Looking for information on...........

Ray Smith · Post by **Ray Smith** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:35 am

....the George E.Watson Co. of Chicago Illinois.Have recently acquired a sign artist's kit manufactured by this company and have been unable to find out any information.

The tag on the box says,"Watson's Sign Kit" George E.Watson Company-the,"Paint People" Chicago Ill.

Dimensions of the box are approx. 13 3/4" wide by 9" high by 6" deep.Construction appears to be wood with leather covering and leather carry strap(broken).Inside is a removeable tray assembly with 4 sections;3 are 1 1/2" deep and the bottom one is 3 1/2" deep and made of aluminum.The

Inside the lid is a 4 piece mahl stick(3 wood shafts with nickeled connectors and a soft ball that screws in the top) held in place by leather straps.It is marked,"B.G.I.Co. Patented Feb.9 '92".I believe this may stand for,"Bridgeport Gun Implement Co." which made,among other things,cleaning rods for rifles which are remarkably similar to a mahl stick.There are a lot of tools including a couple of palette knives,a pounce wheel,and a multitude of razor blades with a special knife.A large quantity of brushes;many marked with the Watson stamp,some Grumbacher and French quills(one marked,"Bavaria")as well as W.A. Thompson,DeVoe and Raynolds,and a ruler advertising Woolsey Paint and Color Co. in Jersey City.

For those wishing to see pictures,I have posted them on the Pinhead Lounge under my portfolio(elvago)as well as the Yahoo group Pinstriper's Page.

Any info on this company would be greatly appreciated.Thank you for your time.

Sincerely
Ray Smith

Post by **Mike Jackson** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:35 am

To view a much bigger image, click here:
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Ray,
The Geo. E Watson Company was located at 164 W. Lake St., Chicago Il

They were a big sign supply company established in 1988. They produced catalogs for many years and you can find them if you search around enough. I have 10 of them right now. The 1940 edition is #74.

On page 53 of the #55 book, it shows two sign kits. The Watson Signkit and the Chicago Signkit, priced at $15 or $19.50 respectively. They also sold an upscaled version of each for $4 more which inclued an aluminum palette, wood joined mahlstick, metal brush case, four screw-top cans, and two utility palette cups.

Hope this helps,
M. Jackson

erik winkler · Post by **erik winkler** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:24 pm

Haha the walking encyclopedia!
Let me see what i have.....

Ray Smith · Post by **Ray Smith** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:02 pm

Hello Mike:
Thank you for the prompt reply.I am checking with a friend of mine in Chicago to see if he has any further info.He is a fellow sign artist and very much into sign related history.

I guess this may have been the Deluxe version as it has two of the small metal cans;one holding japan drier and the other some type of varnish.Believe it or not they are still in liquid form although with the amount of material surrounding the cap,I doubt I could get them opened without damaging them.

Interesting that many of the brushes are stamped with the Watson logo although I doubt they made them.They look to be very similar to a couple of DeVoe and Raynolds brushes that are also in there.

I have just started cleaning the brushes now and I expect to spend a goodly part of the weekend doing so.Looks like I will be able to salvage virtually all of them.The striping brushes I cleaned last year that had sat so long were much harder to clean.Took me nearly a week to do about 70 of them.Only had 3 that wouldn't clean up.

Used acetone to clean them.Suspended just the hair in a glass jar for about 10 minutes at a time and then used a toothbrush to gently clean the oil and paint residue(lacquer)from them.Re-oiled them immediately afterward.Didn't seem to affect the hairs any.I've used several of them since and they work flawlessly.

Anyway it is my day off so it's out to the shop for a cleaning session.Will keep you posted and many thanks again.

Ray Smith

Post by **Mike Jackson** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:48 am

photos added above.
Mike

Ray Smith · Post by **Ray Smith** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:47 am

Many thanks for the prompt response Mike! I hope you don't mind but I posted the picture in a photo album on the Yahoo group I host(the Pinstriper's Page).Thanks again!!!!