades and chimneys, quite likely portions of his import stock.

In summary, William R. Noe was an interesting man with an equally interesting history. The company he created was quite successful, but sadly neither the man nor the company, ever received the notoriety of some of the better known lamp makers. Hopefully, through these efforts, a brighter light can shine on the legacy of William R. Noe and he will not fade into obscurity.

    

William R. Noe & Related Patents

   

To view the complete patent, select the patent you wish to view, then click Query USPTO Database. This will take you to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Database. You are then just two mouse clicks away from viewing the actual patent. Learn more about the USPTO here.

• The author wishes to gratefully acknowledge the contributions to this project made by Patricia B. Noe, great-granddaughter of William R. Noe. Patricia graciously and unselfishly provided me with access to her family history and provided me with the period photographs and ephemera related to the business associations of William R. Noe. Without her, this project could not have been completed.
  
  
• McDonald, Ann Gilbert, The Evolution of the Night Lamp, 1979, Wallace-Homestead Book Company

Return to William R. Noe, Part I