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Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com www.TheCatoctinBanner.com The Catoctin Banner Newspaper October 2017 Page 29

Other Sleds and a Tin Sign

Tressler’s collection began thirty-one years ago, with a tiny sled purchased
T r nket at an antique store in Frederick for a mere $67.00. There were many sled
samples in his showcase, including Flexible, Champion, and Fleetwing brands.
Two salesman’s samples were of “summer sleds,” which have wheels. Their
full-size counterparts
Treas re were made between
the 1880s and 1920s.
The bright orange
by Lisa C. Cantwell Bendex Racer tin
Owner of Coal Black Horse Antiques and a Maryland state- sign was purchased
licensed antique dealer at auction and is the
only one in existence.
Tressler said he has
yet to find an actual
Bendex sled.
Sam Tressler invited me to his home near Emmitsburg, recently, to share
his collection of antique salesman’s samples. Tressler, an antique dealer who
offers informal appraisals, exhibited several of these beautiful samples at a Feed Grinder Salesman’s Sample
community event that I attended over a year ago. It was a thrill to finally see all
of his collection, which amounts to a small museum of rare treasures! Pictured A curious and
are four of his favorites. exceedingly rare
piece is “The
Sled Salesman’s Sample-Little Paris Manufacturing Co., Sherman Cutter,”
mid-1860s or feed grinder, that
Tressler found on
Tressler’s pride and joy is this one- a popular online
of-a-kind hand-painted sled, made auction site. It was
of maple and ash woods with brass misidentified as a
fittings and steel runners. The detailed “tobacco cutter”
motif is of a hunting dog with a dove and needed some
in its mouth. This sample measures TLC, so he acquired
9 ½ inches by 3 ¾ inches, and is so it at quite a bargain.
rare it is featured in the authoritative Tressler cleaned and shined the large piece to reveal brass, iron, and American
resource, Great Sleds and Wagons black walnut in excellent condition. Although not a patent model, an inscribed
by Joan Palicia. The manufacturer of plate reads “March 24, 1885.” This salesman’s sample runs smoothly.
this sled sample was America’s most Measuring 21 inches wide and 14 inches high, the mini served as a demo for
prolific sled maker and first opened in the larger product, where corn stalks, hay, or straw could be ground into
1861 in Paris, Maine. Children’s sleds fodder or feed. Tressler values this exceptional feed grinder sample at $1,500
to full-size sleds and wagons were to $6,000.
produced, and, before the turn of the
century, branch stores sprang up in
several major cities. Tressler purchased Hand-Cranked Sausage Stuffer Sample
this treasure from an antique dealer
near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In The last rare salesman sample dates
today’s market, he values it between to 1890, and Tressler knows of only one
$6,500 and $11,000. other, which brought $4,600 when it was
sold to an auction company in Indiana.
Made of cast iron and steel, the 7-inch-
high sausage stuffer was made by the
National Specialties Co. of Philadelphia.
The full-sized product would have
been manufactured for farm use only
and was obsolete by the 1930s, when
electric models became common. Tressler
bought this treasure at an antique show
in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. He said to
expect this sample to fetch anywhere
from $1,600 to $5,000.

If you have an interesting collection of antique items that you wish to share
with our readers, or would like me to research an item to determine whether
it’s a “trinket or treasure,” please e-mail me at [email protected]

Thanks again to Sam Tressler for sharing his rare and beautiful collection
of saleman’s samples!