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July 9, 2008
Vintage Brass Public School Doorknobs
I have two sets of these circa 1910 Public School Doorknobs for sale. I wanted to use them in my house but I never did. They are brass and very cool. They generally sell on ebay for around 25.00 per set. I will sell both sets for $40.00. Please email me if you are interested to brooklynfarmtable@gmail.com
Comments
You are offering stolen property for sale on this blog. Why not return them to the City?
Posted by: guest at July 9, 2008 5:10 PM
These have been claimed, and I doubt they were stolen. They have all been replaced in the schools.
Posted by: susanp at July 9, 2008 5:53 PM
$40:00 for the set? That's a steal! Let me speak with Mrs Patience, Susan; I quite fancy a pair for the throne room.
Posted by: James Patience at July 9, 2008 6:27 PM
no accusations from my part, as maybe the school tossed them out, but the first thing it came to my mind when i saw them was stolen!
Also, I visit several schools in NYC and there's a pair of them in one of the older schools I know in Williamsburg. They are in the bathroom door of the main office.
i hope these where not taken in an illegal way. Schools have limited resources these days.
Posted by: gates_ave at July 9, 2008 8:09 PM
These show up on Ebay and other sites all the time. They are not stolen.
Posted by: guest at July 9, 2008 8:18 PM
Yes, i just did a search out of curiosity and they are all over for a lot of $$.
I'm sure the city tossed a number of them in renovations etc, but they are still used in the schools and given the high prices on the web, I think selling them will encourage people to steel them. I hope the city realizes the historical and material value of them before all of them are gone from the old buildings.
It's just a pair of door nobs and there's a lot more material losses in schools due to theft on educatinal materials. However, if they are stolen, it is wrong and sad. Not sure if i can put them in my old house, I will feel guilty since i know how hard and how much theft is done in the buildings.
They are trully beatiful when you see them in person.
ps. found this link:
http://curbed.com/archives/2006/03/21/guilty_pleasures_public_school_knobs_edition.php
Owning the knob also makes me feel a bit guilty. In many cases, these have been stolen from schools over the past twenty or thirty years, as they can have a rather high antique value. Now, in addition to nostalgia, I can't help but wonder who removed it from the school in the first place.
Posted by: gates_ave at July 9, 2008 8:36 PM
Yeah, the coal fired boilers they have in many schools have sentimental value too... especially around Christmas.
Posted by: denton at July 9, 2008 8:54 PM
Olde Good Things sells them and I'm sure they didn't steal them. So drop them a line and see if they were purchased outright from the city.
Posted by: guest at July 9, 2008 9:07 PM
they are taken right? i love them...
Posted by: ljm at July 9, 2008 10:18 PM
Lots of schools have undergone interior renovations and tons of wonderful stuff was just ripped out and tossed. My high school was renovated and the wonderful old tiger oak doors were replaced by new crap doors. Most likely renovations are where they came from. there's just too many out there to have just been stolen.
Posted by: guest at July 9, 2008 11:38 PM
A guy had a couple hundred pairs for sale at the brownstoner flea market the first weekend. His were aluminum. He said he'd hauled them out of a dumpster 10 years ago outside a school.
Posted by: guest at July 10, 2008 12:01 AM
There are quite a few sites that make repros of those exact same knobs. I also seem to remember that the city schools knobs have some kind of reference to NYC on them as well. These say "Public school" so it would be almost impossible to prove where they came from even if they were stolen.
Posted by: Bond at July 10, 2008 12:26 AM
Look closely- it says NY City on the bottom of the knob. Just a little hard to see in the pics.
Posted by: guest at July 10, 2008 9:29 AM
Ooops, you're right, I didn't notice that. I'm still betting that they are repros though. I was in a school the other day that had a set on a door,and the casting was much crisper and cleaner. And the patina doesn't look right either. Verdigris in the crevices, but the rest of the knob is still brass, not brown?
Posted by: Bond at July 10, 2008 5:30 PM
there used to be many things, including huge wooden clocks and beautiful flip up wooden desks. these things used to be tossed away in the street. we used to not care about preservation, remember the old penn station. why are people on this website so ignorant to think that there was something illegal involved in someone's possession of these door knobs.
Posted by: guest at July 10, 2008 5:44 PM
I really doubt there are roving bands of fourth graders stripping vintage fixtures from the city's schools. I would imagine that iPods or laptops are far more marketable. The knobs are great, repro or not. I agree with the guest who reminded us of how little preservation of such things happened not too long ago.
Posted by: bheightsejp at July 10, 2008 7:58 PM
How much are you willing to bet Bond (James?). I'll lay 5 to 2 they are original and not repros. Bring them down to Brooklyn Flea on the 20th and I'll buy both sets from you for the $40.00. Then I'll wager my $50.00 against Bond's $20.00 that they are original. Fred from Silver Fox
Posted by: guest at July 10, 2008 9:23 PM
I work in a public high school and our school was newly renovated...they took all the antiques such as these doorknobs and beautiful brass pier mirrors and stored them in the basement. Makes me think I should go in the basement in September and see what I can get!
Posted by: guest at July 10, 2008 9:36 PM
Hey Fred, I'll take that bet, but before you put your money where your mouth is, you might want to check out Designjournalmag.com.
Posted by: Bond at July 10, 2008 9:37 PM
to prevent unlawful possession of these doorknobs, many custodial staff were instructed to file away some of the facing. If the faces were filed away, they were taken without permission but, they would have been thrown out anyway.
Posted by: guest at July 11, 2008 3:05 PM
Actually the verdigris in the crevices makes sense as it's the oxidation of the copper. the high points of the design are constantly worn clean from handling but the crevices not so much.
Posted by: also guest at July 11, 2008 3:24 PM
Yep, it would make sensem, and anyone looking to try a fool someone would keep that in mind. The problem is that brass turns a chocolate brown with age, and only after a looooong time, and lots of exposure to moisture do you get verdigris. There is a lack of brown patina in the grooves, which makes me think that it's probably a chemical patina.
Next time you're taking a walk through the neighborhood, look at the exterior door knobs and see if you see any with verdigris. These are door knobs that are exposed to the elements everyday and they don't have it, it's really doubtful that an indoor knob would, and it certainly would have the first stages of oxidation, which would be the brown color, in the crevices as a poster pointed out.
The problem with all this is that I'm probably coming across as snarky and somehow trying to cast aspersions on the original poster, which I'm not.I just like to try and figure things like this out, along with the whole thought process involved.
The knobs are cool,and she is asking a very resonable price.
Posted by: Bond at July 11, 2008 7:15 PM
Despite being branded as a Fence and as a seller of Repros. I have sold these so please stop emailing. Bond, these are real, the pic is not, but rather a pic of some that were on ebay. This was done out of ease not dishonestly.
Posted by: susanp at July 14, 2008 12:57 PM
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