Andiron
date: label: date made
content: ca 1940
notes: label: Description
content: Mission-style andiron featuring a straight, square upright with a square-domed boss on top, a shaped swing handle attached near its center and two strapwork scrolls banded around its base, on strapwork legs ending in reverse C scrolls for the knees and feet; curved billet bar with log stop and leg at corner. Textured surface decoration. Labeled "F.S.G. ITEM NO. 3". One of a pair, 1982.0024.01A-B.
label: Description
content: Maker is Paul Greiner, who worked at Fred S. Gichner Iron Works, Washington, D.C. and Beltsville, MD. The Fred S. Gichner Iron Works was founded by its namesake, an Austrian immigrant who trained in Vienna, Austria, and Baltimore, MD, before settling in Washington, D.C. in the late nineteenth century. Originally specializing only in ornamental iron work, Fred S. Gichner built his business up from a one-person shop, eventually moving to 1214 24th Street, NW with seventy employees in 1929. The company was incorporated in 1930. The company eventually became involved in manufacturing steel products (including trucks), engaged in steel construction, and for a short while, operated a mobile division, while still specializing in ornamental and metal fabricating. In 1965 most company operations were transferred to Beltsville, MD. Active in the business until his death and known affectionately as the "Iron Man," company founder and president Fred S. Gichner died on September 15, 1956. His son Henry succeeded his father as president until he sold the company in 1982 to Jack Benson, president of J.M. Benson and JMB Corp., and Lennie Umbaugh, vice president of JMB Corp. Henry Gichner died on December 29, 1994. The Iron Works remained a flourishing area business until at least 1989.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: District of Columbia, Washington
topic: label: Subject
content: German Americans
label: made by
content: Immigrants
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
label: See more items in
content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Henry Gichner on behalf of Fred S. Gichner's children
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1982.0024.01B
label: accession number
content: 1982.0024
label: catalog number
content: 1982.0024.01B
objectType: label: Object Name
content: andiron
label: Object Type
content: andirons
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: iron, wrought (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 26 3/4 in x 15 1/8 in x 23 in; 67.945 cm x 38.4175 cm x 58.42 cm