![years vintage armstrong heritage flute were made years vintage armstrong heritage flute were made](https://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/s--fOs4EXCw--/a_exif,c_limit,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_south,h_620,q_auto:eco,w_620/v1423592516/ycy4zh88v2hsv9au2ilp.jpg)
Melnor entered the world of lawn sprinklers later than most, but made up for that quickly. The year was 1948 and gardeners were presented with Melnor’s oscillating sprinkler. They also offer a die cast metal travelling sprinkler in the form of a tractor. The cast metal rotary types, as well as the oscillating models, are still sold. Many different styles may be found with the Sears’s Craftsman logo. Sears has sold lawn sprinklers under its Craftsman name for several years. The company also offered rotary-style-sprinklers with the standard cast metal base and brass nozzles. Both allowed for sprays in cylindrical patterns. The two were made of copper and had no movable parts. They sold a number of different models: the Ring and a smaller example, appropriately named the Baby Ring. It went on to produce all types of sprinklers, including the lawn type. The company provided all the equipment needed to feed our country’s appetite for growth and keep our young industrialized nation growing wood and iron pulleys, gearing, radiators, bathtubs, steam whistles, hand tools and lawn mowers. Allen supplied all that was needed to equip early fire departments: hoses, fire grenades, lanterns, fireman’s hats and coats, and hose carts and reels. They distributed just about everything, especially belts and hoses. Allen Company appeared a few years after the end of the Civil War. Nelson was the oldest family-owned sprinkler business until it was acquired by the Bosch Group in 2008.
![years vintage armstrong heritage flute were made years vintage armstrong heritage flute were made](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Rx4AAOSww0Zd~~c5/s-l1600.jpg)
Many can be found in working condition today. Nelson, famous for their rotary-style models, also manufactured the early oscillating sprinklers.
![years vintage armstrong heritage flute were made years vintage armstrong heritage flute were made](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/nP4AAOSw4dFg90la/s-l300.jpg)
Over the years, the company manufactured several models with names like Jewell, Green Thumb, as well as a Poppy model – a little tri-leg yellow painted rotary model with rubber wheels. This style, in the form of a tractor, would wend its way along the lawn, following the pattern selected by the gardener. The company developed several sizes, styles and models of sprinklers.Īside from the standard cast metal base style of rotary lawn sprinkler, Nelson also developed one of the first early traveling lawn sprinklers. Unlike a number of other manufacturing companies of the same era, the Nelson Company’s main line of products consisted of lawn sprinklers and nozzles for gardening. The company developed its first lawn sprinkler in 1906. Nelson Manufacturing Company of Peoria, Illinois, originated in 1904. That’s probably why they can still be found today. These were solid, heavy-duty lawn sprinklers that could stand up to quite a bit of abuse. They were constructed with a cast metal base and fitted with brass nozzles and were a rotary-type sprinkler. Sunbeam began their manufacture in the early 1930s.
![years vintage armstrong heritage flute were made years vintage armstrong heritage flute were made](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/DQoAAOSwxslghx2Q/s-l300.jpg)
These lawn sprinklers can be found in a number of styles. The company produced a Rain King brand of revolving lawn sprinkler. The Sunbeam Corporation, which initially was the Chicago Flexible Shaft Company, began producing household appliances under the Sunbeam logo in 1921. Like other companies, American Brass Manufacturing produced a litany of other products: wheel sprockets for trolley cars, brass nozzles for Navy battleships, as well as brass faucets. The sprinklers were manufactured with brass nozzles affixed to the ends of rotating arms. The American Brass Manufacturing Company, which started in Cleveland in 1894, produced rotary designed lawn sprinklers. In the first half of the twentieth century, several companies, large and small, were manufacturing different models of lawn sprinklers.