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…
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
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?
Look closely- it says NY City on the bottom of the knob. Just a little hard to see in the pics.
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.
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.
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.
they are taken right? i love them…
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.
Yeah, the coal fired boilers they have in many schools have sentimental value too… especially around Christmas.
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.